#Chat…… We’re back to our regularly scheduled programming

[ask-modern-patrochilles]

Has max said his first word yet?

Achilles: I was born— and mostly raised— in Greece so Greek is my native language. Patroclus is also Greek on his father’s side, he picked it up when he was younger too. We try to speak both languages at home and Max ends up babbling out a lot of jumbled words that sound like a mix between Greek and English. His first real word was ‘dada’ but he’s already trying to say other things too!

[tojiscrack]

HELLO WIFEY IM BACK.

before i go to our regularly scheduled shitbag content, LETS TAKE A MOMENT FOR THE NEW CHAPTER OF LIAR LIAR???

HELLO I LOVED IT SMMMMMM

I AM SO GLAD THAT GOJO CLOCKED SUKUNA'S TEA! i cannot wait to see the future dynamics that come from this

ALSO Y/N SITTING ON GOJO'S SHOULDERS IS SO ADORABLE I LOVED IT

i was also so grateful to not have to read kamo speak in this chapter. brought me much joy. even tho Y/N'S BITCH ASS WAS SPENDING TOO MCUH TIME WITH HIM.

but i was very glad that megumi is starting to show more interest in her semi romantically.

now if you tear this away from me, i will hunt you down and shiv you when you least expect it.

for legal reasons, this is a joke.

I AM SO VERY EXCITED FOR FUTURE CHAPTERS!!!!

now back to our regularly schedule programming.

'like you seem sceptical but it’s not BAD 😫'

uh huh... sure... tbf i dont like beans

'i’ve never tried a desi breakfast ☹️ but i don’t doubt that it tastes great! it looks really good too 👀'

it's so yummy

'DON’T BE SURPRISED WHEN I SLIDE INTO UR DMS INTERROGATING YOU ABOUT THE AMERICAN GRADING SYSTEM 😫🫶🏽'

YES OMGGGGGGG I GOTCHUUUU

'but i just don’t think shin ramen is for me'

NONONO U CANT MIX THINGS UP THE FIRST TIME U TRY IT!!!

lemme put u onto a recipe

so, ur gonna just cook the noodles from the shin ramen with about a cup and a half of water. then, ur gonna take a bit of that water and add it to some peanut butter. hey hey hey stay with me now. trust my process. then, mix in the seasoning packet. and then add it to the noodles and let it simmer for a tiny bit of time. AND THEN BAM. banger noodles.

'ok but we also know that kay comes into my inbox every other day to chat shit about you 🌝'

this is the most british sentence ive seen in my life BUT YES U ARE RIGHT

'me personally, i think you should cut him off completely 😬 block button is free + he has a gf so i think just out of respect for that (even if he himself doesn’t respect that) you should do ur part by untangling urself from any of that 🫡'

see the issue here is, before we had our situationship, he was my guy best friend. and we have MANY mutual friends and are in tons of gc together. it just wouldn't work out to block him. thats the rlly annoying part.

'HOW IS HE EVEN PULLING YOU AND THAT OTHER GIRL?? 😭'

I HAVE NO CLUE. IT'S TERRIBLE

'start ur life anew (without him) and let him wonder how his life would’ve been sm better with you in it if he had treated you right and been a better person 😋'

I WISH BRO

'i’d hate to see how you’d behave with a girl you DON’T like 💀'

lowk bro acts the same LMAOOO

also i realized this today but part of the reason why i think he didnt tell me ab him and his ex getting back tgth is he knew i HATED his ex LMAOOO

'however, you should never rely on a man for his money, being financially dependent is a necessity'

oh of course not queen. i am a cs baddie on the rise. we both go to a college prep school. relying on him for money was never an option 😋😋😋😋

'everyone’s too busy caring about themselves to do anything about it :)'

our grade is so tiny we have nothing better to do than talk ab other ppl i fear....

and when i say our grade is tiny, i mean it. like most public schools have graduating classes of like

ehh 500 or so.

our graduating class is going to be 70 people.

'not until you wipe ur mouth from that indirect kiss from that THING you call a man 😐'

I STARTED CACKLING HELLO

'tojis bumcrack ‘cause i find that hilarious HAHAHA 😭😭'

YES OMG THATS WHAT I WAS HOPING IT WAS

'‘cause we’re exchanging cute nicknames but then he’s come back to ruin it :/'

i think shitbag for u in my asks is like kamo for me in ur story 😋😋😋

'DO NOT INVITE HIM TO UR PARTY 🌝'

THE ISSUE IS IVE TOLD HIM AB IT A LOT....

so the new shitbag lore is that

in a gc i have w him and some of my close friends, i was complaining about not having a bf and how i want one so bad.

and i get a call. i do not see who it is. i assume it's my mother bc it's late at night and i'm making too much noise. i answer the phone.

it's shit bag.

he turns the call into a ft and screenshares our school's directory, asking me what i think of every guy on the thing.

i think he's trying to set me up with one of them.

we narrow it down to the only two guys in my grade i'd consider being even slightly attracted to.

he decides to add a third guy to this list.

for this, there is more lore u must know.

back when me and shitbag were just bsfs, i rlly liked one of shitbag's friends. lets call him niceguy. niceguy, like his name, was rlly nice and rlly funny. and i've known him since 2nd grade bc we went to the same elementary and middle school.

and i started liking niceguy this summer bc i worked with him at a summercamp. it was lots of fun. and i ended up inviting him to my bday party and he came and we got a picture tgth which ended up being rlly cute.

i would talk to shitbag a lot ab niceguy, asking for advice and shit.

and then one day, i am looking through my phone. and at this point, we had our homecoming dance within 2 weeks of the present day. and i was rlly hoping niceguy would ask me bc we texted a lot and talked a lot in person. and a lot of ppl rlly thought he might like me back.

but as i'm going through instagram, i see his story is him, one of my not so close friends, and a hoco proposal sign.

i am torn. i am distraught. i have a 4 hour ft call with shitbag to discuss it.

and niceguy and the friend i'm not so close with start dating from that day forward.

after a month or so, they break up.

and that is why, shitbag wants me to add niceguy back to the list.

where was i going with this? uhhhh... oh right. so shitbag ended up fting me for too damn long going through our directory.

and then i told him i was gonna go sleep (WHICH I WAS QUITE PROUD OF BC WHEN I LIKED HIM, I WOULD STAY UP AND FT WHENEVER HE ASKED AND WOULD WAIT TIL HE WANTED TO SLEEP LMAOO)

and i havent texted him since!

now, on better news. i am currently replaying mystic messenger. i do not know if u know this game but i played it when iw as 13 and i am feeling very nostalgic as of late so i had to hop back on the game. i am having much fun and i think this is part of the reason why i havent been texting shitbag back.

god bless for fictional men!

anyways how is your life going wifey?

i think this may be the last of the shitbag updates so shorter asks coming soon!

LMAOOO

bye pookie

HI HI HELLO <3

‘I AM SO GLAD THAT GOJO CLOCKED SUKUNA'S TEA!’ — can you tell i’m a very biased gojo stan? 😋‼️ sukuna lovers are in enemy territory rn i’m jk, like yeah i hate that thing with a PASSION, but idc if you love no-neck-ed LMAOO

‘ALSO Y/N SITTING ON GOJO'S SHOULDERS IS SO ADORABLE I LOVED IT’ — i HAD to implement dadjo in the series bc as much as his relationship with the characters in canon was more like a fun older brother looking out for his students, he’s so father coded, specifically during the exchange event in s1 of jjk 😫 like his behaviour was sooo embarrassing-dad-supporting-his-kids (and the fit looked delicious like yum yum i’m eating well tonight 😁)

‘i was also so grateful to not have to read kamo speak in this chapter. brought me much joy’ — HELP HE’S JUST A GUY WITH A CRUSH 😭 the kamo hate is so funny yet i feel so bad for him 💀 but keep ‘em coming, it still lowkey brings me joy HAHAHA

‘even tho Y/N'S BITCH ASS WAS SPENDING TOO MCUH TIME WITH HIM’ — girl any more of the y/n criticism from you and i’m gonna start to think you hate our poor mc 🫵🏽😟🫷🏽

but just to be clear, it was just a tutoring session with kamo. they weren’t hanging-out-hanging-out, iygwim?

‘if you tear this away from me, i will hunt you down and shiv you when you least expect it’ — 🌝

i’ve been keeping my windows and doors locked SINCE the malakai hate train started a couple months ago, ‘cause i knew that if that poor emo kid was getting hate ‘cause of a random ANON who started shipping him and y/n (they’ve still yet to reveal themselves 🤨) then the kamo hate would rise astronomically from the very same ppl 😭

now with that threat, i humbly remind you of the ‘angst’ tag 🌝 no comment on anything after that

‘for legal reasons, this is a joke’ — i sURE HOPE SO??? 😭

‘I AM SO VERY EXCITED FOR FUTURE CHAPTERS!!!!’ — IAISNWISNWIEJ ME TOO, but unfortunately, at some point from here and up until june, there are gonna be super slow updates :( i’ll address that another time tho! <3

now for the rest of the askkk :)

there’s a problem with ur shin ramen recipe…

i am (unfortunately) a very picky eater. and i hate peanut butter ☹️ but you probably already guessed that with the ‘hey hey hey stay with me now’ 🥴 i’m sorry, peanut butter is vile

shin ramen is just not for me ig 🥲

now as for shitbag… ik you mention that you guys have mutual friends and are in several gc’s tgth, so maybe blocking him is just not possible here, but giving him clipped responses when he texted and declining face-times is very much possible, i believe 😁 get away from that sad excuse of a human being kay, PLS

like you can text him when he texts you first (the italics here are important) but make sure they’re very simple responses, nothing he can use as an opportunity to build on. and 4hr face-times are a nO NO.

absolutely no.

he has a gf, you are not his gf, and even if you DESPISE who he’s currently with, be the better person and leave it 😭

there! problem solved! 😋

‘also i realised this today but part of the reason why i think he didnt tell me ab him and his ex getting back tgth is he knew i HATED his ex’ — hmmm, this tells me a lot about him already 💀 i’m sorry kay, i do NOT like this imposter who-entered-earth-without-a-visa 😐

‘I STARTED CACKLING HELLO’ — HAHAHA 😭 i’m dead serious. i don’t like that guy. i even feel like ‘shitbag’ as a name for him is a compliment, if anything.

‘i think shitbag for u in my asks is like kamo for me in ur story😋😋😋’ — FREEZE 🤨🤚🏽

i don’t not support kamo hate, but i don’t support it either. and yet, this one sentence is the only kamo-hate-sentence that lowkey has me tweaking.

do not compare our respectful-nonchalant-dreadhead-kamo to that bin-juice-of-a-human-being-SHITBAG. EVER 🤢

‘so the new shitbag lore is that’ — STOP ✋🏽 HALT 🛑

did i forget to mention that i DETEST shitbag with my whole entire being?

‘and then i told him i was gonna go sleep (WHICH I WAS QUITE PROUD OF BC WHEN I LIKED HIM, I WOULD STAY UP AND FT WHENEVER HE ASKED AND WOULD WAIT TIL HE WANTED TO SLEEP LMAOO)’ — CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT 🥳 WE LOVE TO SEE IT

ok good, you’re not longer texting that unique-breed-of-human-kind, got my first point out of the way real quick. don’t ever text him unless he texts you

secondly, niceguy’s available. probably the only thing i agree with shitbag with. you should get with niceguy :)

my personal opinion that i have rooted to the core is to stay single forever and ever, marry fictional men and die in love with them, ‘cause that’s been my plan for as long as i can remember and look at me: no situationships, no drama, no SHITBAGS 🤭

‘now, on better news’ — YESSS

‘i do not know if you know this game’ — i’m not aware of it. even when i looked it up, i was a little confused haha. i was a moviestarplanet, stardoll, baby hazel, moshi monsters, bin weevils, purble place, club penguin, sarah’s cooking class, papa’s freezeria, pizzaria, hotdogaria (etc), roblox girly through and through 🥴

but i am super glad you are starting to find enjoyable things to look back on that take you away from the negative doom-cloud that is shitbag! 😙 idek you irl but that genuinely makes me so happy for youuuu <3

‘god bless for fictional men!’ — ameen 🌝

‘anyways how is your life going wifey?’ — ugh, don’t even get me started 😀 i’m living vicariously through you, honestly 😭

‘i think this may be the last of the shitbag updates so shorter asks coming soon!’ — THEY CAN STILL BE LONG, I LOVE HEARING ABOUT UR DAY AND STUFF AND GETTING TO KNOW YOU, but i’m glad shitbag will no longer be the centre of our conversations (literally who does he think he is, starring as a mc in MY blog)

I HOPE YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL DAYYY ;)

[houseofsol]

i’m here! kinda. sorta. still waiting on the coffee to do its thing. hopefully everyone is having a good day?? it has been a week and this past weekend was even crazier than normal. so much snow. not as much as two years ago, thank god,but man did it snow and snow and snow. though i’m grateful we didn’t get the ice storm that our friends in oregon got. winter definitely decided that it was going to remind all of us that it’s still there. who would’ve thought that winter would give us all of it in the span of a few days? not me. at least we’re finally above freezing. slowly but surely things will melt and then we’ll go back to our regularly scheduled programming of rain, rain, and yes more rain. xD but i’m here! i think i’ve finally got a decent handle on the replies across all my blogs. i am sorry for being slow but we all know that some days you can crank out a ton and other days you can’t. xD thanks for being patient and understanding. i’m over on @cxpt today working through what i feel i can write. please don’t think i don’t like our stuff just because i’ve yet to reply to it. the longer the reply the longer it takes me to get to. xD i will get to them. it’s just taking me a lot longer than usual. also don’t forget the inbox is always open for chatting or plotting. i promise we don’t bite. ;) i’ll hop on discord in a bit. just need food first. till then we’ll be lurking about! <33

[comicteaparty]

June 27th-July 3rd, 2020 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from June 27th, 2020 to July 3rd, 2020.  The chat focused on the following question:

If you could do your webcomic for a living, how would that change things in regards to how you work on it (if at all)?

