Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Changing My Hair & Attitude (Self-care Summer2019)

Hey everyone! It's been two weeks... I know, but hey at least a new video is up here (and it's all about my trip to Vietnam), so you have seen my face a little bit. I've been swamped with schoolwork. I am taking two online courses this summer worth 3 credits each, and so I've been slightly bogged down by Astronomy and Philosophy. That's not all I've been up to, I've been working on myself...a lot. I want to make sure that my second year of college is better than my first so I've made the Summer my time to get my mental and physical health in check, work on a positive attitude, get excited about my school work, and become organized. So...what have I been doing to take care of myself? Well, I'm about to tell you!


1. Changing My Hair



I'm no stranger to dying my hair, but before May I had never dyed my whole head. It was a drastic and quick decision to dye it (I have a whole video that is going to go up with the footage), and I cried for three days afterward. Alas, I've decided to rock the red hair and I am absolutely obsessed. For me, changing my hair color from brown to red gave me some confidence. I felt more new people I met remembered me more, and most of the comments I received were positive. I felt almost more myself. I don't have plans to change back the color, but I am still debating keeping it red for when I go back to school. When dying your whole head, you have to be excited and own it or you end up being self-conscious; and some of my friends were able to get me to love the color!

2. Working out

I have countlessly said on this blog how I wanted to start working out and become fit. I was so tired of saying that I wanted to do that, and actually got up and started going to the gym. This last week, I haven't been able to go to the gym due to an injury, but I am itching to get back there. My friends and I have been going to yoga classes together, and then on my own, I have started going to cycling classes. I have never been one for either class and now I am actually starting to enjoy it! On my own, I have a routine involving the treadmill (or elliptical), strength machines, rowing machine, and more. At school, I didn't have a routine and I wanted to make it my goal to have a gym routine, so when I go back to college, I will know what I am doing and go often. I've also been trying to get in shape because I am considering trying to play field hockey again (after a 1.5-year hiatus), and that involves lots of working out and strength. I'll definitely give an update regarding that when I get back to school. My goal was to go to the gym 4-5 times a week, and for the most part, I've been doing that!


I've also lost a few pounds, which has been helpful to my mental health because I did gain some weight while at school along with everything else. There has been no downside to my workout routine this Summer except the soreness, haha.

3. Saying 'Yes' More (and finding a balance)

I've been trying harder to be more of a "yes" person, and be more spontaneous and open to new ideas. Obviously, there are times when I need to say "no" to going out or staying out until 3am, but I wanted to not shut down ideas all the time, and I am so glad. This mentality led me to take the train from New York to Pennsylvania to see Catfish and the Bottleman play with one of my close friends, and it was one of the best concerts I've been to in a while. Having a "yes" mentality doesn't make you nieve, but let me come out of my shell a lot. If there are certain plans that cause my gut instinct to be unsure about, I won't go; but in all everything has been pretty good when I say "yes".

There definitely needs to be a balance though. There was a five-day span where I was very drained from hanging out with people on top of my summer classes and blog/youtube, and I needed to take a break. That doesn't make me any less of someone's friend but helped me enjoy the time more when I felt better. What I've Learned: Saying yes to things helps make you have really great experiences, but you can't say that word to everything, especially if it jeopardizes other aspects of your life.

4. Putting More Effort in my Blog, Youtube, and Writing

Writing is the thing I enjoy the most. Besides blog work, I hadn't read a book or wrote anything for myself in a while, and I've been getting back into it. I hope one day to become an author, so I think getting back into small writing exercises (short stories, mind maps, and poetry) is helping me appreciate the art more. I've also been reading some of my books for one of my English classes next semester to help me get ahead, and to give me more time to enjoy the books over a longer period of time instead of the week where I will have to read 200 pages in one night.

I've also been enjoying posting to YouTube, and by no means am I a super popular YouTuber or the best one out there, but I like talking to the camera and putting myself out there. I am even almost at 50 subscribers, so... check out my channel: Christina Madeleine. I've been so scared of what people thought of me for so long, and I am finally able to create content that fully shows who I am. If you have any ideas of what I should film, let me know!

Summer has definitely helped me become more inspired to pursue my hobbies and make sure I put the effort into it when I am back at school.

5. Cleaning my Room

How many times have I said in my videos that my dorm room was too messy to show on camera? Well, my room at home wasn't much better. My friend Jenn asked to come over and clean my room a few weeks back and we ended up completely reorganizing my drawers and closets and donating four bags of clothes, and possibly selling a fifth. It was very necessary for me to clean my room because I had clothes from 2013 in there! I am also considering painting my room because when I was in the seventh grade I picked three walls to be turquoise and one to be dark pink, and well it's not the best look. Donating so many clothes not only lets me buy more but feels like a weight is lifted. I am also working on being organized because I don't want my suitemates to hate me for being messy.


I've also been trying to eat better and cleaner, and will be doing updates on my Instagram about that! So you can follow me on that! https://www.instagram.com/christinaxmadeleine/

Thanks for reading! What posts do you want to see? I have been lacking ideas, so I've just been talking about myself. So... give me books to read, shows to watch (Love Island USA?), topics to discuss and more!

xx
Christina Madeleine





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