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5sospank · 6 years ago

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couldn’t forget you - luke one shot

Word Count: 9,996

Rating: NSFW

Keywords: fluff, bestfriend!luke, smut

Summary: You and Luke were best friends growing up. But, when he got whisked away into a world of fame, you were left behind. Your families always remained close, so when a beach weekend gets planned, you and Luke reunite.

A/N: wow this is so long and i’ve had this concept in my head for so long. enjoy you guys this is the first piece i’ve actually written and finished since maybe 2015? :)

Wherever Luke was found, you were usually somewhere nearby. You had known him since he had first taken the shape of a lanky preteen boy. In the brief months before high school began, the Hemmings family moved into the house that had gone up for sale next to yours. Luke had been equipped with knobby knees, an intense love for music, and a mildly awkward disposition that you had instantly found endearing.

Over the course of high school, the two of you had become practically inseparable. Your families grew close, you ranted to one another about the latest trials and tribulations of adolescence, and wasted away hours at the local pizza shop just talking. It was easy and effortless friendship. When you looked back fondly on your teenage years, Luke made an appearance in most of your memories. He was there for everything.

Until he wasn’t. Until his hobby of music skyrocketed into a full time, chart-topping, award-winning career. To be honest, growing up, you had never taken his garage band too seriously. They had inevitably improved after years of practice, but it took you by surprise when your best friend was sucked into a world of fame, money, and world tours. Suddenly, the person you had by your side as a constant was ripped away.

You presumed that was why your mother and Mrs. Hemmings had taken it upon themselves to plan a joint reunion trip. Your family had freed up a weekend in the summer to rent a house on the beach, and by some stroke of luck, Luke’s band had just announced their temporary hiatus. You hadn’t seen him in years. However, that was going to change, as the Hemmings would be joining you under the same roof for two whole days.

The thought of seeing Luke again after so many years left you slightly uneasy. The two of you rarely communicated anymore. You had become a facet of his past life; one deemed as excruciatingly normal and anything but exciting. The only time you heard from Luke was through DM to send you birthday wishes. Other than that, you only saw his face plastered on posters and magazines, heard his voice on the radio, saw him on your social media feeds. It was as if he had become some sort of unattainable fictional person. It was like you never really knew him at all.

You didn’t wholly reject the idea of the reunion trip, though. You had gotten off of work and were looking forward to a few days spent on the heavenly private beach. The house your mother and Mrs. Hemmings rented was rather large. It boasted a good number of bedrooms with lavish views, marble bathrooms and private balconies. The decor was light and airy, illuminated by the natural light that poured in through an extensive amount of floor-to-ceiling windows. It was beautiful, but you assumed that Luke had been part of the house-selection process.

You arrived before the Hemmings with your family quickly in tow. You picked the first bedroom you stumbled into, greeted by a massive bed with a fluffy white comforter and a skylight overhead. With a contented sigh, you dropped your bags in the corner by the door. The atmosphere surrounding was peaceful despite your impending nerves.

It was going to be a long weekend.

Your family had settled into the house with ease. The Hemmings had apparently hit traffic on the way there, which bought you some time to mentally prepare yourself. You ate lunch with your parents, listened to your mother complain about forgetting her collection of magazines at home, and unpacked some of your things.

The temperature outside had begun to cool down once you went out back to explore the beach. The sand was white and clean beneath your feet. You slid a pair of sunglasses onto the bridge of your nose, staring out at the ocean. It was endlessly blue and somehow calm despite the wind. The occasional curl of a wave released a calming sound onto the shore, reaching your toes and tickling your skin with sea mist. With such a hectic schedule, you hadn’t felt peace like this in a while. It was nice.

You had eagerly taken a seat in the sand when you heard him. His tone was deeper, nearly unfamiliar, but you couldn’t forget that voice. Not when you spent four years with him every single day.

“Long time no see.”

You looked up to see his figure looming overhead. He bent at the knees to sit beside you without invitation, his brow furrowed from the bright sun. He looked so different, somehow. Luke had grown up; it was evident in the slight beard that dotted his jaw, the absence of his old lip ring, the curly length of his hair. His shoulders were more broad, lined with muscle and strength. You had seen him in pictures but they surely did not do his physical presence justice. His mere physicality alone made you uneasy, shy.

“Luke,” You said his name awkwardly. “Hey.”

He let out a dry laugh. It exuded a wave of confidence - another new addition to his adult persona. “How’ve you been? Good, I hope?”

“Yeah, I’ve been doing well. I’m not a world-famous rockstar or anything of the sort, but still doing okay.” You managed to joke as you looked out toward the ocean.

“Good to hear.” Luke laughed again, softer this time. His eyes were studying you, drinking in the sight of you before him. He seemed to be in the same state of disbelief that you were experiencing.

A small silence occurred between you. It wasn’t nearly as uncomfortable as you thought it would be. Years had gone by and your worlds had changed, but something about Luke’s presence had stayed the same. His demeanor was still calm and gentle. You could see it in the way his eyes were looking at you curiously, hesitantly, as if he wanted to ask you one million questions but was simply biting his tongue.

Instead, he asked, “Why don’t we find some beers?”

You had agreed, obviously, after greeting his family. His mother gushed over your beauty and congratulated you on your career, your new apartment, on making it into the real world. These accomplishments were much smaller than Luke’s record-breaking success, but still, the little victories counted in your normal world.

It was past five o’clock, which was the perfect time for a happy hour. You and Luke were already a few drinks deep out of pure anxiousness. He was sat at the outside bar across from you, beginning to ramble about his latest tour that had ended in Japan. You had never even thought of reaching foreign countries like that, but with the way Luke spoke about it, you suddenly respected how well-traveled he was. He had developed a certain knowledge of the world that you could only dream of attaining.

“What about you, though? What have you been up to?” Luke questioned after a moment. “My mom mentioned you got a new job.”

You shook your head and averted your gaze. “It’s nothing compared to what you’ve been up to, Luke.”

He frowned subtly. “My job and my life probably aren’t the most normal, but I’m still me, you know.”

The tone of his voice caused you to meet his stare again. He looked sad, almost wistful. The thought of how different your lives were suddenly struck you. You were aware of why the two of you had lost touch. Maybe Luke thought he was still the same, but you doubted it just slightly.

“Yeah, I got a new job. I moved into my own apartment,” you said softly. “I’ll be in debt forever from college, but it was worth it.”

A faint smile made its way onto Luke’s features. “I saw some of your photos on Facebook. Seems like you had fun.”

You raised your eyebrows. It was surprising to know Luke had made the effort to keep up with your life, even if it was just browsing through your drunken party photos from your days in college. Part of you was also slightly embarrassed about that, but your cheeks flushed with a pleasant warmth. The two of you were growing more comfortable with one another.

“Yeah, I could say the same for you. Except I see your photos in magazines,” you replied wrly. “You’re a big shot party guy now, huh?”

With that, Luke rolled his eyes and let out a scoff. He had a reluctant grin on his features, pulling at the ends of his mouths, lighting up his face. He looked handsome and you couldn’t believe the sentiment had even crossed your mind.

“You partied your way through college for four years, I drank Los Angeles dry.” Luke took a swig of his beer. “We’re not so different, actually. You’ll realize that at some point this weekend.”

As fitting as it was, you and Luke were slightly tipsy for family dinner. Your parents were not very receptive to your current state, although it was probably due to how quiet you were. You and Luke had avoided conversation during the meal as much as you possibly could. Instead, you both forked down a homemade chicken dish and listened as your mothers spoke about how time really flies.

You took it upon yourself to initiate clean up, clearing the table. You were alone in the kitchen beginning to load up the dishwasher when Luke appeared in the doorway. You studied his frame while tidying up, noting the way a simple black tee shirt hugged his biceps so tightly, tucked perfectly into the thick leather belt he wore. He was well-dressed and looked expensive; even for a lowkey beach weekend. Those ripped jeans and band tees from your high school days were probably thrown away as soon as Luke got himself a publicist.

You initially didn’t notice it, but Luke was watching you, too. His eyes followed your every move, following the way you quietly shuffled around the kitchen. Your families’ voices could be heard distantly from the dining room. It was faint background noise to your thoughts. They immediately grew frantic when you finally felt his gaze on you. It didn’t seem curious and gentle like before. It was heavier.

“Need any help?” Luke questioned to break the silence. He licked his lips absently.

You swallowed. “No, I think I’m about done in here. Thanks, though.”

He crossed his arms over his chest. He was all the way across the kitchen, but somehow, he felt too close. You were wrangling with the sensation of familiarity but also the contradiction that was there; the new layers to Luke. His appearance, his maturity, his demeanor. His presence instilled that same comfort in you, yet it also awakened a new sense of uncertainty. The combination of uncharted feelings left you wary to be under the same roof as him.

“Our parents are thinking about going over downtown, just to walk around a bit,” Luke stated. “They want to know if we’ll be joining them.”

You set up the dishwasher and turned it on. When you turned to face Luke, you pulled your hair back from your face and sighed. “Do you want to join them?”

“Not entirely,” he said. “But I’ll go wherever you go.”

His words made you smile, only slightly. You didn’t want to show the involuntary joy they brought you.

“I don’t think I’ll be going. Not in the mood for more family bonding.” You admitted with a breathless laugh.

“Me too. I’ll stay back with you.” Luke declared. He left the room to inform your families that the two of you would be staying home, alone, together.

Just like that, you grew nervous again. Your palms were warm with sweat and there was a hollow sensation in your stomach. You couldn’t decide if it was butterflies or not, but you definitely would not admit that, either.

You had to remind yourself; it was just Luke.

Once you had the place to yourselves, you excused yourself to go take a shower and sort some of your belongings out. While you were walking down the hallway to your bedroom, you noticed who had conveniently picked the room next to yours. Luke.

You peaked in, noting his expensive luggage and the clothes that were already sprawled out over the bed. Clearly he hadn’t ditched his messy habits over the years.

After your shower, you brushed out your wet hair and slipped into a tank top and cotton shorts. It was nearing half past eight and you weren’t feeling tired just yet. Your head was slightly hazy from your evening drinks, but you were still on edge knowing that somewhere in the big house was Luke and only Luke. You attempted to convince yourself that your nerves were only due to the fact that you hadn’t seen him in a while.

