Celeb Inspiration: Demi Lovato #2 "The Unfriending"

Thumbs up to BuzzFeed for this great list of quotes from Demi. Any artist who finds strength in their missteps and pain gets my respect. Also, despite the intense public eye, disassociating from one of her oldest friends, Selena Gomez, for whatever the reason is another strong self-health move. Choosing the people in your life is difficult, and sometimes through no fault of their own, you simply don't like who you are around them. Don't make excuses and feel socially obligated to do anything. You can't choose your family or the people you work with, but you can definitely choose your friends, and you can decide who you listen to and let into your space.

Be Proud and Use Your Words

I'm going to bring up appearances. We all know that it can take a lot to feel comfortable in your own skin. However, once you do the work and start having a semblance of those feelings or even a full on "I'm always looking fine" attitude, it doesn't stop others from commenting. I've learned that I really don't want to take part in that and try to keep things positive. I love complimenting strangers when they are looking fabulous or people I know who are trying something new. How you look is of course a reflection of what you are feeling inside. So somehow, after working through the worst parts of my depression, color felt safe to introduce back into my daily wardrobe and I actually wore real clothes instead of pajamas

What it boils down to is that I'm proud to be me and I'd rather wear a smile, so when people in my life, particularly family, because they are only trying to be helpful (*eyeroll*) make me feel bad by commenting on my hair, my weight, my clothes, my ANYTHING...I say "I don't want to hear it." I actually say that. I don't find it helpful, I find it hurtful. I realize other people are the ones that have to look at me, but I'm the one that has to BE me, so what I say goes.

On a semi-related note, I think back to how the depth of my depression could possibly be related to how often I looked in the mirror. Days of not showering or simply the one lone middle of the night, bathroom mirror stare down, sadness reflected back....After all that, I have to listen to anyone tell me how I should cut or grow my hair??? Nope.

Self Health Check-in

Exactly one week after cleaning up a lot of the clutter in my bedroom and rearranging the furniture, I have maintained a neater space. It is not about laziness, it is about knowing that I'm a visual person and feel less stressed without the clutter. Don't get me wrong, it still exists, let's not go digging in drawers and closets, but it's there for my eyes to see when I am ready to tackle it and not staring me in the face every day.

Here are some more items to add to the list of things that make me feel good: listening to my music on my commute instead of the radio (my car CD player is broken but sometimes silence was better than morning talk garbage), listening to pandora's "Today's Comedy" station at night time, trying yoga, getting a snuggle from a baby that loves you, and getting criticized in a dream and even subconsciously knowing it's not true.