Cheap and Eco-Friendly Clothes, Oh My!

This last week, I tried someone else's one small thing! I've always been kind of curious about sustainable fashion and how I would go about starting to focus my efforts towards it without raising my budget too much. I always thought that the more sustainable and eco-friendly the clothes, the more expensive they would be which is a problem for people like me: teenagers who like fashion but don't have the money to "afford sustainable clothing." 

As it turns out, sustainable clothing isn't as expensive as you think! After reading May's blog on thrifting (https://sustainabilitywithmay.blogspot.com/), I decided to try it for myself. I've thrifted before but I've only done it about three times before (and not very frequently). This week, I went to a couple different in-person thrift stores (Goodwills, mostly) and online thrift-ed, a ton! 

I found a couple things I like! And while I haven't ordered them just yet (I'm still considering it), I was glad to find things that actually interested me. There were a lot more cute clothes on the apps than I thought there would be. Below are Hawaiian shirts (which are a clothing piece I've been looking for lately!) There were also dresses and sweatshirts I like but I won't be sharing those considering I might want them 😉.

I've always been quite interested in thrifting but I never have the time nor transportation to go. Learning about sustainable and eco-friendly ways to get clothing online was really helpful for me! It makes everything convenient and as fun as online-shopping on any other website. 

Below is an image from January. It's of my boyfriend posing the last time I went thrifting (until this week, of course): 

Part 4: The Finale

Today was the scheduled last day of my self-affirmations and in all honesty, I was pretty sad. It all felt so bittersweet. Like watching the last episode of your favorite show. Even though I felt extremely uncomfortable in the beginning, I found that it really helped me over the time I spent doing it. 

The more days that passed, the more I seemed to benefit from my self-affirmations. Yesterday, in fact, I finally had the confidence to wear a somewhat revealing shirt that I had bought but was always too afraid to wear. I was afraid to look chubby or if others would slut-shame me for wearing something so revealing. I wore a skirt too! Usually, I worry if the skirt will go up or if my parents will shame me for wearing something so short. But, for once yesterday, I felt pretty! I was proud of the body I had and even prouder for mustering enough confidence to wear something like that. In the evening, I went on a date and I felt so incredibly happy to show my boyfriend. 

Overall, I gained so much more confidence and self-satisfaction this week. Telling myself that I was beautiful and that I was enough and seeing my smile in the mirror every day actually made me believe it more. I smiled more throughout the day, too! 

I mentioned in my first post that the cause that this one small thing benefits is mental illness. I don't think that has to be the case. Virtually anyone can do this, any day. It has benefits for everyone, not just the mentally ill. Everyone has imperfections and things they doubt about themselves and in doing this exercise, you can help to alleviate some of the negative consequences. Something to keep in mind is that when you're "working for a cause", you don't have to be benefiting others. You can help yourself! And in that way, you are working for the cause. 

This one small thing, of taking time to encourage yourself every day, was honestly really special to me and I don't think I'll have another experience like it again. I'll definitely be doing this again in the future. I think you should try it too! Who knows? You could end up seeing a much more beautiful version of yourself. 

Part 3: A Bump in the Road

Although this post might be a little short, I thought it would be really important to jot down. 

I failed today. 

I had a lot of deadlines today for class, and a lot of it I procrastinated beforehand. So, in the morning, when it came time for my half-hour, I thought to myself "I can't afford this. I have to get my work done." Which, is the opposite of what we want to do. At the cost of a little of my mental health, I got just a little bit more time for my work. Which, looking back now, wasn't all that useful because I ended up getting distracted and procrastinated later. 

Thinking back now, I really should've taken that 30 minutes off. Especially on a day when I have a lot of work, it can be easy to prioritize that instead of myself. It can be even easier to become super stressed and for my mind to travel to more negative places because of that stress and pressure. To add on to that, weirdly enough, I felt less self-aware the whole day. I thought less about myself and more about work, school, and responsibilities. For me, that's bad because it often leads to disappointment later, at night, when I think about my day. 

Note to self: Don't miss it again! Especially not for schoolwork! 

Part 2: The First Few Days - Maybe, Maybe Not?

 And here we go with the update! In my last blog post, I committed myself to start saying self affirmations and practically forced myself to take time off of things in the morning. And, like  I promised, ever since then and for the last few days, I’ve been looking at myself in the mirror every morning, facing who I am, and maybe learning a couple new things about myself. 