You stepped down the stairs and into the main living room, only to see that he was sitting outside by the pool by himself, scrolling through his phone. The lighting out there on the deck was dim, a small contrast to the dark sky above. You had planned on switching on the television and curling up on the couch, but instead, you moved in Luke’s direction.

You slid open the glass patio door. The sudden noise seemed to startle Luke, but he only turned around to look at you. A small smile was on his face. You noticed he had changed into a pair of shorts and an old cutoff. A large bottle was placed on the table before him, as well as two empty glasses.

You looked away quickly.

“I was going to ask if you wanted to come out here and maybe get drunk, but you found me.”

“I didn’t peg you as a wine-drinker.” You stated.

“I stay in a lot of hotels. Complimentary bottles of wine are a thing, apparently.” Luke shrugged. “I acquired the taste.”

It was a bottle of Pinot. It didn’t look too expensive, which meant that he had probably dug it out of the house’s wine collection in the kitchen. You couldn’t turn down the offer, which is why you poured yourself a glass first, then took a sip. Luke followed suit.

You sat comfortably in the quiet for a few moments. The ocean could be heard in the distance, as well as the cicadas and crickets nearby. The pool looked serene before you, illuminated in the night.

“Remember when we used to go pool hopping?” Luke asked suddenly. “Mrs. Walters caught us every single time, without fail.”

“She never called the police, though.” You pointed out and smiled fondly.

“She loved you,” Luke rolled his eyes dramatically. “She never would’ve call the cops on you.”

You took a sip of your wine and laughed, the memories of summers with Luke as teenagers flooding your mind. You two would be out late every night, traipsing through your neighborhood with stolen alcohol from your parents and cheap snacks from the corner store. Pool hopping was something you often did in the warmer months since neither one of you had your own pool. Mrs. Walters’ house was the most common destination out of the pure thrill of getting caught. However, you had used to watch her grandchildren, so she never took it upon herself to get you in trouble.

You finished your glass of wine and poured yourself another, setting it on the table. “Remember that time she caught us skinny dipping?”

Luke laughed loudly, the noise immediately making you grin. He ran his hands through his hair and placed his now empty glass in front of him. The motion made you stare at him a little longer, at the pleasant way his hair fell back into his face. The wine left your face warm.

“That was the last time we ever went pool hopping.” Luke said.

“With good reason.” You defended. “That was kind of embarrassing.”

Luke leaned forward in his chair, and you were acutely aware of how close the two of you were sat. “Let’s go now.”

“Pool hopping? Where?”

“No,” Luke grinned. “Skinny dipping.”

You shook your head instantly. “Absolutely not.”

“Why not? Just for old time’s sake.”

“Old time’s sake?” You repeated incredulously. “We’re already here with our families on a reunion trip. Isn’t that doing enough for old time’s sake?”

He was already standing up, slugging back the rest of his second glass of wine. You watched him wipe his mouth with the back of his hand, a new expression overtaking his features. He was challenging you, clearly.

“Okay, be lame. The Y/N I knew five years ago would totally do it, though.”

“Maybe because it was five years ago.” You muttered, although your words were too quiet for him to hear.

You watched, internally panicking, as Luke pulled his shirt over his head in one swift motion. He glanced at you lazily. His hands hovered daringly at the waistband of his shorts. The smirk on his face diminished once he saw your stare rake over his torso, seeing the toned muscles and curvature of his body. His body looked much different this time around.

“Come on,” he urged temptingly. “I won’t look.”

You let out a laugh of disbelief. That’s exactly what he had once said to you in high school. The both of you knew that he had looked, though.

Reluctantly, you finished the rest of your wine, needing the liquid courage. Luke watched you all the while. His eyes were hooded from the alcohol, his hair disheveled and cheeks flushed. By how light you felt, you presumed you looked the same.

“Fine.” You stood up.

Luke let out a whoop of some sort. His laughter filled the space between the two of you, continuing as he pulled his shorts down so that he was left in his boxers. He had told you he wouldn’t look at you, and this time, he wasn’t. However, you didn’t stop yourself from watching him slide off his briefs.

When he caught your line of view, neither one of you said anything.

Instead, you peeled off your tank top, leaving your chest completely bare. The cool night air nipped at your skin through the blanket of humidity surrounding. Instinctively, you moved to conceal your chest, but stopped yourself. You were skinny dipping, after all.

Luke was walking toward the pool while you continued undressing. His skin appeared milky in the dim lighting of the deck. You watched the muscles ripple in his back as he jumped in, disturbing the still surface of the water. When he came up for air, his wet hair was pushed off his face and he was noticeably taking in the sight of you approaching the edge of the pool. So much for not looking.

You stood at the pool’s edge, looking into the water as Luke drew closer. It was quiet as you pulled your shorts down your thighs, leaving you fully naked. You didn’t dare look at Luke. You didn’t want to draw attention to the way he watched you undress and slip into the water a bit more gracefully than he had. It was cooler than expected, riddling your body with goosebumps. You slicked your hair off of your forehead and wiped at your eyes, finally meeting Luke’s.

“If someone told me at the beginning of this summer that I would be skinny dipping with Luke Hemmings again, I wouldn’t believe them.” You stated.

“Same here.” Luke chuckled halfheartedly. He didn’t appear as confident as before. The water was sobering, somehow. Now, he was a bit quieter, a bit struck by the way you looked under the night sky in nothing but your skin. He wondered where the sudden attraction was coming from.

The two of you fell silent again. Skinny dipping was not nearly as riveting as it was when you two were kids, trying not to get noticed by neighbors. Now, the exuberant atmosphere was instead replaced with a thick layer of tension. Only the gentle splashing of water was heard, and your proximity was absently growing closer.

“I missed you a lot when you left, you know,” You heard yourself say, or maybe the happy hour drinks and wine was saying it. “It was like you weren’t just mine anymore, when you were gone. You were the whole world’s.”

Luke frowned. His Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat, and he stood up in the water so that his chest was visible. Water droplets slid down his collarbones. “Yeah, it was sudden. We didn’t expect overnight success like that, but I’m sorry I didn’t stay in touch.”

“It’s understandable.” You replied.

Luke looked down at you, where you were crouched in the water so that it was level with your neck, concealing yourself. There was only a few feet that separated you both. “I missed you too. A lot more than you think, probably.”

Your eyes were locked on his. For some reason, there was a lump in your throat. That was all you had wanted to hear for the past few years. Those words were part of the reason why you had agreed to the reunion trip in the first place. You were clinging to the slight trace of hope that Luke missed you just as much as you had missed him.

There was no thought to your movement when you stood up, took a small step toward Luke in the shallow end of the pool. Your chest was exposed and your body grew cold but you could barely register the sensation. You were consumed by your subliminary thoughts of him, of his confession, of the way he looked standing in the water before you.

His eyes involuntarily dropped from yours to your body, to the way your chest was bare and rapidly rising and falling with your nervous breaths. He felt his blood rushing in his ears, the heat in his cheeks and neck. You welcomed his proximity when he stepped closer to you, lips parted and eyes locking back with yours.

And he kissed you. It was gentle and hesitant, as if he didn’t fully commit to the action - his body commanded it. You leaned up into him, your hands on his jaw, and pressed your lips back to his. His mouth began to move against yours slowly, ever so slowly, tasting you. You felt his hands find your waist and pull you against him, your body flush against his beneath the water. With this new movement, his palms slid up and over the curves of your skin, pushing your wet hair out of your face.

Luke gradually backed you up against the wall of the pool. It became evident that he wanted to remove any inch of space between the two of you. His tongue traced against yours, licked into your mouth. The pace of your kisses began to increase. However, you slowed him down, running your hands down the ridges of his abdomen, lingering then pulling away.

“I really missed you,” you whispered, dumbfounded. “Good night, Luke.”

You slept very restlessly that night. After leaving Luke in the pool, you wrapped a towel around your body and went inside, ditching him to clean up the wine and get himself dressed. You didn’t have ill intentions. You simply did not want to get carried away with a kiss end up doing something the two of you could possibly regret. So you did what Luke physically couldn’t do, and you put a stop to things before they could get too heated.

However, trying to achieve a good night’s sleep with him in the room next door after a kiss like that proved to be difficult. You envisioned the flush on his cheeks, the look in his eyes. They’d held an expression you had never seen on Luke before. For years, you knew him better than you knew yourself, but you never saw the side of him that was tainted by lust.

The ragged breaths he had expelled, the tightened grip of his fingers on your hip, the solidity of his body against yours without the interruption of any layers of clothing; the moment was playing on an infinite loop in your mind. You wondered if he was feeling the same. You wondered if he was wide awake, thinking of you, too.

When morning came, your anxiousness returned. The exhilaration of the night before had come and gone. It was replaced with doubt and worry, the possibility that Luke didn’t entirely want that to happen and maybe he was drunk. You pondered if he would forget all about it, that he maybe had a girl back in LA waiting for him. You weighed every negative outcome of your actions. You couldn’t help it.

You were tying on a bikini when you heard a knock on your door. Briefly, you thought it would be your mother, waking you for the family beach day she had been looking forward to. However, it was Luke.

His hair was messy and deep circles ringed his eyes. He was already in swim shorts with a pair of sunglasses tucked into the waistband. He had opted out of a shirt, apparently.

“Hi,” You breathed out. “What’s up?”

“What’s up?” Luke immediately raised his brow, surprise etched into his features. “You left your clothes from last night out there. I’m returning them.”

You tore your gaze from his and looked at the crumpled mess of your tank top and shorts that you had left on the pool deck. “Did -”

“I grabbed them before our parents came home,” He interrupted. “Wouldn’t want them to see that, would we?”

You chuckled lowly, uncomfortably. “About last night, Luke...I’m sorry. Maybe we shouldn’t have...if you have a girlfriend or something, or if -”

“Don’t be sorry.” Luke interjected softly. He stepped into your room, looked over his shoulder to see if anyone was around. “I wouldn’t have been naked in a pool with you if I had a girlfriend.”