Deo101 [Millennium]

I'd definitely put out more content, cause I could focus on it fully every day of the week.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

i would probably start hating it and get burnt out

Deo101 [Millennium]

thats why I would also have to start another comic or do short stories on the side or something, too.

I would probably keep individual comics update schedules the same, I'd just do more comics

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

If it became a part-time job, I don't think anything would change. It kind of feels like that already. If I were in a position where it became a full-time job, I do dread how my relationship with the work would change. I don't think I could ever make as much doing comics as I do in my day job (which isn't crazy, but is comfortable) so I don't know if I could ever 100% transition unless it was really, really worth it It's something I've thought about a lot, for sure.

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

In a way, my comic is my full-time job? I don't make very much money with it, but I do put over 40 hours a week into it, and I don't have another job. I am in the very fortunate position of having an SO who is able to support me financially while I try to get my footing with my passion. If I was depending on it for a paycheck though, the main thing that would change is my style would probably get simpler, because there is no way I can make enough pages a week otherwise.

Holmeaa - working on WAYFINDERS

It is really the dream to be able to do it! Right now I am unemployed, so I basically treat the comic as my fulltime job, until I find the next short project. I want to be able to work on it full time! In Denmark there are some cool possibilities to get funding from the government and I hope we can get enrolled with some of those programs with our comic.

I would also just love to do small videos, podcasts, animations etc. Small fun projects

Mitzi (Trophallaxis)

If I had to do it full time, I think i'd put a LOT more hours into learning how to paint, watching speedpaints, ect. It'd also make a huge difference in my living situation, as the first thing I'd honestly do with a full time at-home job is move to another city with cheaper rent. Another state, maybe! Oh, and I'd do a lot more promo work. posters and animations are fun, but they're not quite worth it with an audience consisting of two my writing partner's friends, and my older brother.

Shizamura 🌟 O Sarilho

the biggest difference, I suppose, would be that I would make a lot more pages, a lot faster. But I like it that it's been pointed that the relationship with work changes when you have to do things full time, so there may be some unpredictable variables there

eliushi [Keyspace]

For a living for me can mean many different things: able to sustain living expenses vs full-time. There’s overlap but one gives financial security meaning an element of creative freedom. The opposite end will probably entail working on other comic projects with the current one as a passion story on the side (no change but probably might not want to draw so much after drawing for work!) If we’re discussing the ability to do the webcomic full time without financial worries then I do believe my output will increase but also I will be dedicating more time to the craft (studying story structures, art directions etc) as well as marketing/joining professional associations/pitching/connections. There are a lot of career options within the comic world and I’d love to explore everything before deciding what’s best for the current story. Ultimately if I were to do this as a living, I’d treat it like any other job: a routine, a strive for improvement, and wellness to recharge. I follow several artists not only for their art but also their schedule/workflow to see what worked for others. It’s very interesting!

In reality though, I might work on smaller scale projects on the side to build up the experience and platform needed to tell the story of Keyspace. As a full time comic creator, I’ll be seriously thinking to covert the seven novel series into a hug comic project. So TL;DR if full time, I make more pages

varethane

I'm in an odd place with my comic because.... well, I sort of had an opportunity to spend all of my time on it for a few months, when I was in between contracts at work. But I found that I wasnt getting it done all that much faster than I did when also working full time

To be fair, it's kind of hard to compare my speed between the three periods, because when I returned to work after a few months away, it was after work from home had started and now I no longer have a commute, so perhaps my ability to squeeze comic pages into my free time has expanded.... but I feel like my attention span caps out around 8 hours on any single task

So I didnt work that much faster. But... I'm also bad at keeping track. I could be wrong.

Yung Skrimp (Carefree)

8 hours is a long attention span

varethane

It's not all in one go, haha.

eliushi [Keyspace]

I definitely have to take breaks between pages, whether or not I have just a few minutes to a chunk of hours

It’s about finding a balance that works for you!

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I don't think I could put more hours daily into my comic than I currently do. I have a chronic issue with my drawing shoulder, so my body won't be able to handle that much work. Probably wouldn't be great for my eyes, either. I also don't know if I want my livelihood to depend on how many people like my story. This story is a pair of custom-tailored skinny jeans for my heart (and I have an unusual body type, making it impossible to wear skinny jeans regardless of size). It's a story I want to read. It's meant to fit ME. I don't want to worry about how to also make it fit a bunch of other people.

That being said, some people do find themselves in a situation where they're making something they want to read, and a bunch of other people just happen to like it, too. I think that would be nice

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

I physically can‘t draw for more than four, five hours a day, found that out the hard wayy

eliushi [Keyspace]

I most recently developed pain likely due to RSI and have made accommodations since then but yeah it was scary to think that I have a limit in drawing time. Gotta find ways to take care of yourself for the long run

cAPSLOCK (Tailslide)

I think if comics were my only job, I'd feel a lot more anxious about what I create, and would struggle to work consistently. Having another pursuit makes me feel like I have more freedom to experiment, learn, and make what I want to make.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

That's a really good point keii

Would drawing a comic for a living push me to change it to have more mass appeal?

I don't know but it is definitely possible and would be on my mind

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

It is the dream, if I could get a decent monthly wage on my comic, yes I will dedicate more time, work out a better schedule. Get an editor and colourist on board to help make a polished series. Altho I'm still doing this method to build good working habits But I agree with Eli's point, have to assign days for breaks for myself to prevent RSI. At present I have a trained mindset to work on schedules, but I may feel the pressure to produce as fast as I could.(edited)

Desnik

Well, for starters, my comic would actually be released somewhere, so it'd be nice if it made something back for me

Miranda

I’d actually release it. And work on it regularly, instead of sporadically like I have been! I’d definitely be more critical of what I was doing, and probably way more anxious every time I posted.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

You know, when I was only like 6 years old, I was like "I don't want to be an artist when I grow up. I love art too much, and I don't want to burn out and stop enjoying it. So I'm gonna be a singer instead." I have no idea how 6-year-old me knew about burnout, but I definitely remember saying that in response to an adult asking something like "what do you wanna be when you grow up"/ "wow, you're drawing all the time; do you want to become an artist?"

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

The more I do comics the more I think I want to do art stuff as part of my main career. I would love to make sequential art that's for science purposes

sagaholmgaard

Ah that would be the dream! I'd probably feel more secure in my ability to build up a backlog of pages, and be able to make more extra content for the PDF version! And more content for instagram and twitter as well

kayotics

If I were to be able to do comics full time I think it would completely change my current lifestyle. Not even money wise but I’d need to switch up a lot of things. Like make sure I get a good amount of exercise in. I’d probably add in another page a week, but then use the rest of my week to project manage the comic, and promote my work. I’d spend a lot of other time working on creating an online store, because I can’t see the comic working full time without some supplemental merch keeping me afloat. And I’d also use that time to create and work on another comic series I think.

Yung Skrimp (Carefree)

If I were to do comics full time I’d flex on everyone I know

Feather J. Fern

If I was able to do comics full time, be able to pay off debts, substain rent and food, and extra saved for small spluges, I will shove my comic in my family's face(I got a family who doesn't believe in me at all), dancing around screaming "I MADE IT IN LIFE" And then jump out the window because haha this can't be a reality because I don't think I will ever make it in comics. I will still keep my other job of working at a library and drawing on the side becuase I want working job insurance and also I am the type who wants to save all their money if possible(edited)

eliushi [Keyspace]

I was on board until jumping out the window

Yung Skrimp (Carefree)

I wasn't on board until jumping out the window

Now I am

Moral_Gutpunch

If I could do this for a living, I could do so much. I could afford to put my mother ina home, start my dream farm and start a bunch of conservation as well, I could help my husband fund his own sidegig, and I could afford to foster pets like I always wanted.

shadowhood {SunnyxRain}

Personally, if I was able to do it I would be a lot more invested in it. I would also make a lot less excuses as to why I'm not practicing as much; it took a pandemic to happen for me to dry taking it more seriously!

I think overall I might have been more happy.

On the other hand, there's also the danger of burnout, of constantly doing the same thing over and over again for me. I'm the type that needs constant change, so I think I'm more suited to having another occupation be my main profession while comics/art would be a secondary one, where I don't have as much pressure. Furthermore, it's also my backup plan in case anything happens to my main job.

Moral_Gutpunch

^ This. I'd be focusing so much more on comics. And I'd be expanding into more comics and writing more stories. I'd be happier I'm writing more, but more frustrated at writers block

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

Man if I could do it full time, might be able to pull more page updates and actually get deep into doing some long term projects I had planned for years. I won't have much of an issue as long i can also do my zine projects on the side. also would be nice to have some job insurance too along with it lmao. the only danger that could take it away if I get incapacitated for no reason lmao

TaliePlume

If I could do comics as my full time job would be awesome! But all that focus would go only to the comic and nothing else which is bad because I would be neglecting a lot of things and not getting other things done.

AntiBunny

I'd finally be able to tell my whole story and start telling another. It drives me crazy that I have more ideas than I can pursue.

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

In terms of my actual production, I'm not sure doing my comic as a living would change much lol. I already spend upwards of 40 hours a week on it, I seriously doubt there's more I could be doing. So, earning a living off my comic would just be... one less thing to worry about.

[spunknbite]

I want to say thank you thank you thank you for all the kind messages I received over the last few days - you guys are the absolute best and you seriously brightened me up. I hermitted for a few days and read a ton (both my book to-read pile as well as a bunch of fics you all sent, which I appreciate so so so much) and I’m feeling a bit improved. I’m planning on getting back to writing this weekend - I’ve got a few hours to myself on Saturday, and I’m looking forward to going to my fav library and upping the word count on my current WIP.

A few people have asked what’s up and I wasn’t planning on getting into details because a) it’s private and b) it’s depressing and I don’t want to post downer shit on my happy fandom tumblr. But then I had an amazing chat this morning with someone on here who I absolutely adore, and I decided what the hell, women shouldn’t be so fucking ashamed of this shit.

Please check the tags for trigger warnings, friends.

Miscarriages fucking suck. Miscarriage #3 happened this past Sunday night, which officially puts me in there’s a problem territory according to my doctor. Had no issues with my daughter, but since then it’s just been this shitty cycle of trying, brief elation, heartbreak. Repeat.

The worst part of it is there’s no proper outlet for this type of grief, there’s no Goddamn closure. It’s taken as a sad risk of pregnancy, something to just move on from once the next one sticks. But for me it’s an open wound, one on top of the last wound that never really healed from #2 or #1. And the pain of it is just dismissed because it was so early on in the pregnancy. Like it’s just a setback, a blip on a calendar. But it fucking hurts.

I know a lot of you are significantly younger than me, probably a long way off from trying for kids, if you choose to. But here’s the takeaway, regardless of your age or desire to have children: feel your feelings. There’s no right or wrong way to mourn, so don’t let other people dismiss your process. It’s valid, to use everyone’s favourite word; your feelings are valid by virtue of being yours.

Anyway, if anyone ever needs to talk about pregnancy loss, if any of you guys are going through something similar, hit me up, if you want a friendly ear. We as women don’t discuss it. It gets rug swept, like we caused it or something, like we’re ashamed. Don’t be. Come talk to me if you need to. Any time.

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

[chasholidays]

BOOTY DOCTOR

Wells is the one who actually wants to join a gym. His pitch to Clarke is that he needs a buddy to keep him accountable, so they should sign up together, and she about half-believes him, in that she thinks it’s about half true. He really does like having company, but he’s also Wells. In general, he is motivated and responsible and definitely would go to the gym on his own. He doesn’t actually need Clarke to go with him.

But Clarke was lagging on finding a gym for herself, making excuses about how she’d do it later, and Wells probably figured he should just find a gym and come up with a schedule for both of them. They were gym buddies in high school and then she didn’t go to the gym much in college; maybe he’s the missing piece of her fitness routine.

The place he picks is only a few blocks from their apartment, on her way home from work, which is another point in favor of the whole plan, and enough to tip her into actually agreeing. They meet up at the train station, go over to the gym together, and Wells does whatever magic he does to be secretly super ripped while Clarke watches trashy TV on the stair master.

It’s a good system, one that Clarke likes and feels no need to disrupt with anything drastic like group classes or making eye contact with anyone else in the gym for a good three months, right up until she first notices The Guy.

The Guy is showing someone in street clothes how a rowing machine works in front of Clarke’s machine, and she notices him slowly, his features coming into focus as she realizes he’s worth looking at.

He’s got nice arms, that’s the first thing that grabs her attention. Then she sees the curly hair, the freckles, the warm brown of his eyes and the curve of his smile. He’s hot, but also an employee, and as far as Clarke is concerned, that means he’s for looking only. No one wants to get hit on at work.

But when she leaves the stair master to go work on her arms, she sees The Guy behind the front desk, alone and looking a little bored, and she goes over before she can remind herself it’s a bad idea. It’s not like she’s going to be inappropriate. It’s fine.

He straightens and gives her a smile, which is even more to deal with full on. He’s wearing the standard A-to-Z Gym tank top with his name stitched onto the left breast–Bellamy–and his whole upper body looks even better up close and personal.

“Hi, can I help you?”