Honestly, the beginning went exactly how I expected. On the very first day, I just kinda stared in the mirror, dreading it. I knew I had to but I really didn’t want to. It just seemed like such a strange thing to do, y’know? Chanting in the mirror by yourself every morning only to dance like a crazy person afterwards? Kinda strange. But I did it anyway. In all honesty, it felt super super awkward. I found myself almost muttering it, trying to keep as quiet as possible so my family didn’t hear me. Then, because I thought it might be better to take baby steps, I turned some music on on my laptop, plugged in some earbuds, and just kinda wiggled and head-bopped in my chair. Even though it felt awkward at first, it was honestly fun. I was glad to be forcing myself to let go, even if it was just for a little bit. I didn’t even have to work while I was listening to music (which I usually do).

Now, the question everyone’s probably asking: does it actually work? I could sit here and list off statistics and studies that it works but that’s not really what everyone’s here for, is it? You could look for that information yourself but you wanted a real, authentic opinion. Well, my answer might be a little disappointing. I actually don’t really know yet. There were times during the week where I would catch my reflection and my subconscious would whisper “wow, I’m cute” but I’m not sure whether to put that on the self-affirmations yet. Things like that would happen before. Even though it seems more frequent than before, that might just be because I notice it more often. I think, at the end of the week, to see if there was any sort of external difference, I’ll ask my boyfriend and family members if they noticed anything different about me. 

But if we were to assume that my newly grown “self-confidence” is a result of the self-affirmation, I’d call that a success! It’s only been a week and I’ve grown to be less tired of and more proud of my reflection. I also feel somewhat worth more; arguing back against people who I think don’t treat me the way I deserved to be treated. For example, if my boyfriend is being disrespectful, I’ll talk back when I hadn’t before because I know I deserve better than that. 

I don’t know. We’ll see how the rest of this week goes! 😊💖

Introduction: Why and What?

Because of the pandemic and last month being National Suicide Awareness Month, I want to raise awareness for something people fail to recognize as a serious problem: mental health and disease. Every year, hundreds of people all around the world take their lives as a result of poor mental health. The number is 10 times greater than that for people who suffer from mental sickness daily. Still, today, with those statistics, there are several negative stigmas surrounding mental health. The first and foremost being that taking care of your physical and mental health too much can be selfish or self-conceited. Here's one of the biggest examples in my life: at my high school, if you don't have a breakdown from working too hard, you aren't doing enough. This stigma completely twists people's conception of mental health and how to take care of yourself. 

One thing we can do to contribute to this cause and prevent poor mental health is to actually help ourselves! Therefore, I will be trying (and I encourage you to follow along) self-affirmations and practicing mindfulness. There are several studies out there that show that having a better sense of self and taking breaks to just breathe can lead to better mental health. 

So here's the plan: first, pick out 3 affirmations for yourself. These should primarily be things that you know you need to work on. This can range from physical appearance, eating disorders, etc. For example, I know that I have a lot of trouble with body dysmorphia and self-worth. Therefore, one of my self-affirmations will be "I am beautiful." 

After picking your 3 affirmations, pick 1 activity that you know will just let you breathe. Take a break from life, if you will. For me, this will be playing happy music and dancing in my bedroom. Other activities that I suggest are: sitting outside and watching the birds, laying in the sun, etc. 

For the two weeks, after my usual morning routine of brushing my teeth and washing my face, etc., I'll set a 30-minute timer. First, I'll repeat those 3 affirmations to myself 3 times. (e.g. I am enough. I matter. I am fearless. I am enough. I matter....). Then, if you want, smile to yourself in the mirror a little bit to confirm it. After that, for the rest of the 30 minutes, do that activity you picked earlier. Even if you have a ton of work that day, even if you have work in an hour. 

The core thing about this is that you need to commit to it every day. Your physical and mental health comes first and foremost, before all else. Therefore, even if you have a lot of work to do, it's important that no matter what, you take the time to do it! If you can't afford to do it in the morning, do it at night right before bed.  

The purpose of this activity is that if you say something enough to yourself, there will be a point where you eventually start to believe it. The more you say an affirmation and the more you think about the affirmation and how it could possibly be true, the more you start to believe in it. This can also be done by anyone and everyone: not just individuals with mental disorders. By saying 3 phrases to yourself every day and taking the time to breathe, anyone can learn to love themselves and love taking care of themselves. 💞