“Okay,” You nodded, looked up at him. “Okay, I guess.”

He laughed at your flustered state of being. His eyes wrinkled at the sides and his smile was genuine, faint hair lining his cheeks and jaw. The two of you were so close, you could feel his breaths hit your face. His stare had dropped down to your mouth, tempted, wanting. You remained where you were.

It took you by surprise when he kissed you. You had known it was coming, but for him to lean down and press his lips to yours gently was unexpected. His kiss was tender, short but lingering. It held promise.

“Come on,” He murmured once he pulled away. “Let’s enjoy the beach.”

Family beach day was quite the production. Your parents had set up chairs in front of the water, stocked a cooler with waters and booze, stuck an umbrella in the sand. You were steps away from the house, but everything you needed was already right in front of you.

The sun beat down on your head from above. It was almost unbearably hot on the shore. There was a lack of breeze that day and the air felt dry around you. Nonetheless, it was still beautiful in front of the ocean, and you actually enjoyed being with your parents and Luke’s family. It had been a long time since you all spent a few interrupted hours together.

You weren’t mentally present, though. You indulged in the small talk and a cold Corona, but that was all you had to offer. Your mind was elsewhere. It was still out by the pool with Luke, with his lean stature and eyes boring into your own. You were still dwelling on earlier that morning, on the kiss he left you that insinuated there would be more to come.

It was as if you were in a state of awe. It was difficult to believe you were here for a weekend with Luke Hemmings, former childhood best friend, current superstar dripping in fame. As teenagers, of course you had thought about what it would be like to kiss him. He was your everything. That was why you never dared to taint your friendship.

You decided to get up and head over to the deck. Your mind was swimming and it was a great time to put sunscreen on, you decided. The sun was too strong and you could feel your skin beginning to burn. Plus, you were tired of listening to your parents ask Luke about all the countries he had been to, all the tours he had done. You were happy for him but grew tired of the forced conversation.

As you dug through a bag filled with different numbers of SPF, you noticed Luke stand and begin to make his way toward you. His stature was tall and his shoulders were broad, sunglasses now perched on the bridge of his nose. You looked away and started applying some sunscreen to your arms.

“Getting tired of family beach day already?” Luke questioned. He appeared bemused, watching you dot some sunscreen onto your cheeks.

“Something like that.”

He hummed, then sat down on the chair in front of you. You tried not to look at him because it was too overwhelming. His body had changed so much. He wasn’t the lanky boy from next door anymore. He had grown into himself, become a man.

“Did you just come over here to watch me put on sunscreen?” You joked after a moment, quirking an eyebrow.

A crooked smile grew on his mouth. “No, not really. I can help, though. If you want.”

“Luke,” You said his name disapprovingly. It came across with a roll of your eyes.

“C’mere, let me.” He extended his hands outward, reaching for the bottle of sunscreen.

You looked over at the beach. “Our families are right there.”

“So? I’m just helping a friend out,” Luke teased dramatically. “Their backs are to us anyway.”

You had no chance to protest anymore. Luke already had leaned forward and snatched the bottle from your grip, nudging you to move toward where he was sitting before you. You looked down at him, unsure.

“Turn around,” He urged softly.

You did as he said, glancing at your family uneasily. You could only see the backs of their heads. No one was paying attention.

You heard Luke squeeze the lotion into his hand, followed by the cold sensation of the liquid on your lower back. The large expanse of his hands smoothed it into your skin, rubbing it in, feeling the ridges of your spine beneath his fingers. You swallowed thickly.

“You’ve got a tattoo?” Luke tapped the side of your hip, where ink stuck out just above the waist of your bikini bottoms.

“Don’t look at it,” You practically whined, forgetting the image was even there. “I was stupid. Drunk with my friends, sophomore year.”

You craned your neck to look at Luke do exactly what you had asked him not to. He pulled the spandex material down just slightly, examining the design that you had chosen from a big book at the tattoo shop. Luke’s fingers traced the small lines, leaving goosebumps in their wake.

“Wow,” He mused. “Can’t believe I didn’t notice it last night.”

You rolled your eyes once more at the sarcasm that dripped from his words. You moved to turn around and face him, but he stopped you, his grip holding you in place. His touch left your waist for a moment, then moved toward the curve of your behind.

You looked toward your parents again. “Luke.”

“What?”

“Really?” You hissed, both at him and because of the sensation of the cold sunscreen on your ass. You stepped forward slightly.

“Like I said, I’m just helping you out.” He stated, but his words were muffled by his low laughter.

He rubbed the liquid in, not skipping over a single centimeter of your skin. His touch was slow and pointed as if he was savoring every moment of this. Soon, your heartbeat was beginning to race.

His touch crept back up, feeling the arch of your back and the curves of your waist. He pulled you down into his lap and you were like putty in his hands. You were past the point of protest, simply wrapped around his finger as you slid down and sat on his thighs. You were turned sideways, your eyes clouded as they looked down and met his.

“Can’t forget your shoulders,” Luke murmured. “Don’t want those to burn.”

His voice was just above a whisper. It brought chills down your spine. All you could do was nod, stare at him like a deer in headlights.

You watch his every move. He took his bottom lip between his teeth as he poured more sunscreen into his hand, then rubbed his palms together. His gaze flickered back up to meet yours.

“Turn,” He urged, and you had to tear your eyes away again.

You turned so that your back was to him once more. His touch was felt on your shoulder blades, kneading and gliding slowly. He dipped his fingers beneath the string of your bikini and for a moment you were thinking he would pull the knot loose. Instead, he continued his journey on your upper back, rubbing and feeling the warmth of your skin.

His grasp was on the nape of your neck when he was finished. It curled, and he nudged you to look at him. His stare was so intense, all you were able to do was stare back. You shared the silence of the moment, you in his lap, his hand on your neck, lingering.

He knew exactly what he was doing. It was working, every second of it. You had melted into a puddle before him. You would do whatever he said when he looked at you like that, when he touched you like that. It was like magic.

He leaned up and kissed you deeply. You were lost in the gesture, disregarding any past doubt and worry. You didn’t care if your family was right there. You wanted to feel his lips move against yours in that same way forever.

Luke’s tongue delved into your mouth. His hands were on your face now, keeping you close to him, kissing and kissing and kissing. You wanted to turn to straddle his lap, but you stopped yourself, knowing that would be the point of no return.

Once his breathing started to become slightly staggered, Luke forced himself to pull back. His chest was rising and falling heavily and his expression was strained.

“You’re going to have to finish with the rest of the sunscreen yourself,” He said. “Otherwise, family beach day will end a bit early.”

Exhaustion weighed your body down, made your muscles heavy with tire. The sun always drained you, no matter how long or how short you stayed in it. However, that day, you had been out on the beach practically until dinner. It was the only thing keeping you from going inside and letting Luke do whatever he pleased with you.

Now, it was after dinner and everyone was heading to sleep early. Your father had dozed on the sofa while watching TV and you had excused yourself to your room to get ready for bed. It was quiet and peaceful in the house with the air conditioning on high. It felt like your favorite kind of summer night.

You disappeared into your bathroom to wash all the sand out of your hair. The room was extravagant, with beautiful tile and marble detail. It was a level of lavish that you could only dream of. It was equipped with a gorgeous jacuzzi, twin sinks, and an oceanfront view. It was dark outside, but you could still make out the water in the distance.

You decided to run yourself a bath to soak and relax. You sat in a towel as the jacuzzi filled, then foamed with the bubble wash you added to the hot water. Once it was prepared, you slipped in, allowing your body to completely ease.

You rested your head against the wall, looking out the window, thinking about how you ended up here in the first place. It was insane to reflect on the past twenty four hours. Seeing Luke and his family, being on the beautiful beach, staying in the gorgeous house. That alone was enough to shake you. However, the mere thought of your interaction with Luke - his body, your body, the kisses and the tension - was what was truly racking your brain. You couldn’t fathom that you had seen Luke, your old best friend, in such a way.

The opening of your bathroom door startled you from thought. It was him, in his gray sweats and white wife-beater. A light sunburn tainted his cheeks and nose. His hair was tucked behind one ear and he was looking at you with a small smile.

“Did you forget how to knock?” You questioned, your voice caught in your throat.

“I knocked on the bedroom door.” He explained.

“Oh. Well, yeah, I’m taking a bath.” You managed to get out.

Luke entered the bathroom fully and closed the door behind him. A towel was in his hand. “I know. I heard the water running.”

You shifted in the water, sitting up a bit. The bubbles concealed your skin. “You...want to join me?” You offered, but your voice was weak and that same unsettling feeling grew in the pit of your stomach again. It was like you were out on the pool deck, with his eyes seeing through you, seeing all of you.

He didn’t say anything in reply, only hummed. You watched as he crossed the bathroom in one stride, placing his towel close to the jacuzzi. He lifted his tank top over his head, ditching it and tossing it to the floor. He slid his sweatpants down, revealing himself to you fully, knowing that your eyes were on him. It still made your stomach churn.

You moved over in the jacuzzi, although when he got in, there wasn’t much room to work with anyway. The water rose slightly with his weight. He let his head rest back against the tub, his leg against yours.

“Do you always listen to depressing music like this?” Luke questioned after a moment, referring to the slow songs coming from your phone across the room.

You laughed, splashed him a little. “What would you rather me put on? Your latest album?”

“Honestly, yeah.” Luke grinned.

You rolled your eyes. The both of you lulled into a silence, and you spoke up again. “I can’t believe I’m here. With you, in this really nice house. It’s so weird. I haven’t seen you since we were eighteen and now...we’re in a jacuzzi.”

“Jacuzzi is one of the main reasons I picked the house. Actually, this was supposed to be my room this weekend, but you got here first, obviously.” Luke said casually, stretching his arms out across the top of the tub.

“What? You picked the house?” You questioned in surprise, looking him in the eye.

He nodded. “I mean...the weekend’s on me.”

“You mean what?” You repeated. You sat up straight, brow furrowed.

“The weekend was my idea, Y/N. I thought of it a while ago, months ago when the band scheduled a hiatus.” Luke spoke, softer now. “My mom was telling me she had been talking with yours. I just wanted to see you again.”