“I wanted to see a schedule?” she says, the words coming out as a question largely because she’s still coming up with them herself. “For classes?”

“Sure. Weekly or monthly?”

“What’s the difference?”

“We have a lot of weekly and bi-weekly programs, but there are also ones that happen every other week or just once a month. So–how regularly you’re coming and how often you want the class to be, pretty much.”

“I’ll look at the weekly.”

He pulls a laminated sheet out from under the counter and slides it over to her. Clarke’s only just met him, but she can tell he’s watching her, interested, like he’s waiting for something.

It doesn’t take her long to find it, but she makes herself keep going, gives it a few seconds before she flicks her eyes up to his. His face is straight, giving nothing away. “You guys have a lot of zumba.”

“Yeah, it’s really popular. We keep having to add new sessions.”

She scans the rest of the schedule, sees the same listing again on Saturday, just like Sunday: 9 am, BOOTY DOCTOR.

“Okay, fine,” she says, eyes flicking back up to Bellamy. “Booty doctor?”

His mouth twitches. “It’s a class.”

“Clearly.”

He cracks with a small huff of laughter. “Yeah, uh–that’s Roan, he’s the owner and founder. I’m pretty sure he decided to open a gym just so he could come up with his own curriculum. He does most of the zumba too, and the kickboxing.”

“So is it a clinic or what? Does he give you feedback on your booty? Honestly, it sounds kind of creepy.”

“It’s, uh–” He opens and shuts his mouth. “Honestly, it’s indescribable. If you can make it in on a weekend, it’s worth it just to see it.”

On the one hand, Clarke’s not sure about doing additional gym stuff just because there’s a cute guy who’s smiling at her and she wants to see more of him. On the other, if she’s going to do something to see more of a cute guy, there are so many worse things she could be doing. At least this is good for her. And Bellamy is telling her to come, which makes it minimally weird. It’s not like she’s stalking him.

“Are the sessions both the same?”

“Yeah. But I work Tuesday to Saturday,” he adds. “So if Saturday works for you, you can report back to me on how it went.”

It’s probably something he’s supposed to say, a way to get people to actually show up. The personal connection people have with trainers, or whatever. If she’s supposed to tell him how it went, she’s more motivated to come in the first place. It’s not personal, and she’s not reading into it.

Still, she smiles. “I could probably swing it. But be honest: is it worth being at the gym at 9 am on a Saturday?”

“Maybe not every week. But at least once, just to say you did it.”

“Can’t argue with that,” she says. “Sign me up.”

*

“I can’t believe you’re making me do this,” Wells grumbles.

“You don’t want to find out what Booty Doctor is? It was in all caps on the schedule. That’s got to mean something.”

“It’s nine am.”

“You always wake up at eight. You say getting up early on Saturday makes you feel productive.”

“Yeah, but I don’t work out this early.” He makes a face. “Booty Doctor? Really?”

“Apparently.”

“This guy from the gym better be really cute,” he grumbles, and Clarke pats him on the shoulder.

“We’ll get coffee after.”

Bellamy’s behind the desk again when they get there, chatting with a cute girl with long brown hair in a tight ponytail. He turns at the sound of the door and smiles, causing a rush of self-consciousness in Clarke’s chest. She’s been thinking about the encounter off and on for the last few days, ever since it happened, but it was probably routine for him. For all she knows, he doesn’t even remember. She might not have made an impression at all.

But he smiles at her as he scans her ID card. “Hey, welcome back. Ready for Booty Doctor?”

“I don’t know, you won’t tell me what it is.”

“I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise.”

“So you’re actually kind of preventing me from getting ready for it.”

He smirks. “You’ll thank me later.”

“I’d say this is a bad sales pitch, but I guess you did actually convince me to do it, so–which room?”

She very pointedly doesn’t look at Wells as they go in and set up their mats. It’s decently busy, to her surprise, the space already full of people, mostly women in the twenty to seventy age range, which makes her wonder if “check out Booty Doctor” is a standard sales tactic for Bellamy.

Then again, all of these people can’t possibly be new, so whatever the class is, it’s good enough that they keep coming back. So even if Bellamy is the one bringing people in, whatever Booty Doctor is has to have some continuing appeal.

Possibly sex appeal. Maybe Roan is hot and–

“Okay, yeah, I’d probably wake up at eight on a Saturday to flirt with that guy,” Wells says, sly, and Clarke rolls her eyes.

“You didn’t even talk to him.”

“I didn’t want to interrupt you flirting with him. You seemed to have it under control. Well, as under control as you ever have it.”

Clarke’s about to protest, but the lights in the room dim suddenly, lasers streaming out of a fixture in the ceiling she hadn’t noticed, and some bass-heavy music starts to thump. She and Wells turn their attention to the front of the room, watching as a shirtless man in a white lab coat makes his entrance, waving his arms to encourage the already cheering audience.

“What is happening,” Wells murmurs, and Clarke shrugs, eyes still locked on the makeshift stage.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” the man booms. He’s wearing aviator sunglasses. “Greetings and salutations, happy Saturday. It’s been a long week without you.”

The music cuts out and the lights come up, and in regular lighting with the regular context of an exercise room, the man–the booty doctor, presumably–looks even weirder. Like he’s a character in a fighting video game, wearing a special outfit you have to beat the whole game to unlock.

“For our newcomers, welcome, I’m delighted to see you. I am Roan Iceman, PhD.” He deliberately drops his gaze, looking out at them over the top of his sunglasses with a smirk. If this was a TV show, his teeth would sparkle. With a sound effect. “The booty doctor.”

There’s another huge cheer from the crowd, like they’re at a concert, and Clarke doesn’t even know how Bellamy could have spoiled this for her. Even if he’d told her that there was a shirtless guy in a lab coat coming out to a light show, she wouldn’t have really been prepared. She probably would have thought he was fucking with her.

But in a way, the weirdest part is that after the introduction, the whole thing is pretty normal. Clarke hasn’t done a lot of workout classes, but it’s basically what she would have expected from TV, Roan leading them through a variety of exercise designed to give them better asses. The music selection is good and Roan is energetic and charismatic, and it’s even fun. He’s still wearing his sunglasses and lab coat, but she can live with that. In fact, by the time they’re winding down, she barely even notices them anymore.

Roan guides them through cool-down stretches and then asks, “So, how do we think we’re doing?”

“Not sure!” the crowd calls back, as one. It seems like a weird answer for a call-and-response, but Roan grins.

“Do you think we need to check?”

“Yes!”

He whips off his coat, throws it into the crowd for someone to catch, and turns around, bending over and presenting them with his own (admittedly flawless) ass. His shorts say BOOTY DOCTOR in glittery letters, one word on each cheek, and Clarke’s brain is still trying to catch up with that as the crowd goes wild.

“I hope to see some of you tomorrow!” Roan says, putting his sunglasses back on and waving. “Until next time, may the booty be with you!”

Clarke and Wells file out in silence, too stunned by what they’ve seen to offer commentary. Everyone else is apparently used to it, and they’re surrounded by happy chatter as they leave. No one else realizes Booty Doctor is bizarre and surreal. Maybe there are subliminal messages in the lasers that slowly convince people this is okay.

To her surprise, the first thing Wells says is, “Okay, so I’ll see you at home?”

“What?”

“I’m going to go grab Starbucks and go home.” He rolls his eyes significantly, and Clarke sees Bellamy wiping down some of the weight machines. “See you later.”

She does want to do a postmortem on the whole thing with him later too, but privacy for checking in with Bellamy is appreciated. And, honestly, she wouldn’t want to be Wells, awkwardly hovering, either. He’s too good a wing man to participate in the conversation, so he would have just been awkward.

“I don’t think you could have prepared me for that if you tried,” she tells Bellamy, and he jumps, looks up at her with a surprised grin.

“Yeah, it needs to be seen to be believed.”

“I was wondering why he was wearing the lab coat if the butt was such a focus, so it was nice that he had the big reveal at the end.”

“He said that if he showed his ass right away, there wouldn’t be any reason for people to stay. You have to make them wait for it.”

“Obviously. Does he get the lab coats back, or is that a souvenir for whoever catches it?”

“If you catch it, it’s yours to keep. He has one of those Amazon buttons to buy more of them whenever he needs to.”

“Wow.” She considers, trying to remember her other objections, not wanting the conversation to end yet. There was so much to process, it’s hard to bring it back. Especially when she’s actually pretty worn out. “I also would have expected the booty doctor to be an MD, not a PhD, but I guess I don’t actually know what degree you get to become a booty doctor.”

“Women’s and Gender Studies,” Bellamy supplies, straightfaced. “From Rutgers.”

Her jaw actually drops. “He’s a real doctor?”

“Rich people,” he says, with a shrug. “He got his degree and then decided he wanted to start a gym. I know Dr. Roan Iceman, PhD sounds like a porn name, but he is a real doctor somehow.”

“And a good one,” says a voice, and Clarke turns to see the man himself, still shirtless, still in the same pair of shorts. “If I do say so myself. I don’t believe we’ve met.”

“Clarke,” she says, offering her hand. Once they’ve shaken, she offers it to Bellamy too. “We haven’t actually introduced ourselves either.”

“Yeah, but my name is on my shirt and your name is on your ID.” He shakes, and then points to his breast. “Bellamy.”

“I thought it might be creepy if I knew that.”

“I sent you into Booty Doctor unprepared, so–”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” says Roan. “What did you think?”

Bellamy looks relaxed and easy, so Clarke figures she can be honest. Assuming she figures out what honesty is; she’s still not actually sure what she witnessed in there. A normal gym class sandwiched between surreal stage shows, maybe.

“It was something,” she says, and Bellamy snorts softly.

“And will you be back tomorrow?”

Bellamy works Tuesday to Saturday, and even leaving that aside, Clarke’s not really sure she could handle two sessions with the booty doctor in a single week. Even one was pushing it.

“Not tomorrow,” she says, smiling. “But next week for sure.”

*

The Saturday Booty Doctor class is easy to slot into her schedule, even if waking up that early is something of a challenge. It’s a decent workout on top of being genuinely fun, and after it’s over Clarke gets to go and report back to Bellamy, who continues to be cute and charming and generally appealing, but also continues to be a paid employee of the gym she attends, which is one of those things that can be hard to navigate. Bellamy is the assistant manager, a kind of jack-of-all-trades who works with clients both individually and in groups, so Clarke has seen him interacting with basically everyone. He’s unfailingly friendly and charming, patient and happy to talk to anyone, and while Clarke can tell herself he smiles at her wider, looks happier to see her, seeks her out more, she second-guesses it every time.

Wells tells her that too, of course, but he’s biased too.

“I’ve definitely seen him checking you out,” he says, as they’re walking home on Thursday.

“Well, I do wear low-cut tank tops to the gym,” she says. “Just because he’s looking, it doesn’t mean he’s interested. I check you out at the gym too.”

He flexes for her, and she whistles appreciatively. But he sobers quickly. “Look, I’m just trying to help. I know you like him.”

“I barely know him,” she protests. “I think he’s hot and I like talking to him. It’s not that deep.”

“It doesn’t have to be that deep,” Wells shoots back. “I’m not telling you to marry the guy, but the requirements to ask someone out are pretty low. I know you haven’t really been into the dating thing since Lexa,” he adds, before she can protest. “I get it. But if you just ask if he wants to get a drink sometime? That’s so safe. He can just say no and it’s done. You can still talk.”

“Isn’t don’t hit on service professionals at work a pretty standard guideline?”

“Asking him if he wants to get a drink and backing off if he says no is probably fine. You don’t have to, but I think he wouldn’t mind. And I think it would be good for you.”

“I’ll think about it,” she says. “But I think he’s just being professional.”

“Well, I think he wants to make out with you. And not just because of how much cleavage your workout shirts show off. And I know that if you didn’t have the he’s working excuse to fall back on, you would have come up with another reason you couldn’t possibly make a move, so I’m not buying it.”

That one hits home. He wasn’t wrong about her lack of interest in dating since Lexa, and part of her is aware that if Bellamy did express overt interest, she’d panic a little. And, okay, she’d probably get over it and go out with him. But she’d panic first.

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”

He claps her on the shoulder. “And that’s why I’m not going to the Booty Doctor classes with you anymore.”

“Wait, what?”

“If you want to go hang out with the guy, you’re going solo. You can flirt with him without me having to make excuses to take off. And I can have my Saturday mornings back.”

It’s completely reasonable even leaving aside the Bellamy part; Wells doesn’t have to come to her weird fitness class, and he deserves to do whatever he wants during the period from nine to ten on Saturday mornings. She can go to Booty Doctor alone.

Still, on Saturday, when she opens the door to the gym by herself for the first time, she can’t help a surge of nervousness, against all logic and reason. She’s never been here alone before. She’s always had backup.

Bellamy’s not at the desk, to her surprise, but Octavia is, looking half-awake and mildly surly. But when she sees Clarke, she straightens and smiles, just like her brother would.

“Where’s Bellamy?” Clarke asks. She hasn’t gotten close to Octavia like she has Bellamy, but they’re friendly enough.

“Assistant manager duties. I’m sure you’ll see him later.” She gives Clarke an odd smile. “Have fun in class!”

Since it’s Saturday, she just changed at home and can go straight in without hitting the locker room first. With a couple months of classes under her belt, she’s gotten familiar with some of the other participants, even has a group of older women she usually sets up with. As usual, they’re already there, stretching, and Clarke joins them with a round of greetings.

“Where’s Wells?” asks Ingrid, frowning.

“He decided nine is too early for him. I guess the booty isn’t a big enough draw.”

