Commonplace Blog #7

As of late, I’ve become acutely aware of how much I let my anxiety and stress consume me every day. However, I haven’t really been proactive about doing something to alleviate the excessive stress…until now, that is. In the past year or so, my older sister has become super into self-care, therapeutic crystal healing, as well as meditation. Knowing full well how stressed I get, she insisted I start jumping on the same bandwagon. I immediately came up with hordes of excuses as to why I couldn’t participate in such activities. My main excuse was that I didn’t have time, as is anyone’s. The truth is, although I am very busy from day to day, I certainly had the ability to allocate at least 15 minutes of my time per day to meditation. I continued to deny this practice of self-care…until now. I realized that chronic stress can lead not only to mental health issues, but physical health problems as well. High levels of stress cause a spike in cortisol levels, a hormone that, if produced in high quantities, can lead to weight gain. That’s what really got me thinking, this was my well-being at stake! I needed to prioritize, and sooner rather than later. So, I looked into self-help books, since as of late, they’ve become all the rage. A friend of mine strongly suggested the book, “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck” by Mark Manson. Intrigued by the title, as anyone would be, I decided to give it a shot, and ordered a copy off Amazon. Upon receiving the book, I realized I had mistakenly ordered the “one-hour read” summary version. Now, I’m an avid reader, and long books to strike me as daunting. However, considering i’m currently juggling two jobs and a full class load, I actually saw accidentally buying the condensed version to be a blessing in disguise. I’m not gonna lie, I’ve only gotten through the first chapter, which is pretty sad considering the entire book is roughly 50 pages. But hey, life gets in the way! Luckily, I’ve found myself actively working to control my stress, and realize that not everything is in my control, and to just let life happen as it does.