You blinked. You had been under the impression that your families had planned this on their own, that Luke had been roped into this the same way that you had. To think that he had organized and paid for the trip on his own shocked you. To think that you even crossed his mind over the last few months left you somewhat speechless.

“Why do you look so surprised?” Luke wondered. He sat up, too, raking a hand through his hair and over his jaw.

“I thought...I don’t know, I didn’t think you would’ve thought of this, I figured it was our parents.” You stammered. “I thought you forgot about me.”

Luke shook his head, his brow furrowed this time. You noted the disagreement in his gaze. “I never would’ve forgot you, you know that. I told you, remember? I told you, I missed you more than you think.”

You didn’t know what to say in return. You were still slightly awestruck that he had planned this weekend, that he had missed you to the point where he rented out a house on the beach just to see you again. Meanwhile, you had gone on the past few years accepting his birthday wishes, seeing his life, thinking that you were just a small facet of the old him. Maybe you meant more.

He was studying your expression when you looked at him again. Part of him was bemused, but the other part of him was slightly nervous. He knew you missed him, but he didn’t know if it was of the same measure as he missed you. Time had passed and things were definitely different, but he still thought about you constantly.

“Say something.” Luke spoke after a moment.

You didn’t know what to offer him. He was awaiting a thank you, maybe, but you couldn’t bring yourself to speak. Instead, you were overcome with the urge to kiss him, to wipe the expectant look off of his face, to finally feel his skin beneath your touch. He went to such an extent to see you, and all you could think of was how you wanted his lips on yours.

You leaned forward in the jacuzzi. Some of the water splashed over the edge, but you didn’t care. You moved onto Luke’s lap feeling his naked skin beneath you as you were perched over him. You tilted his head to look up at you as you admired the beauty of his face, the pink of his ample lips and the light of his irises.

You leaned down to kiss him, welcoming his taste. His hands rose to your waist beneath the bubbles, his thighs supporting your weight. His tongue rolled over yours and swiped over your bottom lip deliciously. You entangled your fingers in his hair, pulling gently, needing him closer. He was so different, so different.

He let out a pent-up breath once your mouths parted, his eyes blinking open wildly. He was looking at you with a certain hunger that stopped time. It was slow-motion and still when his gaze dropped from yours to your lips, then to your chest as he pulled away from you. He allowed the silence to speak as he lifted his hands from your waist, up your arms, moving the soap and bubbles over your skin. He let his palms glide over your breasts as he stared, taking you in, admiring you before him as your chests heaved.

“It’s like meeting you for the first time all over again.” He murmured, almost to himself.

He was right. You kissed him again, feeling his words and the disbelief on his tongue, the disbelief that he was seeing you like this. You let him bite down on your lip, pull back, then pull you in again. His hands were everywhere, feeling, touching, exploring. You were hesitant when your touch gravitated from his jaw to his chest, lower and lower.

He pulled away when your fingertips ghosted at his navel. “Let’s dry off.”

You nodded, entranced. He stood up and extended his hand, letting you taking it, helping you out of the jacuzzi. You were quiet as he wrapped his towel around his waist, then snagged yours.

“C’mere.” Luke said softly.

You leaned into him, allowing him to wrap a towel around your body. He let his weight rest against the sink as he rubbed the material over your skin, staring as you then moved to dry yourself off. You looked at him, took in the sight of his tall figure and broad stature leaning back and looking right at you, too. His lips were darker and his cheeks were more flushed, an obvious tent having formed in the towel he was wearing.

“I didn’t think I ever crossed your mind.” You found yourself saying. You wrapped the towel around your body.

“You were the best thing in my life for four years,” Luke replied. “You cross my mind often, actually.”

He pulled you closer to him so that you were virtually flush against his front. You pushed his hair up and out of his face, letting your knuckles drag across his cheek fondly. “I always wondered what it would be like to kiss you.”

Luke grinned, visibly pleased, then kissed your neck, your collarbone, your chest. “The amount of times I’ve imagined this, pictured it...you don’t know.”

“No need to imagine anymore.” You stated breathlessly.

Luke looked at you, his touch falling down your arm until his fingers wrapped around your wrist. “Let me show you what I’ve imagined.”

You stared at him, feeling his breaths fanning over your face. Those words and that tone. His voice was gravelly, the confession falling from his tongue with such weight and power. It hung in the air between you; a declaration and a cliffhanger all in one. You could practically see the way he was turning you over in his mind, thinking of all the ways he wanted to have you. The lust created a bubble around you both - nothing else mattered.

Luke’s touch was burning into your skin like an iron imprint, and you wanted it to remain forever. He shifted, moving so that you were both walking into the bedroom. It was dimly lit, crisp and untouched, but once he sat you on the foot of the bed, you knew what was coming. All attention was devoted to you.

He leaned down at an angle to kiss you again, his tongue melting against yours, the kiss wet and sensual. You allowed him to savor the action, your taste and your lips, as he moved his fingers to where your towel was wrapped. He pulled the makeshift knot open, nudging you to lay down before him as he pulled back and let his stare rake down your exposed skin shamelessly.

“Your body,” he whispered. “You’re gorgeous. So pretty.”

You felt as if you were on display for him. In a way, you were. It was as if he was trying to memorize the moment, his hands tracing the curve of your hips, the swell of your breasts. You normally felt a small shred of insecurity in times like these. Being fully naked in front of someone with nothing to hide was something that was terrifying and amazing all in once. With Luke and the way he was looking at you, you felt beautiful. You were beautiful.

He dragged his fingers down your torso, over your hips, landing them on your knees. Goosebumps rose in his wake and a shiver travelled up your spine. He then bent down on the floor before the bed, his head visible between your legs. He separated your thighs, hiking them up over your shoulders. The darkness in his stare was something so foreign to you, something you never could have pictured before. It made your stomach flip.

“This okay for you?” Luke breathed, unable to take his eyes off of you. His fingers were pressed into your hipbones.

“It’s okay, it’s good.” You mumbled almost frantically. You were shaking just slightly with raw anticipation.

Luke didn’t say anything else. He leaned forward, pressed his tongue against your center eagerly, bringing you instant relief. You caved into him as he began to move his mouth against your slit, dragging his tongue up and down as slowly as humanly possible.

“Luke,” You breathed out his name, your thighs instantly tightening and twitching over his shoulders.

He took this as easy encouragement, increasing the pace of his motions, the pressure of his grip on your hips. His eyes were shut and his hair hung into his face as he focused on pleasuring you, savoring your taste and the quiet noises that left your throat.

You tried not to let much escape your lips due to the fact that your families were under the same roof. If you were alone, you were certain you would’ve been screaming at the intense level of satisfaction. Luke knew exactly what he was doing - that you were certain of. He kept your weight pinned down with his hands as he moved his tongue in circles around your clit, burying his face between your legs.

His eyes looked up to you on occasion, to gauge your reaction, to see how inundated you were in the pleasure. He flattened his tongue against your center again, slowing almost to a stop, then continued his movements. He could have sent you over the edge right then and there, but instead took his grip from your waist and slipped a finger inside you, then two.

You were writhing with pleasure, biting down on nothing to keep from yelling out. Luke could hear you panting, hear his name leave your lips over and over again as he worked to make you feel good. His fingers pumped in and out of you rhythmically as his tongue kept at your clit. He curled them at the knuckle, feeling your walls contract around him, noting the way your back was arching involuntarily.

He lifted his head for a spare moment to stare at your, continuing the rigor of his fingers. “Look at me when you come.” He told you in undertone, voice almost broken.

You couldn’t react in the moment. Your head was thrown back against the mattress, legs squeezing around his head as he returned his tongue to your slit. Your eyes were rolling back as he increased the motion of his fingers, adding a third digit, curling again.

Like clockwork, you felt your body shake with unadulterated pleasure. You were thrown over the edge, lifting your head to look down at Luke as you came. His eyes watched you throughout the entirety of your orgasm, his tongue tasting every inch of you.

Soon, your breathing slowed and your muscles relaxed. Luke craned his neck to get a better look at you, taking his fingers into his mouth, tasting you. You stared at him in a daze. His lips wrapped around his fingers, painted a darker pink.

Your body was exhausted from the orgasm. It had been so long since you felt something like that. Still, the way Luke looked so primal and animalistic was making you stir. He was at his feet again, towel dropped, towering body in its purest form for you.

“Luke,” You said his name again. “C’mere.”

You didn’t need to say it. He was already on top of you, laying you down on the bed again. You could feel his erection flush against the inside of your thigh. He ignored it, focused on kissing you. The necklace he wore dragged over your skin as he hovered over you.

You wrapped your arms around him, nails scratching over skin. He kissed you slowly, as if he could have done so forever. You let him pepper his lips down your neck and over the hollow of your throat. His hair tickled at your face, and when he lifted his head, you couldn’t look away from his beauty.

“Let me feel you,” You mumbled, your touch travelling south. You wrapped your hand around his cock, feeling how he was practically aching.

He inhaled sharply once you squeezed and began stroking. It was taking everything for him not to collapse on top of you as you jerked him off, twisting at his head, watching his reaction to your movements.

“Hard as a rock for you,” he admitted lowly, facial features tense. “Fuck.”

“Can I taste?” You asked tentatively. Your voice didn’t sound like your own in the dim quiet of the room. It was strained, yet eager.

“Mm,” Luke hummed. “Wanna feel your pretty mouth.”

You looked up at him once he sat upright. His long legs were outstretched on the mattress as his arms supported his weight. He watched you, stroking himself a few times while you shifted before him. His dick stood straight and flushed at the tip, enticing.

You laid on your stomach before him, running your tongue along the underside of his shaft, building moisture. You wrapped your lips around his head and sucked harshly, looking up at him beneath your lashes. He winced at the sensitive feeling, his abdomen muscles clenching and jaw tensing. You could tell he wanted to curse but was trying to keep quiet.

You moved your mouth lower down his length, feeling his tip hit the back of your throat as you struggled to take it all. Luke’s hand flew to your head, keeping you there for a moment as he took his bottom lip between his teeth.