“Now that’s a shame. But the two of you don’t have to do everything together. Once you’ve been together a bit longer–”

Clarke holds up her hand. “We’re still not dating. Best friends.”

“The best relationships start with friendship,” says Diane. “It makes for a solid foundation.”

There’s no real point in fighting them on this, so Clarke just smiles, tries not to think about Wells saying the same stuff about Bellamy. It’s so easy for people on the outside to be sure they know exactly what they’re seeing, to put together their own narratives based on bias.

Clarke herself is, of course, biased toward thinking she doesn’t have a chance. But at least she recognizes it’s a bias.

The lights dim and the show starts up, still bizarre even after a couple months of attendance. She’ll get used to it eventually, but there’s a part of her that can’t help hoping she never will, that the Booty Doctor experience will always be this fucking weird.

She notices the difference right from the start, from the first flash of the white lab coat. Roan is fluid and confident in his movements, and the person taking the stage now is lagging, hesitant. The hair is different, the build, the whole–

She figures it out a split second before the voice booms, “Ladies and gentlemen!” and it’s Bellamy.

Bellamy’s assistant manager duties are being the booty doctor.

The rest of the crowd has noticed something is up by now, although Clarke doesn’t have a good sense of how many know it’s Bellamy versus just not being Roan. Murmurs race through the class, and she whispers, “Sounds like Bellamy,” before anyone else in her vicinity can speak up.

“I’m not Roan,” he confirms, smile crooked, a much less bombastic opening than usual. He recovers with a smooth, “But I am very happy to be here!” that Clarke is sure is a complete and total lie.

The lights come up as usual, and there he is. He’s clean shaven, face free of the usual dusting of stubble, and wearing, well, the traditional garb of the booty doctor: white lab coat, no shirt, tiny shorts that cling and, presumably, say BOOTY DOCTOR in glitter on the ass.

It’s not hot, exactly. Obviously, the all the component parts are hot: Bellamy looks great, the lab coat somehow works on him, his chest is amazing, and the bulge at the front of the shorts is distractingly there. But the full image is mostly just–too much. Which is maybe good; she’s just as glad Bellamy’s booty medicine isn’t a kink for her.

“So, as always welcome to our newcomers,” he says. “And to our regulars, sorry for the change in plans. As you know, I am not the booty doctor.”

He seems to be going for a kind of aww shucks persona that draws on his understandable self-consciousness about the whole situation, and it seems to be working. The crowd cheers, and someone calls, “We still love you!”

He laughs. “Thanks. I’m, uh–Bellamy Blake, I guess I’ll be your booty nurse for the day. Roan came down with something, so he’s going to be out for a few days, but hopefully you’ll be back on schedule next week.”

“Where are your sunglasses?” Clarke calls, and he spares her a glare. She gives him a thumbs up.

“You need a PhD for the sunglasses. Okay, are we ready to work our butts off?”

It hadn’t really occurred to Clarke that she’d never seen Bellamy actually instructing anyone before. Or, well, she’d seen it, but from a distance, watching him help someone figure out how to use weight machines or demonstrating a yoga position. She’s never been in one of his classes or been close enough to really know what he was like, as a fitness instructor. And of course she wouldn’t have expected him to be bad at it, but she wasn’t entirely prepared for how good he is. Not that Roan is bad either, of course–he’s probably the best booty doctor there is–but Bellamy has a completely different energy, less suited to this particular medium, but easy to imagine in other contexts. He must be great one-on-one and with kids, and it almost feels like he’s wasted here in the gym.

Here, especially. He was never meant to be a booty doctor. He’s got his own skill set.

He leads the group through the cool-down exercises and then straightens, smile nervous. He’s been hiding his discomfort pretty well during the actual exercises, but now it’s back, in every inch of his frame as he watches the crowd. “Okay, so, that’s it for me this week–”

Clarke doesn’t protest, but everyone else does, an immediate wave of discontent rolling through the crowd. Someone calls, “Show us the booty!” and Bellamy ducks his head on a laugh.

“Okay, but let’s all keep in mind that I’m not a professional booty doctor, okay? Be nice.”

He makes eye contact with Clarke before he shrugs off the coat and tosses it towards her, and she moves forward as if in slow motion, snatching the coat out of the air like no one else is even there.

As soon as that’s done, the inherent ridiculousness of the situation sinks in and she remembers that she’s holding a cheap, sweaty lab coat that Roan bought in bulk off of Amazon, but whatever. She’s being supportive.

She folds the coat as Bellamy spins to display his own perfect ass to the cheering crowd. When he comes back up, he’s bright red, adorably sheepish. “Thanks again for having me. Let’s all hope Roan is back next week.”

As always, a handful of people want to talk to the instructor, and this time it’s a much larger handful, people presumably wanting to tell Bellamy he did well and thank him for filling in. Clarke doesn’t feel any need to join them, just slips out and heads back to the front desk.

Octavia grins. “How did he do?”

“Surprisingly well. He hated it, but he did fine.”

“And he took the coat off,” she says, jerking her chin to the lab coat in Clarke’s arms. “I thought he was trying to get out of that.”

“You’ve seen the Booty Doctor crowd, they weren’t going to let him get away with not showing off his ass.”

Octavia sighs. “We’ve got Lincoln doing it tomorrow, I’m going to see if I can sneak in to watch at least some. If I say it’s for moral support, he probably won’t notice I just want to check him out.”

“Is Roan okay?” Clarke asks. “How long is he going to be out?”

“Not for as long as he should be,” Octavia says, with a roll of her eyes. “He’s not, like, dying or anything, just a stomach bug. He still tried to come in, but Bell pointed out that the booty doctor projectile vomiting all over his class would really jeopardize his reputation as a medical professional.”

“And if the booty doctor doesn’t have his integrity, he’s got nothing.”

Octavia grins. “You get it. Where’s your boyfriend, by the way?”

“My boyfriend?”

“The guy you always come in with.”

“That’s my best friend,” she says, frowning. “Does everyone here think I’m dating Wells?”

Octavia shrugs. “You guys always come in together, you usually leave together, you seem close. I figured it could go either way, so I was definitely fishing.”

“Single and bisexual,” says Clarke, going for casual. Given Octavia was just talking about going to check out Lincoln, it seems unlikely she’s fishing for herself, but Clarke wouldn’t mind checking Lincoln out either, so they could both be single and bisexual. And there’s always the possibility that she was hoping Wells was single, not Clarke.

Or she could be fishing for her brother. That’s a possibility.

“Wells is too,” she adds, just in case.

Octavia smirks. “Bell too. Big bisexual party.”

“Title of your sex tape,” Bellamy says, absent. He’s pulled on his usual tank top and workout pants, looking more like himself, and Clarke’s stomach flops with fondness. “What are we talking about?”

“How Clarke doesn’t actually have a boyfriend.”

He frowns. “What about Wells?”

“We’ve been best friends since birth,” says Clarke. “And not in that secretly-in-love way. Just regular friends.”

“Oh,” he says. “Good to know. Is he okay? I saw he wasn’t in class.”

“He decided to quit Booty Doctor and get his Saturdays back. He’s going to be so sad he missed this.”

“I just hope no one filmed it.”

“You did a great job,” she says, and his expression softens into relief.

“Yeah?”

“I don’t think booty doctor is the right gimmick for you,” she admits. “But you’re a great instructor and everyone had fun.” She holds up the coat. “Did you want this? To remember your big debut?”

“You can just throw it away,” he says, but there’s some lingering tension in his voice that Clarke doesn’t like.

“If you don’t want it, I’m keeping it. I’ve never caught it before.”

He ducks his head. “It’s all yours.”

It’s a moment where Clarke gets to make up her mind, where she can either let this go or try, put some minimal amount of effort in. She likes this guy, likes him as more than just a pretty face and a nice smile, and this won’t be her only chance to make a move, but this is natural, easy. And she can still pull back, if it seems to be going wrong.

But it might go right.

“Did you really think Wells was my boyfriend?”

“I thought he might be.”

“He’s not.”

“And you’re single.”

“Yup. Your sister said you are too.”

“Yeah.” He bites the corner of his mouth. “You know, I get that a lot of people who come to the Booty Doctor class want to check Roan out, but I never got it. Is it actually hot?”

“It’s probably exciting. Why?”

“I don’t know if being the booty doctor is actually something I can use as a pick-up line.”

“You’re not the booty doctor, you’re the booty nurse.”

He cocks his head. “Does that make a difference?”

“In what?”

“Picking people up. Picking you up,” he adds, before she can even start to worry. “Specifically.”

“It’s not a deal breaker,” she says, smile growing on her face. “But it’s not a turn-on or anything.”

“That’s probably good, honestly.” He rubs the back of his neck. “So, uh–are you doing anything tonight? I get off at three, which is kind of early for dates, but–”

She leans up, gives him a quick peck on the lips. “I’ll be back at three.”

A pleased little smile plays on his mouth. “Cool,” he says. “See you then.”

*

“Wasn’t the whole point of going to Booty Doctor to flirt with Bellamy?” Wells asks the next week. He’s awake, but still in his pajamas, and Clarke can admit she’s a little jealous of him for not having to get dressed and leave the house yet.

On the other hand, she’s going to leave the house and see her boyfriend. That’s pretty great.

“And?” she asks, filling up her water bottle.

“And now that you’re dating him, you don’t need excuses to see him anymore. You could just stop going to Booty Doctor and sleep in on Saturdays.”

“But then if Bellamy ever subs in again, I’ll miss it. Wasn’t going to the gym your idea? Shouldn’t you be proud of me for going more? I’m setting a good example.”

Wells snorts. “Shouldn’t you be buying me expensive presents to thank me for getting you to sign up for a gym and helping you get a boyfriend?”

“I probably should.” She kisses him on the forehead as she passes behind the couch. “Thanks, you’re the best. You sure you don’t want to come?”

“Definitely not. But have fun.”

“Always do,” she says, and somehow it’s actually true. She gets to kiss her boyfriend, attend a ridiculous gym class, and she still has time to go home, shower, and get some adult shit done before she picks Bellamy up after work to hang out.

She’s really got this physical fitness thing worked out, if she does say so herself. Dr. Roan Iceman, PhD, might be onto something.

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Some nutrients in the foods we consume aren't conveniently bioavailable to us, implying we may not constantly gain from all of a nutrient that a food or supplement includes. Spinach, as an example, is recognized for being high in iron content, however it's an inferior sort of iron various from that found in meat and harder for our bodies to absorb.

Furthermore, spinach consists of a chemical substance that binds to the iron and also avoids much of it from being soaked up in our system. The outcome is that we only get a small portion of the amount of iron any type of offering of spinach contains. Even even worse, these issues vary from person to person. When it concerns both food and supplements, not every one of what we consume is really bioavailable.

The Digestive System Wildcard

Depending upon your particular intestine wellness as well as the kind and variety of intestinal vegetation at the workplace in your digestive system, along with what medicines you could be taking and also your overall health and wellness, the amount of any kind of nutrient you take in from a pill or food may differ wildly from that of another person.

Consider an example. The Japanese are renowned for taking pleasure in the health and wellness benefits of seaweed: a part of the conventional Japanese diet. Yet when people not elevated on that particular standard diet regimen effort to consume algae, their bodies are generally unable to take in the nutrients in the same way.

This is due to the fact that something in the standard Japanese diet plan, or possibly passed on by mommies eating that diet during an infant's early life, conveys an enzyme necessary for the body to process the nutrients in seaweed. This is a severe example, yet it occurs on a smaller range everywhere and in any way times. It's just difficult to say exactly how much of any nutrient you'll absorb when it's taken by mouth, partially because your digestive system is so complicated.

The Muscle mass Quandary

Injections of certain nutrients are far more able than dental supplements, but they still don't have 100% assured distribution of all the vitamins as well as nutrients. Shots are supplied into muscle mass tissue near blood vessels which occupy the shot. Yet it's constantly feasible for several of the shot to be also much from the blood vessels or merely take too long to be absorbed. None of this is an issue when an IV sends the nutrients straight to the blood stream.

Instant Rehydration

One of the greatest benefits of IV mixture therapy is that it normally includes large quantities of water in addition to the nutrients. Consuming water is terrific, but there's no more able method to get it into your system than by providing it straight to the bloodstream.

When you're correctly hydrated, all your vital body organ functions are protected and also you are much less most likely to experience muscular tissue damages, irregularity, or kidney rocks. Yet medical professionals approximate that concerning 75% of individuals in America are chronically dehydrated. IV therapy may fix that concern for you.

Power Increase

Whether you're experiencing a medical problem like chronic fatigue or anxiety, attempting to eliminate off a chilly, or need to recuperate from a huge event the evening before, you'll get an instantaneous increase of energy and also refreshment from IV therapy.

Skin Improvement

Since you're providing essential nutrients and vitamins right into the bloodstream, you rejuvenate your body at the mobile degree. Empty shops of nutrients are covered up, as well as the body feels excellent concerning liberating sources for what it takes into consideration "secondary functions," like restoring as well as recovering hair, skin, and nails.

Relaxation

An IV infusion takes a bit longer than a simple shot, however it's well worth it. Treatment doesn't injured, as well as it gives you some important downtime to invest relaxing in our comfy Sherman workplace. Lots of clients sleep, however you may also catch up on your favored TV program, checked out a publication, or ultimately navigate to chatting with your mother!

Customized Therapy

Among the very most features of an IV infusion treatment is that it is considerably personalized. Everything relies on what you require. All kinds of things may be contributed to your drip, so whether you're trying to find even more power, need to recover from an evening of alcohol consumption or a hard workout, need an increase to your metabolic process, or want to give your health system the assistance it needs, the ideal therapy is available for you.

