"The key to maintaining my competitive streak as just that, a streak, rather than a river running red with the blood of my perceived opponents, is being able to recognize that it’s unreasonable to expect perfection from myself in every realm of my life."
As someone who can be really hard on herself, this is pretty relatable. I've learned to let go on some things, but mostly still have to tell myself to chill out in social situations on a daily basis (that combined with pretty terrible social anxiety = not good) and it's always comforting to hear someone else's struggle.
Also: How to Make Strawberry Jam. This is a delicious reminder to add this to this summer's to-do list.
LiveScience: Morning People Are Actually Happier Than Night Owls
Ah, a no-duh scientific study tells me why I'm a crotch nearly every morning at work and how morning people are generally happier. (In other news: the sky is blue.) It seems odd to study teenagers initially on this sort of thing (well, most studies are problematic in one way or another), but anyway, it's no surprise that our society is better geared toward morning people, from our school years to working adult lives. It's pretty unfair that society isn't nearly as accomodating to night people. (Ah, to be successfully self-employed!) Then we have to combat those chipper morning folks driving us up the wall right off the bat. Waking up the sound of an alarm clock is one of the most unpleasant sounds I can think of, right next to all of those chirp-happy AM birds. My brain is generally screaming something to the effect of "NO! NOT AGAIN FUCK THIS SHIT!" as the bastard alarm wakes me up. I have a half-hour commute and have to be at work at 7am, which I don't think my body will ever properly adjust to. My coworker knows to pretty much just avoid me. I tend to get annoyed at nearly every little thing until about 11 or noon, which is just fundamentally ridiculous when you really think about it. The boyfriend even knows to just go away and let me sleep until my body is ready to wake up on the weekends. My family knows I'm scary. I tend to want to stab somebody in the face in the morning, especially those sunny, chipper morning people. GAH, SO ANNOYING. SHUT UP. IT IS NOT A "GOOD MORNING." Yep, I'm sorry for snapping, but just know that it's best to avoid me and don't ask complex tasks of me in the morning.
Shakesville: Big Fat Love
I love body size positivity posts. They're a bright spot in a sea of relentless (and shameless) Internet (or otherwise) bullying. This is one of those things that should probably be printed out and passed around.
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking, by Susan Cain
I saw Susan Cain on a TED talk (watch the video here) and enjoyed her presentation enough to check out her book. Plenty of positive vibes for introverted people. There's hope for us yet!
Bonus Video: I'm not much of a music video watcher these days, but I've been enjoying the video for Plateaus' "Do It for You". There's something calmingly nostalgic about it... the lo-fi music in combination with the grainy video quality and the claymation especially. Gives me warm fuzzies of growing up in the 90s, watching VHS tapes over summer break.
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