“Shit, take it, baby,” He drawled out. His tone was wrecked.

He moved your hair out of your face as you came back up for air and then licked his shaft again. You developed a rhythm, hollowing your cheeks and sucking his tip, stroking what you couldn’t fit. Luke’s head was thrown back in pleasure, his biceps flexing as he moved to lean back on his elbows. He was so lost, so hyperfocused on how you were making him feel.

You moved down to his balls, taking each in your mouth one at a time. You looked at him all the while, seeing how his eyes rolled as you sucked, then released. He was gripping the comforter so hard his knuckles were white. When you moved back to his dick, he shook his head.

“I’m about to come, we have to stop,” He breathed out through gritted teeth. “Okay, fuck.”

You couldn’t help the small prideful smile that toyed at your lips. He sat for a moment, catching his breath before looking to you again. When he met your smirk, you knew that he was enjoying himself clearly. You wondered how many times he truly did think of that moment.

“Wanna be inside you,” Luke muttered. He sat up, pulling you toward him for a kiss. “You want that?”

“Yeah, I do,” You breathed.

Luke turned so that his weight was hovering over you again, his eyes scanning over your body. He was so immersed in the moment, in the chemistry between the two of you, and it made you wonder how long he had been thinking of you. Did he always feel this way? You certainly didn’t, but something changed when he sat down with you on the beach yesterday. It was a new kind of connection. There was the Luke you knew for all of those years, and the Luke that was there before you. It was an intense and lovely combination.

Luke brushed your hair back and out of your face, moving so that he was situated between your legs. There was a brief moment where he met your eyes and you could see that this was different for him. There was a history and there was a present, and he had hoped for that.

Luke lined himself up with your entrance and pushed. Your walls constricted around him, adjusting to his girth, and that familiar pressure resonated inside you again. You and Luke sighed in sync, both in relief and out of pleasure. He bottomed out, slowly, feeling all of you and you feeling every inch of him.

“Fuck, you feel so good,” Luke muttered, his lips at your ear.

You braced yourself when he pulled out, then thrusted forward again, his hips against yours. You reveled in the feeling; the warmth of his body on top of yours, the pressure building in your stomach, the breathless noises Luke was making at your ear. You had never felt such pleasure and peace at once.

You wrapped your legs around Luke’s frame as he started moving into you quicker, deeper. The new angle hit you and you moaned out quietly, making an acute effort to silence yourself as much as possible. Luke lifted his head to look at you as he pushed in and out, in and out. You could only lock eyes as he fucked into you, lulling you into a stage of pleasure.

His brow was furrowed and his mouth was agape as he propped himself up over you. You could tell that he was already far gone, with small beads of sweat gathering around his hairline. Still, although he was immersed in the euphoria of it all, he leaned down, his lips brushing over yours. “Always been so beautiful.”

You moved your hands from his back to his face, cupping his jaw. His pace slowed again with this new position and your lips met, body jolting each time Luke bottomed out. He let his tongue drag over yours slowly. The kiss was sloppy but somehow flawless. The both of you had never been that close to someone, limbs completely intertwined, attached yet separate.

He dropped his lips to the crook of your neck, letting his face stay buried in your skin as he started up his pace again. You laid back, eyes rolling as he fucked into you more pointedly, hitting your g-spot with the thrust of his hips.

“Fuck, Luke, don’t stop,” You breathed out, your hands at each side of your head on the mattress.

“How’s it feel?” Luke mumbled, lifting his head again, eyes low as they watched your face contort into an expression of pleasure.

“So good,” You exhaled, teeth clenching when he thrusted forward abruptly.

You were suddenly surprised when you felt Luke’s hand on top of yours, fingers interlocked as he continued moving inside of you. He held onto you, his light eyes still trained on yours. He looked so pretty like that.

“Gonna come soon,” He told you, lips against your neck again. “You gonna come with me?”

“Mm,” You could only hum in reply.

Luke’s steady pace was building you up, sweat prickling up on your skin. You could feel every inch of him as he fucked in and out, lips dancing over your collarbone, eyes occasionally looking to you curiously. He cared. He wanted you to feel good, to feel like he did in that moment.

A low grunt emitted from his throat told you that he was getting close. The sounds that left him only fueled your arousal, and you held him tight against you as he worked to reach both of your highs. He moved his weight to his elbows, practically laying on top of you as his hips moved forward with every thrust. The new proximity made your body shiver, and soon, you were moaning quietly into Luke’s shoulder, thrown over the edge.

“That’s it,” Luke praised in undertone. His words were slightly broken as he felt you come around his length, your body writhing beneath his.

He leaned up once he felt his orgasm approach. You were panting, a heaving mess of limbs beneath him as he pulled out of you, stroking himself until his come painted your torso. His jaw contracted and his brow furrowed, a short whimper exiting his lips as he came, your name falling from his tongue.

Once his breathing returned to its normal pace, he let himself lay beside you for a moment. His cheeks were flushed, heartbeat erratic in his chest, but he was contented. You could sense this by the way he turned to look at you, tilting your head to look at him with his fingertips.

“I fell in love with you, back then. I never forgot you.” He said. “Things may be different now, but that will always stay the same.”

#wow um 23 pages later i think im crosseyed #also not my best but like hey am i back in the game maybe #oh well here r the tags #luke smut #luke one shot #luke writing #luke hemmings smut #luke hemmings one shot #5sos fic #luke fic #5sos one shot #5sos smut #Smut #one shot #writing

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katebrownell · 5 years ago

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101 Business Ideas To Get You Thinking

Do you have an entrepreneurial spirit and are always coming up with ideas but never know what direction to head in? Maybe you have thought about starting up your own business but you’re just not sure what type? We have put together a list of 101 business ideas to get you thinking. Have a look to see what options are available and if something sparks a light bulb moment in you then reach out to us! We can help you turn that idea into a reality.

Dance Teacher

Have you grown up dancing and love the idea of sharing your passion for dance with others? Why not start up a business as a dance teacher or an even larger grande jete, (see what we did there) set up your own dance studio. The possibilities are endless.

Nanny Service

Are you a kid person? Do you know how many busy families are out there? You could build up your own Nanny/Babysitting service.

Interior Design

Do you have a good eye aesthetics? Do you have the ability to visualise how colours, textures and patterns work together in a harmonious space? If you love the idea of styling homes and starting a business that utilises your creativity, then why not consider being an interior stylist?

Aerial Photographer

Drones used to be considered as something just for hobbyists, not anymore. This type of photography is not only used for pretty imagery, but can be utilised in agriculture, industrial mapping, and much more. Now more than ever with the growing trend of aerial photography, starting up in this space is the perfect business opportunity.

Room Rental/Airbnb

Have you ever thought about potentially renting out the granny flat in your backyard? Or maybe turning your entire house into a rental? But not just any rental with week to week income, what about running it like a hotel? An Airbnb listing could be your way of securing an additional stream of income or to generate some serious profit.

Makeup Artist

Do you love the beauty industry, keep up with the latest trends, have a flair for creativity and are passionate about all things makeup? Perhaps you should investigate freelance makeup artistry? As a makeup artist you have the opportunity to work on a bunch of different jobs, whether it be theatre, film, music videos, editorial, advertorial, fashion runway, TV, retail, and many, many more.

Dog Walking

If spending time with four-legged friends daily is your idea of a good time, then why not start a dog walking business and offer your services to pet owners who have a busy schedule.

Singer/Songwriter

Do you love to sing? Are you in a band? Did you know that musicians are entrepreneurial? As a singer or songwriter, you will practice, compose, perform, teach, promote, network, and make things happen day after day. This is an incredible way to make money doing something you are truly passionate about.

Barber Shop

For many barbers, opening an independent barbershop is the ultimate goal. This is the time when you can express your creative talent as a completely independent artist and craftsperson. You can set your own prices and potentially earn like the pros, go to international barbering events, give out your own business card, and develop a list of clients who will fly in to see you.

Event Catering

While most of us simply enjoy the culinary delights dished up by catering companies, those with a flair for food and an entrepreneurial spirit will be keen to know what business opportunities lie beneath the silver serving trays. The catering business is considered one of the most lucrative and profitable home-based business ventures, with a high potential for expansion and growth.

Restaurant Owner

Are you a chef ready to share your unique culinary creations with the world or an aspiring entrepreneur with an interest in the food industry? Then maybe opening a restaurant may be your calling.

Accountant

Do you love numbers? Or making sure all your figures add up succinctly? If you are a qualified accountant wanting to branch out on your own, you could start your own accounting business and build up your own client base.

Rideshare

Ever considered turning your car into a taxi so you can make some extra money on the side? Being an Uber driver can be the perfect side gig, It’s well paid and extremely flexible. As your own boss, you can work as many or as few hours a s you like.

17. Industrial Cleaning

If it can get dirty, chances are someone will be willing to pay you to clean it. You can choose to focus on the two primary market niches of the cleaning industry: commercial and consumer areas.

Bakery

Have you thought about turning your baking addiction into a profitable business? There are generally four types of bakeries – counter service bakeries, specialty service bakeries, sit-down bakeries and online bakeries.

Food Van Vendor

A food truck business can be the ultimate form of independence: not only do you run your own workplace but that workplace is mobile. Food trucks have become very popular over the last few years, but each type of unit has its own advantages, with mobility clearly being the key selling point. It’s entirely up to you to decide which will best suit your business needs.

Personal Trainer

Do you like working out and being fit? Do you want to share your enthusiasm for fitness with others and get paid? Then a personal training business might be for you.

House Painter

Have you completed your apprenticeship and thought you may want to go out on your own? A house painting business is a great choice for those who enjoy home improvement projects and prefer a greater degree of physical activity than many jobs provide. Flexible hours, low overhead, and the opportunity to develop new skills while earning as much as your own energy level permits are all factors that make this a desirable business choice for many people.

Photographer

Do you have your camera with you where ever you go? Are the go-to photographer at family functions? You can turn your interest, talent and hobby into a home-based photography business.

