I came across this quote and it gave me an idea. Next week; Monday-Friday I will be posting quotes. I really hope that they will help. I know a lot of us sometimes need that extra push to keep us going!

I think about so much when I see the words self love everywhere. Self love means a lot to me. I used to struggle loving myself and it affected me immensely. When you don’t love yourself, you find yourself pointing out every flaw constantly. Well, at least that’s what I used to do. I’m sure we all have our little moments where we don’t feel like we look good on some days, but being insecure is a whole different story. I would critique myself practically everyday and wouldn’t listen when people called me beautiful. I would wish that I could see what they would see. I would always ask “why?” like why couldn’t I just be confident? Not that this was any excuse for me to be so insecure, but I feel like a lot of people entering middle school and high school go through it. I felt that I needed to look a certain way because I hit my teenage years. I began to feel confident my junior year in high school. I would still critique myself a lot, but I kept getting better. Now I am very confident and I absolutely love myself. Not to brag, but I’m so proud of where I’m at. I still loved myself even before I started my vegetarian journey. Yeah I wasn’t so comfortable with my weight, but I still had confidence. My confidence got even higher since I made it to my goal weight; that’s just a bonus! I’m more than happy with myself. I also know that I will become even prouder when I reach more of my goals. Self love is so important guys, don’t you worry about the next person. YOU are YOU.. be YOU. We all look different for a reason, that’s what makes us so beautiful. If you have to look in the mirror and give yourself motivating talks, then go ahead! You could even put post it notes around your mirror, do whatever you can to help you with your confidence. I’ve had conversations with people who just don’t see how beautiful they are, and it takes me back to how I used to be. I just wish everyone could see how great they are. Society and social media can sometimes make you feel so low, but you just can’t let anyone get to you. You are all enough, never forget that.

“To love others, you must first love yourself.” -Leo Buscaglia

As everyone already knows, we lost a legend. Like people have been saying.. Kobe was a legend on the court and a legend off the court. It’s so difficult for me to not think about it because it’s posted everywhere and at random times I think about the incident and I’m still in so much shock. My stomach is literally twisted. I’ve prayed for his family and I’ve prayed for the other passengers who have passed. Losing people you love is such an unbearable pain, and I’m sure the families are trying to do everything they can to stay strong. I have no idea when I’m going to finally wake up and realize that anything can happen any time, any where, or so quickly. I always say that life is so short, and of course I believe that, but sometimes I stress over little things and I don’t take a moment to appreciate the blessings right in front of me. We don’t know when our last day is; we kind of just wake up and do our morning routines and go on with our day. We have to love harder, hug tighter, communicate more, and just live. RIP to the beautiful souls that were taken Sunday, and RIP to just everyone who has gone home.. I honestly think I’m going to stop here. I don’t know what else to say because my mind is sort of all over the place right now. Just know I love you guys. Stay safe, be kind, and give a lot of love.

By reading the title, you guys probably had some questions like; “Okay, what does that mean?” or “Is she moving?” or maybe you didn’t even think to ask those questions. Well, the answer is yes I will be moving, but that will be in a year and definitely NOT to North Carolina. I know I just took a trip to Pennsylvania last month, but I will be going to NC for the Dreamville festival. It has been on my mind since I bought my ticket last month. I am so excited that I will finally be able to see my favorite artist J.Cole. Yes, there will be some other great artists there too and I am excited about that as well. I have been wanting to see J.Cole for the longest and I wasn’t even planning on going to the festival since it’s in NC, but I told myself why not go? Life is so short and it’s time to just go and have fun when I am able to. I just turned 21 and I still have so much to experience. If I could travel right now rather than go to college and work at jobs that I’m not so interested in, I would do it in a heartbeat. I mean anything is possible, but it just isn’t my time to do that yet. Anyway, this year is off to a great start though for sure already. Three big things are already going to happen for me this year and that’s finding more ways to get some extra money, graduating, and finally getting to see my favorite artist! I’m more than happy and I have so many other plans and goals to accomplish this year. I just know that I have to keep being positive and keep the focus. I’m learning to just live a little more, but of course still be very responsible. I know this trip will be another memory that I could never forget. I will take as many pictures as I can, but I really plan to just enjoy the moment. I will post the pictures and maybe some videos for you all to see. Have you ever just planned a trip last minute and had a positive feeling about it? That’s how I’m feeling currently. Have you ever been to a music festival before? How was your experience? I’d love to hear some stories for sure. I hope you all have been having a nice week so far, it’s almost Friday! Let’s finish the week off being productive guys. Thank you all for supporting me for so many months, it truly means a lot to me. Sending blessings and positive energy to you all.