This is also the optimal way to handle a shortage, like iron or Vitamins B12 or D. If you have a chronic illness to deal with, a personally tailored treatment may help in reducing symptoms as well as provide you extra power. It's additionally an excellent assistance if you're fighting certain acute diseases like damage cells and require assistance dealing with chemo as well as various other challenging therapies.

Proactive Protection

If you're the aggressive kind that intends to get on top of your wellness as opposed to waiting for issues to occur, IV treatment could be most for you. It's a fantastic part of preventative healthcare. For instance, aiding dosages of Vitamin C are poisonous to damage cells and may help the body build its health system. When you find the right therapy for you and the most therapy schedule, you may additionally good eliminate breathing disease, migraines, and also a lot more.

Boosted Workouts.

IV treatment has certain benefits for athletes wanting to overcome their very own restrictions and come back around as promptly as feasible. After a great deal of exertion, you're most likely to struggle with muscle spasms, exhaustion, as well as worn out, hurting muscular tissues. With an IV therapy treatment, you're instantly changing the lost nutrients, rehydrating intensively, and giving your body every little thing it needs to fix as well as expand stronger for the next occasion.

Contaminant Removal.

We're all revealed to ecological toxins everywhere, from the used smoke blown in our faces on the pathway to the vehicle exhaust as well as other contaminants that load our skies. We're additionally consuming toxic substances in our foods when they're splashed with chemicals or filled with chemicals to improve their shelf life. Over time, these may take a genuine toll on your health and wellness and also appearance. Fight back with a treatment that may aid to purge those toxins away.

Am I a Good Candidate for Therapy?

Nearly any type of grown-up with a healthy and balanced lifestyle is a great candidate for this mixture treatment. These treatments do not change your healthy and balanced lifestyle, as well as they may never ever be a substitute for a great diet plan packed with nutrient-rich, varied foods. They additionally might not "offset" bad lifestyle options, like extreme drinking, smoking cigarettes, or lack of exercise.

What they may do is take your currently healthy and balanced way of living and diet plan and press them to the next level. Involve our workplace in Sherman for an appointment. We may review your goals, pay attention to your symptoms, and also do some testing to uncover where you might be lacking. Then we may discover the ideal infusions to enhance and enhance your health.

Are There Any Indications or Signs And Symptoms of Shortages to Watch for?

The three most typical shortages in modern-day America are iron, Vitamin D, and Vitamin B, though others definitely exist.

Iron Shortage Signs.

This deficiency is really common among people who consume a low-iron diet plan, such as vegans and also vegetarians, as well as amongst women who menstruate greatly. If you have actually just undergone a major injury, have actually had bariatric surgery, or experience peptic ulcers, IBS, or gastric disease, your body may likewise have a hard time taking in adequate iron from diet regimen alone. If you observe two or three of these symptoms, consider being available in to speak with us:.

Uncommon fatigue.

Lack of breath.

Frustrations as well as dizziness.

Pale skin, particularly on the inside of the reduced eyelids.

Dry skin and also hair.

Agitated leg syndrome.

Regularly cold hands as well as feet.

Constant infections.

Vitamin D Deficiency Indicators.

The easiest method for us to obtain Vitamin D is by making it in our own skin with direct exposure to the sunlight. Regrettably, exposing our skin to the sun additionally harms the skin and also increases the possibility of establishing skin damage cells. We may likewise obtain Vitamin D from strengthened milk, egg, fish, beef, and fish liver oil, however once again, many people on a vegan diet who additionally secure their skin have problem getting sufficient of this crucial vitamin.

Vitamin D is vital to heart and health and wellness, appropriate blood circulation, and also bone growth. It's additionally a vital facilitator for the appropriate absorption of other nutrients in the intestines. If a Vitamin D deficiency takes place too long, it may bring about shortages in magnesium, calcium, iron, and zinc. If you obtain just little sun exposure, have an inadequate diet plan, as well as struggle with a few of the adhering to signs, come talk to us regarding how a Vitamin D infusion might aid:.

Weight gain.

Depression.

Fatigue.

Gotten worse psoriasis.

Gotten worse diabetes mellitus.

Aggravated bronchial asthma.

Sleeping disorders.

Vitamin B12 Shortage Indicators.

This is an additional vitamin found most abundantly in meat as well as pet products, suggesting that those who stay clear of such foods often tend to experience deficiencies. But various other at-risk teams include those who've undertaken bariatric surgical procedure, those taking antacids long-term, individuals on Metformin, and also the senior. If you come under among these groups, take into consideration these signs of a deficiency:.

Jaundiced skin.

Persistent weakness as well as fatigue.

Endangered equilibrium.

Pins as well as needles sensations in the extremities.

Mouth ulcers.

Disrupted vision.

Mood modifications.

Without a doubt one of the most usual very early sign of a B12 deficiency is weakness as well as exhaustion. The bright side is that it's very easy to remedy this with IV mixture therapy.

The article “ What Are the Benefits of IV Infusion Therapy? “ was first appeared on Nourished

Know more about the benefits of iv vitamin therapy and how it may help you achieve optimum health. The IV Lounge is an IV drip clinic in Toronto. Go check them out at www.theivlounge.ca

[dipulb3]

The man behind Fortnite is making the riskiest bet of his career. The payoff could be huge

New Post has been published on https://appradab.com/the-man-behind-fortnite-is-making-the-riskiest-bet-of-his-career-the-payoff-could-be-huge/

The man behind Fortnite is making the riskiest bet of his career. The payoff could be huge

The CEO and founder of Epic Games has had a knack for picking the right battles while also shoring up his company’s independence. Fortnite, the company’s blockbuster battle royale game, recently topped more than 15 million concurrent players and has spawned a universe of fandom. Epic challenged established platforms by launching its own digital video game storefront. And the multi-billion dollar company developed the Unreal Engine, a proprietary software for making its own video games that it licenses out to other developers and animators.

Now Sweeney, 50, is embarking on the biggest battle in his company’s 30-year history: Epic is suing Apple and Google in a legal challenge that could remake the future of the digital economy.

“Epic’s frustration with Apple especially, and Google to some extent, had been building up for at least three years. Ever since Fortnite grew to have a large audience, we felt stifled by several things,” Sweeney told Appradab Business during a December interview.

Launched in 2017, Fortnite quickly became a phenomenon. When it first debuted, Epic charged $40 to download the game — a typical price. But the company quickly pivoted to a riskier business model, betting that offering Fortnite as a free-to-play game with in-app purchases of digital items like outfits would generate more overall revenue.

The bet paid off. Though Epic has raked in billions off Fortnite’s in-game purchases — about $1.3 billion in 2020 and $1.8 billion in 2019, according to Nielsen’s gaming division SuperData — the company balked at paying a chunk of that revenue to app store owners like Apple and Google. If a player downloaded Fortnite from Apple’s App Store, for example, Apple would receive a 30% cut of all in-app purchases.

Sweeney believed that requirement violated antitrust laws because it forced developers to use Apple and Google’s payment systems.

So Epic spent months developing its battle plan to fight Apple, which it codenamed “Project Liberty,” he said.

The company prepped a 60-page lawsuit and created a video that parodied Apple’s classic “1984” commercial, for good measure.

On August 13, Project Liberty was sprung into action — a plan that sought to force the tech giants into response.

In a blog post, Epic encouraged Fortnite users to pay the company directly for in-app purchases. Both Google and Apple promptly removed Fortnite from their stores, alleging the company violated their terms of service. Epic then filed lawsuits against each of the companies, in which Epic argued the courts should intervene and order Apple and Google to allow developers to sell in-app purchases without the 30% revenue cut.

“Epic’s problem is entirely self-inflicted and is in their power to resolve,” Apple said in a statement. “Epic has been one of the most successful developers on the App Store, growing into a multibillion dollar business that reaches millions of iOS customers around the world. We very much want to keep the company as part of the Apple Developer Program and their apps on the Store.”

Google responded that it had “consistent policies that are fair to developers” and that Fortnite had violated those rules. “However, we welcome the opportunity to continue our discussions with Epic and bring Fortnite back to Google Play,” it added.

For Sweeney, who spoke to Appradab Business via video call from his home, the battle against Apple and Google is about more than just a 30% cut of its revenue.

“I grew up in a time in which anybody could make software. This is my first computer, an Apple II,” said Sweeney, gesturing towards the iconic blocky, grey machine on the desk behind him. “You turn it on and it comes up with a programming language prompt,” he continued. “So I felt all along that open platforms are the key to free markets and the future of computing.”

Early dreams

In 1991, a young, 20-something Sweeney founded Epic, then known as Potomac Computer Systems, as a way to sell copies of a video game he made himself. He ran the company out of his parents’ house in Maryland.

While Epic produced its own shooter games like Fire Fight and Unreal, it also began licensing its game development technology to other game makers in the late 1990s. This became the Unreal Engine, a ubiquitous game software which is now an essential part of Epic’s business. Between 2012 and 2017, Epic survived mostly on revenue generated from the Unreal Engine’s licensing fees, said Sweeney. Today, the Unreal Engine is also used in animation, such as creating scenes for Disney’s “The Mandalorian.”

Sweeney said he always envisioned Epic as a multi-faceted business. He wanted Epic to both make and sell games — and create and license the tools used to make them.

One part of that equation was, of course, Fortnite.

From the outset, Epic has always has always had outsized ambitions for Fortnite. The game has dozens of crossovers each year, from Marvel’s Avengers to Star Wars. It hosts massive virtual concerts and gives gamers endless shiny features, with the aim that there’s something new each time a player logs on. But the breakneck speed of development allegedly had a real cost for its workers, some of whom told gaming publication Polygon in 2019 that they regularly worked 70-hour weeks. Since then, Epic has made changes including hiring more people, soliciting more employee feedback, offering unlimited paid time off and mandating company-wide vacations, according to the company.

Epic’s decision in 2018 to expand into selling third-party games created yet another business opportunity, and yet another fight against the establishment. By launching its own games store, and cutting out the middleman, Epic was attempting to break into an already thriving market for PC games that was, at the time, dominated by Steam, a popular games store.

“We had to move mountains in order to have any chance of gaining traction at all,” said Sweeney. Epic’s store attracted attention for splashy stunts like giving away Grand Theft Auto V, which is the best-selling game in the US in the last decade, according to NPD Group.

While the Epic Games Store has gained momentum, attracting over 160 million PC users and generating over $700 million in purchases last year according to the company, critics object to its exclusive deals that keep certain games out of other stores. Sweeney has defended his position, saying the store exclusives are a reasonable strategy that helps Epic compete against Steam.

In 2019, Epic acquired social media app Houseparty and later announced it would add voice chat to Fortnite through the app.

The company was valued at $17.3 billion as of 2020, making Sweeney a billionaire.

Uniquely positioned

While investors of Epic include Tencent, which has a 39% stake, and Sony, which purchased a 1.4% stake in 2020 for $250 million, Sweeney remains the CEO and controlling shareholder.

Competitor Roblox has announced its plans for a direct listing and Unity — a rival to Unreal — went public in 2020. But Epic Games has little interest in an IPO.

“We’re still a highly independent company who’s not beholden to public markets in which we have to show ever-increasing profits,” said Sweeney. “And anything like a fight like this [with Apple and Google], which loses us money for a year or more, would never be tolerated. So we have the financial independence to do that.”

Epic’s business model gives it a flexibility that other tech companies don’t necessarily have.

“Unlike Facebook, iOS doesn’t drive the majority of Epic’s revenues. Unlike Spotify or Netflix, Epic is highly profitable,” said Matthew Ball, a former Amazon Studios executive and strategist who has penned over 20,000 words on Fortnite and Epic. “And unlike almost all other large companies, Epic is private and majority controlled by one person.”

Ball added that the fight with Apple and Google didn’t come without sacrifices for Epic, which might see avid iPhone users find other games to replace Fortnite as the app spends months if not years in legal purgatory. “But Epic is uniquely able to push back,” he said.

What’s at stake

Sweeney declined to say how much the company is spending on legal fees, but he said that the fight to take on Apple and Google is costing “lots and lots” of senior leadership time.

And the ban on Fortnite in app stores is costing the company plenty in lost revenue. Fortnite users have spent about $1.2 billion globally on the game on iOS since its launch, according to mobile app tracker Sensor Tower.

Epic’s case against Apple is expected to go to trial in May. Google is seeking to have Epic’s suit dismissed in a hearing scheduled on February 18.

Such a public fray has unnerved some developers, who fear that Apple might go a step further and remove apps from its store simply for being built using the Unreal Engine, which it briefly threatened to do last August.

“We were legitimately planning to switch to Unreal for our next VR project but after Tim decided to poke the bear we decided it wasn’t [worth] the risk,” game developer Ryan Engle tweeted in December. “I love Epic and Unreal, but business is business and the real-world consequences of Apple banning Epic is too much risk for us.”

Sweeney responded saying that Engle’s “fear of retaliation by Apple” was shared by many developers, but Epic would “fight on just the same!”

Epic is also risking Fortnite’s market share on iOS and Android platforms, as fans may turn to other games during the legal battle. On Android devices, Fortnite can be downloaded from Epic’s website and app stores other than Google’s Play Store, so while access is hindered, it’s not eliminated. However on Apple devices, the game can no longer be downloaded at all.

Sweeney also faced backlash in November for controversially comparing Fortnite’s legal battle to the civil rights movement.

“The point is if you really want to make a difference, you have to buck the system,” Sweeney said in response to the criticism. “I think there’s a lot we can learn from any of the past struggles in humanity and I think it’s perfectly healthy to apply struggles from vital causes in the history of the world to struggles over smaller issues like software platforms.”