Tutor

If you’re looking for an easy and affordable home business that you can start quickly, tutoring is one you should consider. Tutoring is an ideal home business for teachers and instructors; however, you don’t need a teaching degree or any specialized training to be a tutor. What you do need is knowledge of the subject matter and the ability to explain in a way that others can learn.

Yoga Instructor

Yoga-savvy individuals keen on owning a small business might want to consider opening a studio and become an instructor. The yoga industry brings in almost $30 billion per year, and as the community grows, so do the opportunities, for example you could expand to do yoga classes, festivals, brand sponsorship’s and merchandise.

Graphic Designer

Do you know how to brand or create a logo? Are you handy with programs like Adobe Illustrator or InDesign? If you enjoy drawing and creating aesthetically pleasing visual materials, then becoming a Freelance Graphic Designer might just be the business for you. Graphic artists design items such as magazine advertising, brochures, business cards, communications documents and business websites.

Podcaster

The podcasting business is perfect for those who enjoy public entertainment. Podcast creators can join a slew of commercial and public networks, connecting with listeners, celebrities, and industry specialists.

Craft Brewer

Why not turn your love of great beer into a profession and start your own brewery? Many successful craft breweries and craft beer brands in Australia are thriving in what is, essentially, a hostile business environment. If you are realistic about the market, educate yourself, and seek expert advice, you will have the best chance of success.

Apart from these vaping business are grooming one in Australia and there are several online and offline stores available here. But nicotine is banned in Australia so one can import nicotine-based vapes and e-liquids from the online vape store in New Zealand for personal use and not for sale.

Read More: https://www.hunterfuturepreneurs.com.au/101-business-ideas/#comment-3403

#online vape store New Zealand #vape shop NZ #vape store nz #nicotine for vape

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knowledgestudies · 6 years ago

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10 Productive Uses For Blank Notebooks

I was cleaning out my room earlier this week, and I discovered that I have some empty notebooks. So I made a list of things I could fill these notebooks with. I thought I’d share that list because I know many people have empty notebooks just lying around and might want some ideas for what to do with them.

1. Research and Thoughts

Whether you already like reading scientific research, or you are interested in a topic and want to learn more about it, having a research journal is a great idea! You can take notes on the articles you have read and jot down your reactions to those studies. You could also think of possible applications for both your personal and professional life that are not mentioned in the article itself. Additionally, you could record and research other topics that might be of interest to you after reading an article. Who knows, you might even be inspired to conduct your own research!

2. Journal and Life Lessons

Keeping a journal is extremely beneficial because it is great for mental health! Writing in a journal is a very cathartic experience, so it is no surprise that it can help regulate your emotions. And reflecting on your day will help you organize your feelings, which in turn will elevate your mood by allowing you to appreciate the little things that make life great. Journaling can also help stimulate your creativity, as you may come up with ideas to improve your life just a little bit each day. Additionally, journaling improves your writing, as you learn to communicate important information more effectively.

This journal could also double as an ongoing list of life lessons that you learn from various sources: books, movies, shows, documentaries, mentors, interviews, conversations with others, etc. All of our experiences, no matter how small, teach us something, and it is important to reflect on those as well, as they can offer so many insights that will help us better conduct ourselves in all aspects of life.

3. Blog Log

I know this one is super relevant for all of us, and this log can be an incredibly useful tool. This is a great place to store all your content ideas and outlines for easy access. You could even draft an entire blog post here, so that you can easily make any edits if necessary. If you’re using sources in your posts, this would be a good place to cite those so that you can easily reference them whenever you need to. Or, if you have been tagged and/or want to tag someone, you could record those here too so that you don’t forget to give credit to the amazing bloggers who wanted to hear from you. And don’t forget to celebrate your milestones! This could mean number of followers, or most popular posts, number of original posts written (in a period of time or in general), blog birthdays/anniversaries, really anything you want to celebrate.

4. Creative DIY Projects

Personal projects are always really exciting to work on. Not only can they serve as a nice escape from our regular lives, but they are also very engaging hobbies that incentivize us to work harder in our personal and professional lives. DIY projects also allow us to become more independent, self-reliant, and creative thinkers, which is a rewarding experience in and of itself.

However, just because these projects encourage independence, doesn’t mean they can’t be socially beneficial as well. They can serve as talking points for when you’re networking or talking with loved ones at get-togethers where you can discuss your current project(s) and your plans for future ones. Additionally, other people may have advice for how to improve your process and get more out of each project.

Projects are great for other practical reasons too! They are a productive use of our spare time and also allow us to develop our soft skills (time management, planning, organization, creativity/creative problem solving, adaptability, just to name a few). These transferable skills will also surely make job hunting and mapping your career development just a little bit easier.

If you don’t want to work on DIY projects, that’s perfectly fine too! The point of this journal is to express yourself creatively and independently, no matter what form your art takes. For example, if you want to have an art journal where you sketch creative designs, go for it! Or if you’d rather compose poems or novels, there is literally nothing stopping you! Just don’t limit yourself, no matter what you choose.

5. Career and Professional Development

Many of us either already have jobs, or are actively working towards securing one. This notebook could be used to keep track of every aspect of our professional development. For example, exploring career interests can be used to develop concrete plans for how to achieve professional success. You could use this journal to help keep track of the jobs you applied for, or keep track of the jobs you have already done. You could write about how long you held those positions for and what you learned during your time in that position or company.

Note all that you have accomplished, such as your ideas and contributions to projects, or how you solved problems. Not only does this give you an opportunity to reflect on your professional life, but it can be really useful when you edit your resume and other professional documents, as well as your LinkedIn account.

Just remember that you can have fun with it too, and remember the more entertaining parts of the job and team, by recalling memorable events. Jobs can be boring and tedious sometimes, so remembering the fun things can incentivize you to start the job searching process.

6. Life Audit Lists

Sometimes there is a gap between our current and ideal life, and that is perfectly natural. There are several steps you can take to bridge that gap. Conducting a life audit is an incredibly useful tool to help you live your best and most fulfilling life. Analyzing the results of the life audit will encourage you to take responsibility and actively work on self-improvement. Below are just some ideas to help get you started:

Goals - These could be daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, however you want to organize it. I personally would narrow it to three main goals so that it you aren’t overwhelmed, but you do whatever works for you. You can divide these goals into various categories, for example: academic, professional, social/personal, etc. And if it helps, divide those categories too, so that you can get a more comprehensive view of your life and develop a more specific plan for how to improve it.

Seasonal Bucket Lists - Bucket lists are a really fun way to push yourself out of your comfort zone so that you can be more adaptable and can experience so much more than you would have otherwise experienced. Maybe there is something you’ve always wanted to do but never did. Write that down and make a plan to actually do it! You never know, you might discover things you actually enjoy doing and these experiences will help you get more out of life. Plus, it’s just really motivating to have things to look forward to!

Self-Care Ideas - Prioritizing your mental health is absolutely necessary to get your life in order. So, make this a routine. Find things that you enjoy doing, whether it’s drinking tea or coffee, or meditating, or journaling, or something else entirely, and make it a point to do at least one thing a day that positively contributes to your mental health. And don’t be afraid to add more things to this list than any other one, because I truly cannot stress how important it is to not neglect your mental health.

7. Habit/Skill Trackers

Often times, the hardest part about making (or breaking!) a habit is just getting started. That’s why I like to record my streaks for each habit that I would like to develop and maintain. One way you could track this in your journal is by writing the habit on one side and recording the number of days you’ve consistently done that habit on the other. You could also organize it like a chart, with the days of the week labeled on one side and the habits you want to develop on the other and you could cross off each day that you completed each habit.

You could use this same approach for tracking your skills, as learning a skill is a habit itself. For example, if you want to learn computer languages or other technical skills to make yourself more professionally marketable, try to set aside an hour a day and integrate this into your daily routine. And don’t neglect developing soft skills, those are just as important. And don’t forget to monitor your progress in each skill, because having a visual representation of your progress can serve as a great motivator to continue developing skills!

8. Language Learning Progress

Language learning is both a wonderful and marketable skill. I know many of us are in the langblr community, and use resources such as Duolingo and Youtube among others. This is an excellent place to take notes on vocabulary and memory triggers for those terms, plural forms and tenses/conjugations for those terms, grammar rules and exceptions to those rules, example sentences such as the ones that Duolingo provides, and even your own original writing so that you can practice using your knowledge practically.

However, as important as language learning is, it is also important to learn about the respective culture. Fully immerse yourself in understanding the culture to get a more clear picture of your global understanding. Languages and cultures shape each other to a certain extent, so it is important to give as much weight to learning the culture when you are learning a foreign language.

9. Podcast/TED Talk Notes

Whether you like to listen to podcasts on your commute, or actively listen to them on Spotify or any other Podcasts app, taking notes from podcasts is always a good idea. I’ve personally been listening to TED Talks for approximately five years now, and I find these speeches, however short, to be extremely interesting and informative. Of course, you don’t need to just limit yourself to TED Talks, as all podcasts have value to different audiences. Noting your reactions to the information presented is also a good idea. Analyzing things will always lead to a deeper understanding and appreciation of the material, as well as developing your critical thinking skills.

10. Event Plans

There is so much to look forward to in life, such as vacations, graduation(s), birthdays, weddings and anniversaries, etc. This notebook allows you to store all your plans in one place! You could divide it into sections if you want to organize it and find your plans more easily. For example, for vacations, you could record where you would like to go, the prices of the plane tickets, where you’ll stay, what to pack for the trip, the itinerary and points of interest, the cuisine, the activities you’ll do there, really anything you can think of. For graduation, you could think of graduation cap decor ideas if that’s your thing, party themes, food, picture ideas, location, etc. For birthdays, same thing. Wedding and anniversary planning are on a whole other level of difficulty, so organization is key here, and this notebook would really help with organizing all the details.

I recognize that there is a lot of overlap with these ideas, so if you don’t want to dedicate an entire notebook for any individual idea, you can use these as series for your bullet journal. Or you could combine these ideas into a single journal. Also, if journaling is not your thing, you could create binders for these ideas, or any other ideas you come up with.

I hope these ideas are helpful! :)

What did you think of the list? Feel free to share your own ideas in the comments!