I’ve had many discussions with people about the importance of mental health. I feel like a lot of people go through times where they try their best to be okay, but truly aren’t. I’ve been through it before. Though I feel much better, I can still have those days where I would like to be in my own space. I have a lot of people by my side who support that. I am doing well, my family and friends are well, and my boyfriend is well too. I have decided to take a break from social media for awhile. I find myself scrolling up and down, reading comments, or just jumping from one page to another for long periods of time and doing so has made me realize that I could invest my time in more important things. So far I have deleted my instagram app and I plan on deleting my twitter app. With snapchat, I don’t think I will delete it as of now. I don’t spend much time on it like I used to. I rarely watch people’s snap stories anymore or send snaps anyway. A few days ago I actually deleted a few people who I didn’t really speak to or know much. I did the same thing today as well. It is honestly a great feeling to remove people who don’t really benefit your life. I know I will feel at peace taking a break. I feel like it will help me focus more and truthfully I want to enjoy my moments more with my family and friends and my love without pulling out my phone and taking a video or picture. I don’t do that much already, but it just feels better that way. There was a quote I actually came across the other day and it said, “Just because you didn’t post it on social media, it doesn’t mean that it never happened. We don’t need validation from the internet.” -Anoymous . It is true that we don’t need validation from the internet. Of course not everyone posts for validation from the internet and that is including myself. In middle school and high school, I felt like I needed to post almost everything I was doing, but that changed so much. I would tell myself that not everyone needs to know what my moves are. I love this blog page because I can post about my life, but you guys see a glimpse rather than everything that goes on. I just like keeping some things private. Of course I will continue posting about God, the people I appreciate, something exciting I did on certain days, and some of my accomplishments, but to protect myself and to give myself some peace, I much rather not show it all. I just need some space and to breathe. My mental health is so important to me and I see this as a cleanse from spending too much time on it and seeing things that aren’t about to benefit me in life. When I get back on Instagram, I will manage my time better and remove some people. I will be using it more to promote this blog page because blogging is one of my passions and I know that I have to and can do better! You guys take the moment to ask yourselves about your mental health; make sure you are really okay instead of saying it. Also if you feel like you may need to step back from social media too, go for it. I am rooting for all of you and support you guys. If you need to reach me for advice or anything, you guys are welcome to email me at felicitebarrett@gmail.com. Some of my followers on here have my number already, so you know I am a text or phone call away. Once I get back on social media, of course you all can reach me there. Subscribe to this page so you can get emails on when I post! Thank you all for the support and always know you aren’t alone.

Yesterday I started another spring semester! Of course the first day is always somewhat relaxing in college, but then the stress comes. I’m changing my mindset to try my best NOT to be stressed this semester and so on. It’s 2020, I’m graduating this year! Yes it’ll just be my AA, but that’s another step closer to my goals. God has provided for me for so long and I know that if I do get stressed, I’ll leave it in his hands. I WILL push through. I hope this week is going great so far for you all. Don’t forget to be productive and to not give up!

Normally I do not post on Sundays, but by now you guys know that my blog schedule has been all over the place. I would love to have specific days to post like I did before, but it has been difficult to do that lately. I am hoping that I can have a new set schedule, but for now I will just be posting when I am able to write some thoughts down. I appreciate everyone for understanding and supporting me still! So, last weekend I made a vision board with two of my close friends. For those of you who aren’t really sure what that is; it’s a paper or poster board full of your future goals, your interests, or could even be full of people you love. You can get very creative and put whatever you may like on there. We started our vision boards at 1 a.m. which was kind of a mistake because we didn’t realize how long it was going to take and I had to be up at 7:30 a.m. Though I was very tired, I was so determined to finish it. Once I start something, I feel that I have to finish. Well I ended up finishing it around 5 a.m. I was exhausted, yet so proud of myself. There were a lot of blank spaces on the board, so two days later I added more to it. I may add more quotes to it eventually because there are still some spaces. I just want you guys to know that if you were planning on making a vision board, DO IT! It is so worth it and I have it on my wall already. Seeing it every morning on my wall gives me so much motivation. God’s plans are always bigger, so maybe some of the things we want to do in the future are not what He has planned, but it’s okay to have a vision still! If it’s meant to be, He will lead us to those goals. I have before and after pictures of the board. I hope you guys like it! Sending love and positive energy to you all.

Before

After