Returning to court

For Epic Games and Sweeney, the risks are worthwhile. Sweeney fears a dystopian future where tech platforms are dominated by a few companies and the most successful apps are cloned by those companies to maximize profits.

“[The companies] will just do that industry by industry and app category by app category until they’ve gobbled up everything that matters. And who will be left?” said Sweeney. “A million indie developers who collectively together make a small percentage of revenues on the app store because these businesses are too small to be attractive to steal.”

In what Epic’s best case scenario, the court could rule that Apple and Google are prohibited from bundling payment services with their app stores, allowing developers to be paid directly, according to legal experts.

But if Epic loses, it will at least make clear what the limits of antitrust law are, so people with similar grievances can look to appeal Congress for antitrust reform, according to John Bergmayer, legal director of consumer rights group Public Knowledge.

“I think [Epic winning the lawsuits] would be pretty good for the markets overall,” said Mitch Stoltz, senior staff attorney of the nonprofit digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation, in an August interview. “You’d see more experimentation. You’d see more business models. You’d see more innovation.”

As for Sweeney, he’s optimistic Epic can change the industry.

“It’s Epic fighting or pressing for change and succeeding, and it’s not that unusual,” he said. “We’ve done it many times and everybody in the industry has benefited often.”

[anguianobrodan90]

My Boyfriend Wants To Save Himself For Marriage Unbelievable Tricks

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Stop Saying Divorce Is The Easy Way Out

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What Can I Do To Save My Marriage

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[meditationandlifestyle]

During my first day of graduate school to become a psychologist, a wise, mischievous, provocative professor said to us: 

Human suffering is often about freedom and containment. When we have too much containment, we scream for freedom. “Let me be me! I need space! Don’t tell me what to do!” But when we have too much freedom, we start to feel adrift. Fearful. Lost in space… and suddenly we are longing for containment. “Hold me close! I need to feel safe!”  

My years of work as a therapist, professor, and community member—did I mention that I live in a cooperative household of eight adults?—have made the wisdom of this insight so clear to me. Our interpersonal upsets and inner pain are so frequently a form of rebelling against too much containment (“Don’t fence me in!”) or protesting not enough contact or security (“Where did you GO?”)

What does all of this have to do with a global pandemic, social distancing, and the disruption of everything?   

Our everyday social structures have been altered, and some have even (temporarily, at least) evaporated. These structures normally create connection: in meetings and at the water cooler at work, in class and at the playground at school, at the gym and the coffee shop. Importantly, they also create distance: We say goodbye to our partners and kids in the morning, and we greet them again in the evening. All of this happens automatically, without much effort on our parts. And while we like to rail against these structures (“Same old, same old, every day”), when they are suddenly removed, people respond in interesting ways. 

Three Ways People React to the Sudden Loss of Normal

Some may initially delight in newfound freedom—the removal of constraint. “I can do whatever I want to! Netflix, PJ’s, and chocolate all day!” It’s delicious—for a moment. 

Others might be initially terrified by newly imposed constraints. Children home all day every day. Spouses suddenly inhabiting the same space 24/7. No more trips to the gym, a restaurant, a library; many of our local parks are even off-limits. “I gotta get out of here. I can’t breathe!”

Still others are feeling anxiety, or even terror, about the sudden, yawning horizon of solitude. No social events, no classes, no sports . . . just aloneness. “Is anybody out there? What will I DO with all this time?” 

It’s normal to stagger when the old structures are swept away.

Whatever our first reaction, most of us are likely feeling the creeping presence of something we typically like to avoid. An emotion, a persistent mood, a relationship, a life challenge that is neatly tucked away into the background, until it’s not—and its emergence is unnerving, unwelcome, and sometimes downright terrifying. 

Four Universal Elements of Health and Well-Being 

 It’s normal to stagger when the old structures are swept away. And today we have the opportunity (and, frankly, the imperative) to create new norms and daily habits. Intentionally. By design. For our well-being, and the well-being of our families and communities, we are called upon to actually generate sustainable structures that produce sanity, health, and human thriving. 

How? At Open Source Wellness—of which I am Co-Founder and Executive Director—we start by creating daily structures around a “Universal Prescription” for health and well-being: Move, Nourish, Connect, Be. 

Whether we’re in generally good health or struggling with chronic physical or psychological challenges, every person needs these four things, every day:

1.     Move. Our bodies need to move. Every day. They need to stretch, reach, twist, bend, step, sweat, to whatever degree works for our unique shapes and constitutions. 

2.   Nourish. A balanced and nutritious meal sets us up for steady energy, mood, and motivation throughout the day. This doesn’t mean banning or outlawing the small treats that bring us joy, but rather setting up a daily meal structure that fills our bellies with nourishing, healthy foods.

3. Connect. We need to feel seen, heard, and understood by other people—and to extend the same to them in return. The developer and philanthropist James Rouse famously said, “A healthy community is a garden to grow people in.” We can create community as medicine for ourselves, our families, and our societies.

4.  Be. Amidst all the “doing”—the preparing, protecting, adjusting, coping, responding, providing, procuring—humans need moments to simply BE. We need to pause, regularly and long enough to let our nervous system come back to baseline.

Take the Quiz: Where are you on a scale from frazzled to balanced? 

How are you doing with each of the four aspects of the “Universal Prescription?” 

First, grab a pen and your journal (or a piece of paper). Try rating each aspect (Move, Connect, Nourish, and Be) on a scale from 1-10, with 1 being “I’m nowhere near meeting my goals for this,” and 10 being “I’m feeling great about this, and my behavior is totally aligned with my values.” 

Remember, the aim of this quiz isn’t to judge yourself—it’s simply to be honest about where you are, so you can make informed choices.

Also, as you do this personal wellbeing assessment for yourself, what do you notice? Which of these four practices do you incorporate effortlessly, as a part of your daily routine? Which ones might need a bit more attention, more practice, more cultivation? You might also add a line for each aspect about why you gave the rating you did, and one small, concrete experiment you could try to see if it makes a difference!

Where are you with your movement goals?(1 on your scale might be “Um… What movement goals?” while 10 might be “I’m rocking my daily movement practice and feel great about it!”

How are you eating lately?(1 being “Oh dear. Strictly gummy bears and soda for the past 2 weeks,” and 10 being “This is the healthiest I’ve ever eaten!” 

How are you doing with connectingand finding strength in a sense of community? (1 being, perhaps, “I’ve completely lost touch with the people who are important to me,” while 10 could be “I feel connected, nourished, supported, and uplifted in my connections.”) 

How well are you tuning in to your inner peace and caring for your well-being? (1 being “Pause? No way, I don’t have time for that,” and 10 being “I am checking in with myself regularly and using the practices or habits that give me space just to be here for me.”) 

Now, take a look at your results

Where are you today, and where would you like to be?

If your scores fall between 1 and 5: I would invite you to start first with compassion. This is a crazy time, and it makes so much sense that wellness practices are not the top of your list! Bring as much kindness, gentleness, forgiveness, and even humor as you can to this moment. Then, see where you can get curious. What would a small next step towards well-being be? 

If your scores fall between 5 and 10: I invite you to take a moment to acknowledge and appreciate what you’ve been doing—in a pandemic, no less! Take a deep breath, give yourself a smile, and when you’re ready, get curious!  What small step would take your well-being from good to great?  

This time is an opportunity to get intentional. To choose, rather than to drift.

 As a bonus, try sharing your wellness assessment with a family member or friend. Share what’s true for you, ask about them, and see how you might provide some mutual support and accountability for your next steps. 

And as an example, here’s mine for today: 

1.    Move: Where am I with my movement goals? 7 

Why?  I have a pretty good morning movement routine, but a minor injury has me feeling less strong than I’d like.

Next Step: Find a YouTube video of a 10-minute indoor workout, and try it tomorrow morning! 

2.    Nourish: How am I eating lately? 6

Why? I’ve mostly been eating foods that make me feel healthy and alive—and then eating some sugary things (hellooo, chocolate! )on top of that, which makes me feel exhausted later in the day. Room for improvement.

Next Step: I’ll eat a bit more protein (an egg?) for breakfast, and hold off on chocolate until after 3pm as an experiment, tomorrow. 

3.    Connect: How am I doing with connecting? 6

Why? I’m lucky to have housemates to chat informally with throughout the day, but I miss deeper connection. Also, being single and sheltering-in-place is not optimal!! (That said, my partnered friends aren’t reporting that it’s a cake walk, either!)

Next Step: 

Schedule deeper, one-on-one conversations by phone this week with two friends.  

4.    Be: How am I doing at taking care of my inner well-being? 4

Why? I’m still doing my morning meditation and journaling, but the physical isolation from the rest of the world has my stress level elevated. 

Next Step: I’d like to try instituting “Afternoon Veg Time”:  20 minutes of total rest and self-care! 

Finding the Ground Under Our Feet 

It’s a very, very strange time. And while we’re all (appropriately) focused on caring for the physical health of ourselves, our communities, and society at large, our mental, emotional, and social health needs are quickly emerging as profoundly important as well. 

This time is an opportunity to get intentional. To choose rather than to drift. In the absence of everything that normally dictates our days, we are called on to create the freedom along with structure that will support our health and well-being in a time of profound uncertainty. And in case the term “Social Distancing” bums you out as much as it does for me, you might try on “Expansive Solidarity.” We’re in this together . . . spaciously.  

Learn more about Open Source Wellness and sign up to participate in their community-building virtual program, The Well-Being Hour.

Read More

Sharon Salzberg Reveals Why Our Interconnectedness Is Our Greatest Strength 

In her forthcoming book, Real Change, Sharon Salzberg explores how nourishing our essential goodness and compassion empowers us to be forces of change that both soften and strengthen us. Read More 

Sharon Salzberg

April 19, 2020

Health

The Missing Wellness Ingredient is Community 

How behavioral pharmacies could address the four wellness factors that fundamentally underlie health and wellbeing: Exercise, Eat Better Reduce Stress, & Connect More. Read More 

Elizabeth Markle and Benjamin Emmert-Aronson

March 18, 2019

The post 4 Ingredients for Human Well-Being appeared first on Mindful.

from Mindful https://ift.tt/2Sm6lYB via Meditation and Lifestyle 4 Ingredients for Human Well-Being https://ift.tt/3d4kWzF

[we-steer-the-ship]

I Feel Good Today. Now to open up a bit.

Today I've been feeling better than I have in a long time, emotionally and mentally speaking. I don't know why, but I'm grateful to feel this way for a change. To finally have a day where I don't feel like crawling into a ball to die, where I'm not on the verge of tears all day, where I'm actually able to look in the mirror and like myself fully.

(More under the cut)

I know I've been largely quiet on here with the exception of a few random posts or comments here and there. But I'm usually always on here chatting with friends through PMs.

What can I say? Things have been stressful for the entirety of this year.

I won't go into too much detail. But I will say my dad has been battling colon cancer and stage 4 liver cancer for the last few months. He almost died about four months ago after having emergency surgery. He didn't wake up for three days following the surgery and the doctor literally told us he is going to die so we need to prepare. Thankfully he made it only to face a new obstacle. My wife recently had a cancer scare herself, we're still waiting on the results of the biopsy. This past week or so she's been miserably ill. Just sick and drained, in pain. I just want her to be okay.

Stepping away from health issues, I've also had job related stresses. I was switched to a new department, put on a new schedule, faced difficulty with learning the new department, had my schedule changed again. So my sleep schedule has been royally messed up for months with me getting progressively less and less sleep per night. However, things there finally seem to be reaching an even level lately.

While all this has been going on, I've also been battling my own inner demons. My depression has hit me like a bus, I had to give up drawing and writing (my two biggest passions) for a long time but am slowly trying to get back into them. I was losing confidence in myself, in my abilities, in everything. I was losing hope, losing my belief in myself. And for a while, I didn't see a reason to keep fighting it. So I let it win.

I sank. I've spent the better part of the last couple of months just aimless, not seeing the point in anything I do whether at work, at home, or creatively.

I literally cried at work a few weeks ago. Nothing triggered it, nothing happened. I just broke down into tears seemingly out of random. There have been many nights where I stayed awake in bed, crying as quietly as I could so as not to wake my wife.

I just...didn't know what to do. I still don't. But I'm trying to take things one day at a time. Maybe things are getting better, maybe I finally said "fuck it" and just stopped carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders so I could breathe. Whatever happened, I can take a full breathe now.

Today I've been in a tremendously amazing mood. My brain has been bouncing around with lots of new ideas for our book (Faces Of The Moon). And for the first time in a long time, I feel genuine excitement for the possibilities the future holds.

I don't know why I'm rambling all this here. I guess I just felt like opening up and sharing with you all.

@wolfchalk , I want to thank you for all you've done for me this year with everything I've been going through. You've been there to listen, to chat with, to get my creativity going again, to cheer me up, to believe in me. I can't thank you enough for being my best friend.

And to my wife (who most likely won't even see this), I want to say that I love you dearly. You are my world, my rock, my best and greatest friend. You have always been stronger than me and I couldn't have made it these last seven years without you pushing me to better myself.

To the rest of you reading this, thank you for the support and friendships you've given me while writing dumb stories about a panda and a tiger.

Speaking of those stories, I'm working on some for you all to see, if you want to that is. Chapter 16 of The Five Year Journey is well underway as well as a fic that IS completely finished but I may never post it because, well, sinner squad fans can probably figure it out. But still, ch 16 of t5yj is coming along.