#studyblr #langblr #notebookideas #lists #ideas

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floydvalleyhealthcare · 6 years ago

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The Case for Assisted Living

From comfort to safety and socialization, assisted living has a lot to offer to improve seniors’ lives. Here are seven of the top benefits of assisted living at a facility like Park Place Estates:

1. Assisted living communities are safe.

As a senior, you face certain safety risks if you live alone, like falls or other health emergencies that may be compounded if no one is nearby to help. Fortunately, in an assisted living community, you’ll get help right away. In addition to assisted living staff, these residences often have a nurse as well, so you may be able to receive skilled nursing care the moment you need it.

2. Assisted living regularly schedules activities.

Assisted living communities provide an ongoing schedule of activities for their residents. From classes to movie nights and trips to local museums – these residences make it easy to keep busy and stay active. Some of the activities and classes offered may even help seniors develop a new hobby or interest in their time there, something that becomes more important and helps us avoid isolation as we age.

3. Assisted living communities create connections.

This is one of the most important benefits that some families might overlook at first. One big side effect of aging in place is loneliness, which has very real health consequences, like an increased risk of Alzheimer’s and high blood pressure. In assisted living communities, seniors have the opportunity to develop connections and make new friendships every day.

4. Assisted living provides the full-time care many seniors need.

Assisted living provides the care that seniors need when formerly simple tasks – like getting dressed in the morning and getting three healthy meals a day – become impossible to do on one’s own.

5. Chores, home maintenance and meals are done by someone else.

Keeping the house clean. Mowing the lawn. Making dinner. When you live in alone in a home, there’s always something more that needs to be done. When you move to assisted living, however, almost all of that work gets moved off of your plate and many day-to-day concerns become someone else’s job.

6. Seniors have many assisted living options.

As the assisted living industry grows, seniors have more options for senior care than ever before. In addition to traditional assisted living communities, there are now specialty assisted living options like assisted living that includes college classes and green senior living residences. Today’s seniors have the ability to seek out communities that match their particular values.

7. Seniors in assisted living have privacy.

Many seniors worry about a loss of privacy in assisted living, but residents still have a room of their own. Yes, you share common areas with other residents, but when you want to retreat from the crowd, you can close your door behind you and have some time to yourself.

#floydvalleyhealthcare #parkplaceestates #assistedliving #lemars #iowa

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betterfor4-blog · 6 years ago

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My Pursuit of Happiness Manifesto

--- In a nutshell (to take the time to read or not): This post gives context to my life, why I have started this blog, the clear goals I have set for my family and how I am going to manage it. ----

Dear Universe and the Human Race,

The Context of My Life

Thank you for my life. Through nothing else but chance and luck I find myself truly blessed (in a completely non-religious way). Even if I didn’t intend, plan or pursue it, I find myself in my late 30s with a beautiful old-fashioned, very-not-cool nuclear family. We could be the poster family for hetero-normative, white, 2 young kids and a dog in an average brick house. Please don’t for a second though think that I believe or promote this as the only way as being. This is the context for my life, however, I am open-minded and supportive of all the different kinds of ways that family and love exists in this world.

I acknowledge that I live on this planet in a way many cannot or will never get the opportunity to. I acknowledge that the way I live is because of the toil of many who will never have my privilege.

Completely off life-plan I married my first love who I met when I was a teenager. He is intelligent, gorgeous, compassionate, funny, loyal and simply a good person (if not sometimes a little too ‘linear/pragmatic/black and white in his thinking). We both had opportunities to become well educated and ambition to form our own independent careers. We both trained and work in the Sciences; I am an educator. We lived exciting lives with lots of travel and friends and then 3 years ago we welcomed our first lovely daughter into this world (Miss C1). Late last year our family was completed by our second lovely daughter (Miss C2).

The Reason For This Blog And What I Want In This Life

I am genuinely happy, 8/10, like Scandinavian happy (those guys have it all worked out). I know who I am and I am very clear in my mind about my goals, values and ambitions for myself and my family. I have prefaced and contextualized my life in this post however, as my problems are slight, though they still exist an I am in pursuit of happiness (9 and 10 numbers).

I want to live meaningfully in this life and raise my girls consciously and with clear intent. I want our family activities, daily life and conversations to be ‘rich’ in the holistic manner of the word rather than the dollars and cents version. I want for a lot and have some clear goals/thoughts:

1. MINIMALISM - I want to live better with less...

- I want to spend less on the stuff we don’t need.

- I don’t want to waste things (especially food and other such resources).

- I want every item in our home to bring joy, be useful and used frequently.

- I wish to invest in family experiences more than things.

- I don’t want to get caught up in the fast fashion cycle, buying my girls $2 t-shirts that last 3 washes and are thrown away at the cost of both environment and people.

- I want high quality goods that are fixed or re-purposed rather than just thrown away.

- I want to our modest block of land to be productive for

- I don’t want to spend my life cleaning or battling with storing stuff making our home and lives less enjoyable.

- I want a clean and organised house that I don’t have to feel burdened by maintaining but I am not ashamed by unexpected guests.

2. Experiential Based Family Life - I want our daily lives to be rich in conversation and experiences.

- Less Screen time or maybe more meaningful screen time for everybody.

- More games and playing.

- More travel and family experiences more frequently.

- More nature in our daily lives. More getting outside.

- Ensure my girls get the best education possible by exposing them to opportunities and educational experiences. Peppa Pig is not nearly educational enough (read severe sarcasm).

3. HEALTH - A Healthier Family

For us health comes in 3 pillars: sleep, food and exercise. To be honest all are crumbling a little at the moment...

- I am overweight and have been my entire adult life and I want to rectify that for the most important reason in the world; it gives me the best chance to be with my family for the longest amount of time. I’ll blog about this later.

- I want my family to eat well and diversely. I want my girls to have a good relationship with food where no food is forbidden. I need to create strategies and structures to allow and develop this.

- We need to be working towards 8 hours of sleep a night, the girls need more.

- We need strategies in our lives than ensures that Mum and Dad are getting at least 10,000 steps a day and some cardio (I would love to know how far Miss C1 goes in a Day).

4. IMPROVE MY IDENTITY CAPITAL - be the best Mum I can be.

I think for the first time in my life I am ready to live by the wisdom of ‘taking care of yourself before others’ (the old apply your oxygen mask in a plane emergency before helping others). I am tapped out, my cup is dry... whatever you want to call it.

Basically, I am a stay at home Mum with 2 girls under 3 and I am TIRED. Not just sleep deprived but emotionally exhausted. I feel like junk and everywhere I look I see work to be done. Worst thing yet, I just returned from a holiday super relaxed. Which was good, because it reinforced to me that I am more than run down, I am depleted.

I want more ‘arrows in my quiver’. In short, as my husband would put it I need more diverse identity capital. I need to my life to be filled with hobbies and activities and people to recover some of my energy and zest for life. Yet at the same time I feel the Social Media Direct Messenger culture of 21st Century melts my mind a little.

Previously, my job consumed me and that is the way I liked it. I have chosen however to sacrifice my career in order to give my girls the best chance (see goal 2-5). Staying at home was not an emotionally easy choice, but an easy logical one. I am an educator. This is what I do. The idea of returning to work (when I didn’t have to) and allowing someone else to raise and educate my girls at this early stage seemed like insanity. I am also lucky that the system I work for holds my job for me for about 6 years. But back to the point, it left a career sized hole in my life that of late has been harder to fill.

My mind is a fog of fruit pouches, nappies and nursery rhymes. Yet, I know that this time of my life will pass faster than I will in retrospect have liked it to. Before it does though I need to write in full sentences on a regular basis. I need to stretch my mind. I need to model to my girls how you can work towards a work-life balance.

Vainly, I am also in desperate need of a Mum makeover. I need some Mum style before my girls start school. B.C. (before children) I had work clothes and a few casual pieces. 2 pregnancies and no work later I am adrift in my new life, at least style wise, and it has left me feeling fairly invisible.

5. WEALTH - I want us all to be grateful for what we have and show that.

This one really doesn’t need dot points. My family are privileged and that is not a crime, but to become entitled or not appreciate our good fortune, well that is. I want us to not waste and give back where we can as often as we can.

As for our actual finances. I figure if we live more mindfully with less we will spend less. The money we save will be able to fund our experiences and travel. It is the old “take care of the cents and the dollars will take care of themselves” approach. I will be exploring this later though.

Summary

So on rereading this, two things I note.

- I sound far more ‘hippy-dippy’ than I feel I am, but the list is accurate. I wonder if this resonates with other 21st Century slightly left-leaning Mum’s out there? Where is my tribe?

- I am WAY daunted by this list. To set an appropriate mental image I am sitting at my dining room table eating a carrot as the baby bashes her drink bottle on her highchair pulverizing crackers into dust (now on the floor) and the toddler is talking to me asking constant ‘why’ questions. The latest question was “why do doctors say you can’t jump on the bed?” referring to the song ‘5 little Monkies’. Both of these things are an improvement from 30 minutes ago where they were both competing to press any buttons they could on my laptop.

How Will I Achieve This?

Don’t know in short. But I know this... I cancelled my gym membership recently because getting there with the two girls was near impossible and ridiculously expensive once I paid for the creche for the both of them. I felt like I had lost something too. Like the cards were proverbially stacked against me and my fitness goals as a stay at home Mum (CHAINED TO THE HOUSE I TELL YOU). On the way home though I questioned why I honestly needed the gym, more specifically an instructor telling me to ‘sashay’. I decided on two reasons. The first, the group environment means I won’t quit as I would never give in when being observed by others. The second, because the instructor had the knowledge.

It occurred to me on that trip home that I could replace those classes with YouTube and a blog. A blog to keep me honest and check in (even if no one reads it) and YouTube for the knowledge. The internet is a global community of ‘DIY knowledge’ and all I had to do was harness it.

So that is the strategy for this blog. I am going to use the power of the internet to learn, share and record my improvements.

How Will I Measure Progress And What Is The Timeline?

I am going to have to research that on the internet (LOL). I think I am going to need different tools for different aspects of my life.

