Tips for Personal Style

Via my Tumblr blog I've received many shocking compliments on my personal style! While I was first shocked, I realized why people were thinking such ideas about my style.. I was posting photos where my outfit looked put together and on point, even though I considered my style to be fairly basic. 

Over the past couple of years, I found myself really learning who I am! Something most of us do in our early twenties! I learned that most important of all: you should do what feels right to you, you like what you like. In which case I hope you can all apply these ideas to your own sense of self. 

Quick Point: It's my personal enjoyment to dress up most days, none of these ideas are meant to seem shallow, these are just ideas that I've found work best for me in portraying my best self. I once was the type of person that thought fashion and style were silly, through my own life experiences I've learned that how you dress influences so much of how you treat your life. 

• It's all about balance. My favorite idea in this is to either do: tight on top, loose on bottom, OR loose on top, tight on bottom. Balance comes in many forms with your personal style.. From color balance, to how the clothes fit you, there's so much variety when it comes to making this work.
• Accessories are the key to you and your outfit looking very put together. I'm serious, you can almost never go wrong with this one. Someone can lack matching, be in the most bizarre-looking outfit and still look fabulous as long as they tie everything together. Clothing and accessories go hand in hand.
• Wear everything with confidence. If you can't do that, don't buy it. Chin up buttercup ;)
• Have your key pieces, know them. Know yourself and your style enough to use the key pieces for that style. Me? I love love love to look casual, but also dressy. My key pieces are usually a blazer, some gold rings, and basic colored shirts. I find I can mix and match as I go, I can reinvent my look everyday by just changing the style of my shirt, rings, the color of my blazer, but these are still my outfit staples.
• Inspire yourself! Scroll through Pintrest. Browse the fashion bloggers. Hunt down what look you want to try. 
• Play with your style! Try wearing new items. Try on items at stores and boutiques that you wouldn't normally be interested in! Clothing and accessories look very different on the rack than they do on your body type!
• Yes, body shape is important. Dress for your shape. I'm a firm believer in wearing what you want, but also wearing what compliments your shape. 
• Attitude is fun too! Seriously, you can literally change how well your style looks by the attitude in which you wear it. I love to wear sundresses and roam around, spinning circles, with a bright smile lit on my face. Some days I'll wear the sundresses and not be in a good mood, I know I'm doing my outfit an injustice. This can also be a fun way to experiment too though! If you have never tried spending your day in an edgy outfit with an edgy attitude, I highly recommend it, it's empowering, and really fun to play a different part!

Notes On Positivity

I find that when most of us think of being positive, we have this idea that somehow we will get the things we want because of it. Even I've behaved this way before. I thought that simply being positive was going to bring all of these good things into my life simply because of my attitude. It doesn't always work that way though.

Let's suppose that being positive and being happy are two different states. Being positive is saying that good things are going to happen no matter what, it's saying 'all is well' and being content with your life. Happiness however is probably more of a feeling, a potential result of your positivity.

Think positive thoughts, speak positive words, give hope to others and they're going to see you as positive. There's no trick to this other than to re-write any negative thoughts.

For example.. When you're running distance, what would keep you going?  Thinking about how greatly you would love to stop running, telling yourself you can't do it.  Or thinking about the little goals that are getting you to the big one, mile to mile, telling yourself you can do it, teaching yourself how to keep going and hold hope, keeping your eye on the goal.  As someone who enjoys running I can 100% say it's the second one.

Positivity is a light. It's seeing the bright side. It's optimistic.

It is not getting what you want and still seeing that light.

Keep On Keeping On

In recent weeks I've been stressing myself out with trying to find a job. As a recent college graduate, I thought such a task would be easy, that I'd have companies fighting over me making me wonderful offers for me to begin my career journey with. I was wrong. I'll admit, with a degree in Psychology you really fall into that group of 'trainable' without much leeway to offer 'special skills' to companies. 

As much as I fought with myself to try and be positive and stay happy, I let so much of my life revolve around being upset for lack of having a job so immediately. I begged my mind to go back to it's positive place, and safe to say I wasn't feeling like myself, I was feeling sad in life, an that's okay.

In these situations, just keep on keeping on. Life always gets better, just keep trying to enjoy the experiences and take up every opportunity that you can. You will get back to your good place again, you will feel like you again. 

"No matter what, get up, dress up, and show up." Do what you love in life, even when you're feeling down. Do what relaxes you, try something new, get out and get moving. Allow yourself to feel sad for a while, and then get back to work and eventually, you will find all that you've been hoping for!

I've learned that positivity doesn't always attract positivity. Going after what you want might not always get you what you thought you wanted, but it will get you to some place better.

I was given the gift of a wonderful interview process at a wonderful employer Friday and Today. Today they offered me a position, one which I'm excited about, for more starting pay than I asked, my first REAL adult job! I'm so so so grateful for this opportunity. I've spent more than four hours interviewing and testing with this company. The comfort level was high, they seem just as excited to work with me as I do them, and I get all good vibes. 

My life isn't perfectly on track, and it's not supposed to be. But I can say that I woke up on Friday morning, feeling like myself again, taking chances, and gaining opportunities. Don't force your life. :) 

For During The Storms

From February 9th, 2014

I do believe that it’s important to address that everyone goes through tough times, and that while some of us choose to be positive about these times, we must also realize that not everything can be “fixed” by a change of thought. We all still experience hurt in our lives, and hurt from our experiences isn’t something that you can just stop feeling. 

Yes, I do believe mindset is everything. One of the most amazing things I ever learned was that when you learn something, the neurons and everything in your brain changes too. A very wise professor explained this as we are not the same person after we learn something, at any point in time we can change, our brains literally change for us. 

I have been fighting for over a week now to keep myself in my happy place and full of the energy that so many people seem to admire in me. I’ve been trying so hard, forgetting the beauty in the breakdown. I’m in love with being happy, but life is going to happen.

As stated in Carry On by Fun.:

If you’re lost and alone
Or you’re sinking like a stone.
Carry on.
May your past be the sound
Of your feet upon the ground.
Carry on.

The point I want to make is, it’s okay to sink sometimes, it’s okay to sit with it, you have to sit with it. It doesn’t have to take you over, but just allow the things around you to happen. When you can’t sleep because your mind is so pre-occupied with the bad, remind yourself that you are just going through a hard time and thateventually you will be okay again, allow yourself to sleep with that peace. 

Get your sleep. Eat food even if it makes your stomach turn because your upset. Go on that walk/run/gym trip because it will make you feel better. Eat something healthy because it helps your brain too. Accept the negative happenings in your life and think positively about your future and the opportunities that are presented to you.

Today I realized I was sinking. I realized it was okay to sink. I know that I have to continue to take care of myself and do what needs to be done in school. I cannot be lazy about my life, and I cannot force the energy that I do not have right now. 

I am sinking and I am at peace with that. Eventually, something will change all of that. I still experience happiness. I still have so much to be thankful for. I just have a lot going on. I’m going to float again in time, but for now I’m going to wait it out as best I can and I’m going to be okay with life. I won’t let it make me bitter simply because things aren’t where I wanted them to be.