Also be sure to keep an eye out for info about the book @wolfchalk and I are writing, Faces Of The Moon. After much delay because of personal issues, I'm determined to hit it hard and finally get the first draft done. Oh, and special thanks to @peaches2217 and @crackers-me for reading the first bits of the initial rough draft and giving us your valuable input to make it better.

Alright! We now return to your regularly scheduled program.

[wyrdsistersofthedas]

A Wyrd Anniversary: Time flies when you’re having fun

It’s been almost two years since we began the Wyrd Sisters tumblr.  Nearly 500 hundred of you have found your way here and become followers, and many others have supported us with likes and reblogs.  Thank you so much!  We’re pleased you found our work worthwhile.  

To celebrate our two year anniversary and take a look back, we are going to do (in addition to our regularly scheduled programming) a month of flashbacks in which we will repost, and update as needed, some of our favorite posts from the past.  

This week’s theme is a thanks to those of you that have asked us questions.  We love chatting about lore and theories, and some of the work we’re most proud of came about as a result of your questions or from tagging us in your posts.  

Many thanks and we’re excited to continue collaborating with you all in the future!  

-Artemis, Decima, Dorothea, and Morta

[simplemlmsponsoring]

New Post has been published on https://simplemlmsponsoring.com/attraction-marketing-formula/internet-marketing/how-to-build-a-content-calendar-plus-a-free-template/

How to Build a Content Calendar (Plus a Free Template)

Creating a content calendar from scratch is one of those tasks that seems so much more complicated than it actually is. Even just opening a blank Excel spreadsheet can feel overwhelming. Thankfully, sometimes all that’s needed to get on the right track is a quick how-to and a great starter template, which is exactly what we have for you here.

In this post, we provide a guide to building a content calendar, plus a free template for the year.

The Definition of a Content Calendar

Before we jump into calendaring our content, let’s talk about what a content calendar actually is, plus a few baseline requirements for success.

We define a content calendar as a shareable resource that teams can use to plan all content activity. This allows you to visualize how your content is distributed throughout the year. We prefer a calendar-based format, as opposed to just creating a long list of content to be published, because it comes with several benefits:

Gain inter-and cross-department alignment: Inform everyone about what is being published, when and where, so there’s no surprises or duplication of efforts. Get a 50,000-foot view of content: Create a clear visual of how your content is distributed throughout the year. Identify content milestones: Plan content around key events or important dates. Spot content gaps: Gain a sense of what content still needs to be planned, with plenty of lead time to line up more content. Inform the content creation workflow: Make sure you have your content ready in time to actually publish when needed.

Consistency is insanely critical to content success. Yes, amazing new ideas and brilliant sparks of creativity help, but we can’t rely on them alone. They’re too inconsistent and unreliable. Instead, everyone needs to be on the same page with what content is being created, plus where and when it’s being published, and it has to be done on a regular, ongoing basis. And that is precisely where content calendars come into play.

The further ahead you plan, the better positioned you are to produce a consistent flow of content.

The 4 Keys to Content Calendar Success

Whether you plan content on a weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis, depending on how quickly your industry or organization moves, there are several universal keys to content calendar success:

Open your calendars to everyone: While not everyone should have the ability to edit a master content calendar, everyone should at least know where the content calendar is located and have viewing access. Iterate constantly: A content calendar is a living, breathing document, and it should change and grow as your content needs do, too. There’s no one right way to calendar your content: There are a million different methods, templates and approaches to take. We’re providing you with a baseline template and a proven process that we use for ourselves and Convince & Convert clients, but you should also play around with the approach and modify elements, as needed. We tinker with it all the time, too. Create a content repository: Don’t get stuck on ideas that you can’t implement immediately, or don’t get hung up on the “we’ll never be able to do that” ideas. Instead, create a repository of content ideas that you can tap into whenever needed.

Fantastic! Now that we have all of that out of the way, let’s get to the good stuff: calendaring all of our amazing content.

How to Build Your Content Calendar in 3 Easy Steps

Step 1: Start with Existing Content Assets

There’s a lot of focus on creating new content when we should really be focusing on creating more with less. It’s also usually not necessary to produce all your content from scratch since we often leave heaps of valuable content just lying around.

Instead, start by taking note of all of your existing content or resources to see what can be repurposed and remixed. For example:

Slide decks: Repurpose these as videos, blog posts, or key takeaway slide decks. First-hand data or research: As long as you use that data safely and in ethical ways, leverage your own data or research to create infographics or news stories. Colleagues and coworkers: The expertise of your colleagues can be tapped for video, audio, or transcribed interviews. Whitepapers or reports: Break big content pieces into a series of blog posts or social takeaways. We call this content atomization, which we’ll dive into in just a bit. Old blog posts: Make minor adjustments and updated with fresh information. Or if they’re all on the same topic, combine them into an uber-post or whitepaper, which is a process we call reverse atomization.

Repurposing content assets takes away some of the strain of having to come up with a million new content ideas. It also helps you efficiently fill gaps in your content schedule. A single content asset can also often give rise to several pieces of content, which we refer to as content atomization. It’s the process of taking one big piece of content and spinning it out into eight smaller pieces of content. For example, an infographic can support a blog post that analyzes the integrity of the data it was based on. You could also include a video which explains the wider ramifications of its findings. So on and so forth.

Content atomization will become your best friend when it comes to content calendaring, so get to know a bit more about it, plus get amazing examples and inspiration here: 49 Tactics to Atomize Your Content Marketing.

Step 2: Identify and Create Your Content Shows

If you’re not familiar with Jay Baer’s concept of creating content shows, you can read his in-depth post about content shows. If you’re already familiar or just want the highlights, content marketers need to start to think like television networks and create content shows. In short, these content shows become predictable, steady, initiatives that our audiences can rely on and recognize. In fact, these shows are something that they actually look forward to.

Content marketers need to start to think like television networks and create content shows. Click To Tweet

There are 3 types of shows you need to identify within your content:

Binge-worthy shows: These shows are big, steady, ongoing content initiatives that have the same theme and format. They should target at least two audiences, otherwise. they’re not worth the time or effort to produce. These are often podcasts, video series, webinar series, white papers, reports, etc. You should be able to execute this show at least twice per month. These also get plugged into your calendar first.

Binge-worthy show example: I’m a massive fan of Retro Replay, a relatively new weekly YouTube show that pits two of today’s most well-known video game voice actors against some of the most difficult and/or nostalgic video games of the past. It premiers live every Thursday at 4:00 pm PT, and includes a live chat with the hosts. Aside from being super fun to watch, this show is also a fantastic case study for what a true binge-worthy show looks like, plus how to build and engage with an audience. Seriously, check it out.

One-time shows: These shows are special quarterly or yearly shows that attack a major customer pain point or topic. Although they’re less frequent in cadence than binge-worthy shows, they’re still fairly large content pieces. Think white papers, research papers, contests, user-generated content campaigns, etc. These don’t have to have the same level of consistency, but they should still be in line with your branding and voice and tone.

One-time show example: Who doesn’t love CMI’s annual Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends report?! This yearly report is chock-full of goodness. Even though the report varies slightly in design and layout each year, it’s consistent enough that audiences know exactly what to expect.

Regularly scheduled programming: These shows are ongoing content initiatives that round out your calendar, and they don’t have to necessarily connect completely or be 100 percent consistent in theme. Like in the case of blog posts, they may have a different author, topic or format, depending on the content, but they always connect back to the content strategy and have at least one clear audience in mind. Think of them as what a local nightly news show is to any major television network.

Regularly scheduled program example: Convince & Convert’s own blog is our version of regularly scheduled programming. We have our weekly ON newsletter (binge-worthy show) and our big masterclass courses (one-time shows), and then we have our blog to help round out the calendar and provide ongoing information (regularly scheduled programming).

It’s important to note that you most likely already have content shows in your existing content assets, so check your inventory first. It may just be a matter of spinning assets a bit differently, giving them an official show title, or connecting them in more consistent ways.

If you don’t have any shows in your existing content assets, or you need more shows to round out your calendar, then you’ll want to focus on creating new content shows.

Step 3: Plan, Schedule, Publish, Promote, Track and Tweak Your Content

Regular editorial planning meetings between all those involved in content creation should be scheduled well before the next publishing period—be it monthly or quarterly. This meeting can be used to schedule the publishing content from your repository with realistic time frames and to support social media activity, email newsletter inclusions, etc.

Your planning meetings can also be used to review the visit, engagement, and revenue (if available) stats from previous periods to assess which types of content are most successful (and perhaps need to be replicated) and which are less successful (and perhaps need to be rethought).

Analytics (both web and social) and revenue data can also be used to make tweaks to already published content e.g. titles, introductions, outbound links etc to optimize visits and engagement.

Your Free Content Calendar Template (Excel File)

We’ve provided a basic content calendar for you to use. While there are a ton of amazing, wonderful content calendaring platforms and tools, we’ve opted for an Excel spreadsheet. That’s because it’s a great starting place, easy to edit and modify, and almost everyone has the ability to open the file.

Download your free content calendar Excel template now >>

Right click and save as

To add your content to the calendar and get the most out of your content:

Start with binge-worthy shows: Add these into your calendar first, and make sure to pay attention to any key dates or big events. Add your one-time specials: Pay attention to how they overlap or complement your binge-worthy shows. Round it out with regularly scheduled programming: Last, but definitely not least, add in your regularly scheduled programming. These should help fill any gaps in your cadence and keep content consistent. Add content to the content repository: Don’t have a place right now in the calendar for some great ideas? Add it to the repository. Let this be your storage solution for great ideas, and check back on it often.

That’s it! Now you can edit and update it, as needed. The actual calendaring part is pretty quick, once you get your shows established. Now, bring this to your editorial meetings, and make sure to keep tabs on how content is performing, so you can adjust your publishing flow and content ideation, as necessary. Happy calendaring!

This post was originally written by Jamie Griffiths in 2014, and extensively updated by Anna Hrach, Digital Strategist here at Convince & Convert, in 2019.

The post How to Build a Content Calendar (Plus a Free Template) appeared first on Convince and Convert: Social Media Consulting and Content Marketing Consulting.

Read more: convinceandconvert.com

[expertease2-blog]

The End of Overwhelm

How To Stop Feeling Overwhelmed So You Can Finally Make Progress Towards Your Goals

Today is the first Monday of Q2. Can you believe how quickly the first three months of the year have flown by?

I feel like I've accomplished so much in such a short amount of time -- so far I've made two trips to North Carolina, two trips to Athens, I had an unexpected family trip to Oklahoma where I was born, and of course, spent a lovely weekend in San Diego with my marketing coach, Frank Kern, and company. Yet with all this travel and an ever growing list of goals and projects, at times it's felt as if my head would explode from information overload.

  Thankfully it hasn't yet which means I still have time to get it all done. I can still implement the follow-up and productivity strategies I learned from Frank and Dean Graziosi. I can still write all the blogs and promotions on my marketing calendar. I can still secure more partnership funds for the company I work for. I can still have an active social life. And I can still be fully present for my friends and family. Wow! Writing this paragraph makes me realize just how much I'm trying to cram into each day.

Oh, shoot!  That reminds me, I haven't set Q2 goals yet! And what about the ones from Q1 that I'm still working on but haven't quite finished yet? Is it just me, or does it seem as if there's never enough time to get it all done?

  I know this feeling all too well, unfortunately. It's called overwhelm and it's crippling. It causes you to hesitate when you should be taking action. It casts doubt and uncertainty over areas where the course of action should be crystal clear. Worst of all, it enables the most wicked excuse in the book: the need to "figure it out" which is really code for "I'm overwhelmed and don't know what to do so instead I'll just do nothing and wait."

Sound familiar? Or is it just me?

  (Quick Side Bar: I want to give special thanks to Bawo aka Onassis from UrVision Entertainment for helping me with this photo shoot. It was a journey getting to the location, but the pictures came out amazing! This was the definition of a #SquadGoal, and if you like the shirt they are available for sale in the LxVE Shop.)

>>> click here to order yours now <<<

OK.... back to the regularly scheduled program.

The End of overwhelm

I know that things can get a bit overwhelming sometimes.

It's not easy getting all the stuff swirling around in your head to settle down long enough for you process it clearly and take action.

It's not easy to put yourself out there. 

Not to mention, there are lots of added stresses from things like work deadlines, to your personal relationships, or financial strains to name a few, that can make you feel even more bogged down.

It can be frustrating. REALLY frustrating. And The worst part about it is the fact you KNOW that you are capable of doing it all and more.

You know how I know? Because I've been there.

I'm still there... Battling the same battle. Every. Single. Day. It's an ongoing battle.

But I've got good news...

Based on the time I spent with my coach and internet marketing legend, Frank Kern, and a mix of conversations I've had with business owners, music artists, and other creative individuals, as well as my own personal experiences, I've decide to create an e-Course that will not only help you get past the debilitating effects of overwhelm, but will also give you the tools you need to jump start any project or business endeavor on social media over the next 90 days.

If fact, by the time you get to the bottom of this article alone, you will have everything you need to take that burning frustration you feel and transform it into a blissful feeling of satisfaction from a job well done. 

However, in order to make the most of this course, we need to get clear on a few things.

Here's the deal... 

If we take the same energy we use to focus on the fact that we are overwhelmed and frustrated and instead place it on the causes of the overwhelm itself, it can make a huge difference in the results we get. 

So what are the causes of overwhelm you might ask? 

According to Frank, these are the culprits:

lack of clear-cut objectives

lack of clearly defined time targets

lack of planning

lack of focus

lack of a system for productivity

distractions

I agree with the list completely. And after having it laid out so clearly, it is easy to see what areas of our lives must improve in order to decrease the amount of negative emotion we feel from being overwhelmed. 

We're going to cover each of these during this course, but... 

Of all the factors that contribute to being overwhelmed, in my opinion, improved planning is where you will get the most leverage.

Simple things from planning when you'll block time to work on your goals, to more long-term planning for savings and big ticket purchases and committing to the plan is an excellent way to add the structure needed to sustain focus over time.

We'll come back to planning in a moment. =)

For now, let's take an objective look at where we are currently so we can make a plan for positive change.

Fortunately, everything you need to start making those changes is already inside you...

You already have some goals you want to accomplish. Since you are reading this it is safe to assume that you have the desire to make positive changes to your situation. And you know that you need help getting it done... 

So it makes sense to implement the most effective method I've found for attaining results affectionately called... a "check-in."

Now I know what you make be thinking... A check-in couldn't possibly be the solution I'm recommending, but stay with me. This is unlike most check-ins you've ever done in two ways:

First, the objective of this kind of check-in is not to be judgmental or beat yourself up about what is not getting accomplished. Instead, the idea is to take an objective look at your results and identify areas to focus on. 

(see note above about lack of focus... It causes overwhelm.)

Secondly, when applied consistently, a daily, weekly, or monthly check in like the one outlined later in this article is the best method of accountability I've ever found because it combines two important success principles:

what gets measured gets improved.

what you focus on expands.

The question you may be asking yourself is what should I be measuring and focusing on? And if so, then you are smart.

Here's my answer: Focus on crafting the best plan possible and measure your ability to accomplish the steps of the plan. 

A plan, by definition, is the outline of the steps one intends to take in order to reach their desired outcome. So logically, it makes sense to dedicate the time to ensure your plan is solid and gets executed effectively. 

Here's how to do it:

  First, think about the list of goals that I mentioned earlier...If you are like me and have a lot of them, choose the top 3-4 that would make the biggest difference in your life over the next 90 days and focus on these first.

Take a moment to reflect on the time you spent working in these areas. 

Were you able to make any progress towards accomplishing any of them?

If so, how did you do?

How much time did you dedicate to each goal on your list this week? 

Is there anything that prohibited you from getting started or continuing to take action? 

What's one thing you can celebrate about what you've accomplished already? 

Where can you stand to improve? 

What are the first steps you can take immediately to start getting better results?

Take an objective look at each of your goals as you run them through this filter and write down your responses. You are going to need this list as we move forward in the next step to create the plan to get you where you need to be.

 Here's where many people go wrong...

It's easy to look at your list and begin to feel bad about what appears to be a lack of results. But as I mentioned earlier, that's an excellent example of putting your focus on your frustration and what's not working. 

Instead, we should do our best to separate our emotions from our decision-making process so we can look at our productivity with a clear perspective. 

Remember, the goal isn't to judge how well we've done; it's to identify what we have done so we can create a plan to do it better and more effectively in the future.

This one little mindset shift is what allows us to move past the frustrations we feel when things aren't going the way we'd like and identify what we should focus on to fix the source of the problem. 

The beauty of this process is that once you have learned how to control your focus and how to place it on the things that really matter, you are able to apply it to any area of your life... Business, relationships, finances, you name it!

ACTION STEPS

So, with that being said.... I encourage you to find a moment where you can quietly reflect on the week that just passed and write down the responses to the questions I listed above. In the next session, we will use your notes to create an action plan that will make it easy for you to start seeing improvements in your results really quickly. 

Lastly, if you are in need of some assistance or would like to chat with me about the results you're getting, I've opened up my calendar to help as many music artists as I can create their own success strategy.

>>> click here <<< to book a call.

[superericamedinafan]

Finding a Math Tutoring Centre for Children — Four Factors You Should Consider

A math tutoring centre is the best option for children who need additional support with their math lessons. Whether your children need help with  gaps in their knowledge, homework support or could use more of a challenge, online tutoring from a reputable math tutoring centre has many benefits for your family.

When looking for a math tutoring centre to provide online tutoring for your children, there are four main factors you should consider. Here are the key features we suggest looking for to evaluate the various online math tutoring options in NW Calgary:

●       Assessment & individualized plan

●       One to one support

●       Convenient schedule

●       Regular progress reports & re-assessment

Let’s take a deeper look at each factor and why they are so important to consider when choosing a tutoring centre for your children.

Assessment & Individualized Plan

The most important element to look for when seeking online tutoring for your children is an individualized plan. Your child is an individual with different learning styles, needs and ways of connecting. The tutoring centre you are considering should always provide an intake assessment to determine these needs and then use this information to design a specific program tailored to your child.

Mathnasium instructors use a unique assessment process to design a personalized path for each student. The tutor and student will work together to ensure your child masters the skills and techniques necessary to progress and thrive in their math class using a combination of proprietary materials and instruction techniques.

One to One Support

Equally important to having an individualized plan, one to one support makes a huge difference in learning outcomes. Students learn from those they trust and can build a connection with which makes one on one sessions a must have.

A great tutor will get to know your child, building a relationship that allows them to feel secure and comfortable, which is what creates space for deeper learning to take place. They will also get to know you and be both accessible and approachable.Tutors should also have a strategy to incorporate feedback, fun and rewards for the student to work towards. Math tutoring should feel like a fun way to reach challenging goals and your child’s instructor can do that with a reward system and various support materials.

Mathnasium instructors use unique teaching method so they will recommend that all learning is done with the instructor, who will also provide homework support so the student leaves their session feeling empowered to complete their school assignments. The Mathnasium reward system has also shown to be an excellent motivator to students and keeps them wanting to come back for their sessions each week.

Convenient Schedule

In order for your children to settle into the routine of tutoring and reap the benefits of a rewards based plan, they will need to work with their tutor regularly, with sessions set up consistently. Knowing they can count on their tutor to be there each week gives your child a sense of security. If they are struggling with a concept or have particularly challenging homework, they will know when they can connect with their tutor to work through it.

Tutoring needs to fit for your family in order for sessions to be consistent and attended regularly. Be sure to look for a tutoring centre that offers a convenient schedule and can accommodate sessions at the times that work best for your family’s schedule. It’s also important to consider your child’s routines and individuality when choosing tutoring times. Some children learn best right after school, while some may be in need of a break beforehand and after dinner sessions may work best for them. Finding online tutoring for your children that can accommodate their schedule will ensure a much more successful experience.

While schedules can vary, Mathnasium aims to be available when our students need us. Most Centres are open 5-6 days per week, including weekends and evenings to accommodate your children’s tutoring needs. We will be sure to pair you with one of our instructors who can be available consistently at the time your children need to schedule their online tutoring sessions.

Regular Progress Reports & Re-Assessment

It is critical to your child’s progress that they know how they are doing. A math tutor should reassess knowledge regularly to ensure that your child knows if they’ve completed their goals, reached milestones or if they might need to keep working in a particular area. Working towards goals is the best way to keep your child engaged in tutoring sessions, so the tutor should regularly check in on their progress and let them know how things are going.

You’ll also want to ensure the tutoring centre you are hiring values open communication with parents. Your child’s tutor should connect with you often to let you know how things are going, where your child has grown and if there's anything that can be done at school or home to further the efforts of the tutoring program. The tutor you choose should definitely be happy to chat with you and answer any questions you may have and to address and possible concerns you or your child may have

On a final note, we also found it was important to choose a program that is designed specifically to focus on math skills. Subject matter expertise is an important differentiator between many of the online math tutoring options available and Mathnasium is one of the few that focuses exclusively on math.

Tutoring is an important commitment to support your child’s learning outcomes. Choosing the right centre to partner with can seem daunting, but we’re here to help. Mathnasium instructors are specially trained in The Mathnasium Method which incorporates assessments, customized learning plans and caring instructors who teach regular lessons. Our instructors offer a flexible schedule to suit your families needs and we set up regular weekly sessions to maintain consistency. We’re here to make tutoring a positive experience for you and your child - call us today to learn more!

[a-travels]

taken: 27 may, 2018 Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland

I resized this image about 20 times from the original resolution to find the largest size that would still upload. Hopefully, compression hasn’t destroyed this photo. For those just joining us and who don’t follow this dumb little project of mine, I’d probably say this is up there with that Hanuman shot below as one of my all-time favorite shots. This is probably a cheat because this is about four to five shots stitched together to make this actually work. And no, this isn’t my phone pano, which granted, can take some pretty banger shots. I won’t bore any of you with the details of this shot, but this was on my DSLR. 

I have had this picture sitting in my drafts now for over a year+ at this point, not really having any sort of post to go with it. I think with the quarantine and pandemic and such going on, this is the perfect time to highlight an isolated farm in the middle of a field miles away from the closest city.

For all the doom and gloom this period has brought, which it certainly has, I think this period of time has highlighted the value of human connection. Each in our Schrodinger-esque isolation in our homes, apartments, studios, I’m sure we’re all seeing on one hand just how close our various relationships are, while simultaneously realizing how distant we are from people on the other hand. At least, I definitely have found this interesting duality in my interactions and lack thereof with other people. 

Definitely, being apart today never truly means being apart. The presence of social media, video communication, even a phone call, these are all beyond luxuries that society did not have back in our last pandemic, the Spanish flu of 1918. I’ve seen and heard of happy hours, weddings, funerals, movie watch parties, birthday parties, all through the magic of ones and zeros flying through the air. And at the same time, elderly patients in nursing homes can’t see their loved ones anymore. The only human contact for those in the hospital with this virus is through a few millimeters of gloves and PPE. 

And yet you look outside, the sun shining, the birds singing, newly grown leaves rustling, and wonder just how different the world really is in this imperiled time. Despite the pains of shifting to a new normal, After now almost a month, life might finally be settling, or so it seems. Even with the new routines, perhaps a mild onset of vitamin D deficiency and staying longer in your PJs on a Tuesday than you have in a long time, somehow life has found a way to continue, and in some ways thrive like it never has. Somehow the stark confrontation of our own mortality has brought us back to out hobbies, a part of life that seemed to be slowly dying amidst the ever-increasing bustle and rat-race of work and societal progression. Yeast has been out of stock at grocery stores for weeks as people have been baking more. People are sharing drawings, starting new TV shows, playing a crap-ton of Animal Crossing, chewing through that backlog of games in their Steam library, and finishing four-month old movie reviews full of pain and disdain. 

At the start of this whole quarantine period, I was listening to a podcast on a walk (once a rare luxury is now something I get to do almost every night), and heard an excerpt from an essay written by C.S. Lewis in the late 40′s, just at the end of WWII, called “On Living In An Atomic Age”. I won’t recount the whole piece to you, but I’ll link it here for your listening pleasure. I’ll just highlight the part of it I liked the most, and seemed perhaps most prescient, here:

“This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds.“

If anything, this whole situation just seems to put things in to perspective, in terms of what matters and what doesn’t, about who matters and who doesn’t. I guess to the last point, first: everyone matters, even if not everyone thinks so (certainly some orange oaf out there certainly doesn’t). It has shown us just how much of life is a social construct⸺the idea that life has to be centered around a nine-to-five job, leaving such little time for ourselves that we barely seem to actually live for ourselves than live for the system; the idea of a stock market and economy. Life as we knew it has grinded to a halt, and our societally ordained rigamarole has been relegated to the home, whether someone is sick or not, because everyone matters and that is the only way we can keep most of everyone safe.  And for that first point, last: though a bit repetitive and overly sappy, our health and connections to other people are what matter most. In those connections, it’s worth rekindling or talking to those people you didn’t have the time for, the people that seemed to slip away or faded away with time. And if anything, it’s time to ditch those people where that energy isn’t fruitful or helpful. This pandemic is not our death sentences, as C.S. Lewis said, “…you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented…,” but our sentence is not infinite. It’s worth sharing it with the people who cherish and value you and your time and energy as much as you cherish and value them and their time. 

Maybe I say this out of my continued efforts to remain in contact with people, who perhaps aren’t as keen to do so themselves. I’ve already talked about my own self-doubt about what people think of me so I’ll leave that topic be, but I am tired of constantly thinking that I’m bothering someone or a burden on someone just for shooting a message or staying in touch. It’s not fair on that person to assume their thought process, to spam them with messages if they’re not keen to talk, and it’s definitely not fair on myself to weigh myself down worrying about these sorts of things.

It’s at moments like those, riddled with self-doubt and confusion about my interactions with others that I feel perhaps as mentally isolated as a farm in a field in an island in the ocean. Trust me, my mind alone for extended periods is perhaps not the best for whatever you’d call my fledgling self-diagnosed psychosis. But, invariably, it’s the force-fed medicine I need to train myself to think differently about this, to think healthier about life, my relationship with others and my relationship with myself.

Back to talking about not me, this time sucks in many ways, it does. But I think there’s a lot of good that we as people, as a human race, are uncovering about ourselves and each other. And when life gets back to its regularly scheduled programming at the top, we’ll hopefully be refreshed like we would from a bathroom break during the commercials, with this time period hopefully feeling as transitory in hindsight.

So it goes.

tl;dr - “You’re all alone, what are you gonna do about it?”

(Side note, can I just say how genius the Vikings were to name their home Iceland, even though it’s all just volcanic rock and not nearly as much ice as its much larger, and decidedly icier brother island, Greenland. Greenland isn’t green folks, and yet the Vikings bamboozled generations of pillagers and explorers looking to take over the Vikings.)

(Side side note, I’d be remiss if I didn’t give my heartfelt gratitude and respect to the essential and healthcare workers out there risking their lives every day for us to maintain some semblance of normalcy in our homes. As meaningless as any social media callout may seem to be, you all truly do inspire me and I’m sure many others out there with your selflessness.)