I am going to start by posting Mon, Wed, Fri and tackling a different aspect each time:

Monday - Health

Wednesday - Minimalism

Friday - Experiences

I am writing this to no one in particular and everyone in order to keep myself honest and on track in the way I am going to change our lives.

The purpose of this blog and particularly long post... I’ve got to be better for the four of us. I have to live my best life to honor this extraordinary life I have been gifted.

#mumlife #stayathomemomlife #familylife #happiness #bebetter #privilegedlife #makingachange #family #betterhealth #minamilism #scandihappy #betterfor4 #mumtribe

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mathds-blog1 · 6 years ago

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Adolescent Decision-Making

Data set selected - National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (AddHealth) . I selected this dataset because, I think the younger generation is of most importance to any country. Future rests on their shoulders. Raising them well is a gift to this mankind. I think the way adolescent reasons/thinks/take decisions/solve difficulties serves a foundation in one’s life. Am more interested to see how this aspect of adolescent is influenced by parents trait of handing over responsibilities to their children at early age or is it the parents love and care that enables this quality within adolescents or how the day-to-day activities (keeping themselves occupied with creative and constructive activities) like hobbies, socializing or getting involved in household chores enables them to be good decision makers/problem solvers.

Research Question -

Topic I - Influence of Parental/Family traits on decision-making/problem-solving skills in adolescents.

Topic II - Impact of active involvement in Daily Activities improves decision-making/problem-solving skills in adolescents.

Hypothesis - Good parental traits/daily activities enable in raising an adolescent with good decision making/problem solving skills.

Corrections incorporated after first peer review (Mar-20-2019)

Topic I - Does Parental/Family traits influence decision-making/problem-solving skills in adolescents?

Topic II - Does being involved in creative day-to-day activities improve the decision-making/problem-solving skills in adolescents?

Hypothesis - Does Good parental traits/daily activities enable raising an adolescent with good decision making/problem solving skills?

3. My Research Questions related Codebook -

Codebook Name - INH16PUB (Section 16: Relations with Parents) Variables Considered - (Decision making/problem solving related variables) H1WP1 - Do your parents let you make your own decisions about the time you must be home on weekend nights? H1WP2 - Do your parents let you make your own decisions about the people you hang around with? H1WP3 - Do your parents let you make your own decisions about what you wear? H1WP4 - Do your parents let you make your own decisions about how much television you watch? H1WP5 - Do your parents let you make your own decisions about which television programs you watch? H1WP6 - Do your parents let you make your own decisions about what time you go to bed on week nights? H1WP7 - Do your parents let you make your own decisions about what you eat?

(Parental connectedness related variables) H1WP8 - On how many of the past 7 days was at least one of your parents in the room with you while you ate your evening meal? H1WP9 - How close do you feel to your MOTHER H1WP10 - How much do you think she cares about you? H1WP13 - How close do you feel to your FATHER H1WP14 - How much do you think he cares about you? H1WP17D - talked about someone you’re dating, or a party you went to H1WP17F - had a talk about a personal problem you were having H1WP17G - had a serious argument about your behavior H1WP17J - talked about other things you’re doing in school H1WP18D - talked about someone you’re dating, or a party you went to H1WP18F - had a talk about a personal problem you were having H1WP18G - had a serious argument about your behavior H1WP18J - talked about other things you’re doing in school

Codebook Name - INH18PUB (Section 18: Personality and Family) Variables Considered - (Decision making/problem solving related variables) H1PF2 - Your mother encourages you to be independent. H1PF3 - When you do something wrong that is important, your mother talks about it with you and helps you understand why it is wrong. H1PF14 - You usually go out of your way to avoid having to deal with problems in your life. H1PF15 - Difficult problems make you very upset. H1PF16 - When making decisions, you usually go with your “gut feeling” without thinking too much about the consequences of each alternative. H1PF18 - When you have a problem to solve, one of the first things you do is get as many facts about the problem as possible. H1PF19 - When you are attempting to find a solution to a problem, you usually try to think of as many different ways to approach the problem as possible. H1PF20 - When making decisions, you generally use a systematic method for judging and comparing alternatives. H1PF21 - After carrying out a solution to a problem, you usually try to analyze what went right and what went wrong.

(Parental connectedness related variables) H1PF4 - You are satisfied with the way your mother and you communicate with each other. H1PF5 - Overall, you are satisfied with your relationship with your mother H1PF1 - Most of the time, your mother is warm and loving toward you. H1PF23 - Most of the time, your father is warm and loving toward you. H1PF24 - You are satisfied with the way your father and you communicate with each other. H1PF25 - Overall, you are satisfied with your relationship with your father.

Codebook Name - INH02PUB (Section 02: Daily Activities) Variables Considered - H1DA1 - During the past week, how many times did you do work around the house, such as cleaning, cooking, laundry, yardwork, or caring for a pet? H1DA2 - During the past week, how many times did you do hobbies, such as collecting baseball cards, playing a musical instrument, reading, or doing arts and crafts? H1DA3 - During the past week, how many times did you watch television or videos, or play video games? H1DA4 - During the past week, how many times did you go roller-blading, roller-skating, skate-boarding, or bicycling? H1DA5 - During the past week, how many times did you play an active sport, such as baseball, softball, basketball, soccer, swimming, or football? H1DA6 - During the past week, how many times did you do exercise, such as jogging, walking, karate, jumping rope, gymnastics or dancing? H1DA7 - During the past week, how many times did you just hang out with friends? H1DA8 - How many hours a week do you watch television? H1DA9 - How many hours a week do you watch videos? H1DA10 - How many hours a week do you play video or computer games? H1DA11 - How many hours a week do you listen to the radio?

4. Literature Review -

1. Literature Title - Adolescent Decision Making: Implications for Prevention Programs Reference - https://www.nap.edu/read/9468/chapter/2

Suggested Citation: "Adolescent Decision Making: Implications for Prevention Programs." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 1999. Adolescent Decision Making: Implications for Prevention Programs: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9468.

Search terms used - "adolescent decision making" searched on google.com Overview - The paper describes the different behavioral traits among adolescents. It details on the workshop conducted on "Adolescent Decision Making" by Board on Children, Youth, and Families based on the request of U.S Department of Health and Human Services. It beautifully explains couple of "Decision Making Frameworks". Category - The paper supports the research question Summary - Decision Frameworks should equip adolescents with the required information to make better decisions. This can also be supplemented with behavioral decision making as this enables to classify the difficulty levels of the decisions and provide better options instead of just information.

2. Literature Title - Reciprocal influences between parenting and adolescent problem-solving behavior Reference - https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1998-12779-026 https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/86ed/a4022299811e5268298d1d0742c04a158520.pdf

Author - Martha A. Rueter and Rand D. Conger, 1998 Journal - Developmental Psycology Volume - 34, No. 6, Pages - 1470 - 1482

Search terms used - "Parental influence Adolescent problem solving skills" on scholar.google.com (complete paper was not available under this search and had to search on google.com) "Parental influence Adolescent problem solving skills" on google.com Overview - The paper describes a reciprocal relation between parents raising approach and the effective/disruptive problem solving skills. Category - The paper doesn't support the research topic Summary - Concludes that in order to generalize the findings, the results of this hypothesis needs to be extended to include broad range of parent-child behaviors for longer duration(where the paper was based on few minutes interaction)and the influence unidirectional and bidirectional interactions between them.

3. Literature Title - Community Programs to Promote Youth Development Reference - https://www.nap.edu/read/10022/chapter/6

Suggested Citation: "4 Features of Positive Developmental Settings." National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. 2002. Community Programs to Promote Youth Development. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10022.

Search terms used - "Influence of Community programs on Adolescent activity" on google.com Overview - The paper details on how the community programs/engagement in creative activities on day-to-day basis benefits positive behavioral development (decision making being one of them) among adolescents. Category - The paper supports the research question Summary - It summarizes the positive role played by community programs on raising positive adolescents. It also stresses the importance on having rich set of programs with wide variety that covers all youth, analyzing and improving the gaps in the programs are important aspects to be taken care of.

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knewhealth · 4 years ago

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Caring For Your Vision: 10 Ways To Prevent Eye Conditions

📷

Clear vision is something that many people take for granted – until they develop an eye condition of some kind.

And eye problems are not uncommon. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), vision disability is one of the top 10 disabilities among adults 18 years and older in the United States. Around 12 million people 40 years and over have vision impairment. It’s also one of the more prevalent disabilities among children.

Some eye conditions can’t be avoided, particularly those caused by accidents or genetics. However, there are certain things you can do to avoid the degeneration of your eyesight. Taking these actions can prevent certain eye conditions – and if you already have an eye condition, they might prevent it from getting worse.

Not many of us are taught to take care of our vision. Here are some essential tips on maintaining healthy vision and avoiding eye damage.

1) Eat a healthy, balanced diet

When you feed your body the right stuff, you’ll reap the rewards. This applies to all aspects of your health, including your eyesight.

You might have heard the old wives’ tale about eating carrots to improve your vision. Well, there’s actually a lot of truth to that – carrots contain vitamins A and C, which help maintain healthy vision.

However, carrots aren’t the only vegetables that can help maintain vision. The following vegetables contain vitamins A, C, and E, all of which are essential for eye health:

citrus

broccoli

red peppers

spinach and other leafy greens

strawberries

sweet potato

Omega 3 fatty acids are also important for eye health – and they help with a range of other health concerns, too. Fish, particularly salmon, and flaxseeds contain high doses of omega 3.

2) Use dietary supplements

Dietary supplements aren’t always necessary if you’re eating a full, balanced, healthy diet. For most people, a diet filled with a variety of vegetables, proteins, grains, and healthy fats will ensure that they get the vitamins and minerals that their bodies need.

However, it can be wise to take supplements in certain circumstances. If you have a deficiency, or if your diet is limited, supplements can help. Deficiencies in certain minerals can lead to poor eyesight. It can also cause inflammation, which can worsen eye health.

So, which supplements can help maintain your vision health? Try the following:

Vitamin A

All B vitamins, including folic acid

Vitamin C

Vitamin E, although vitamin E deficiencies aren’t common

Omega 3

Carotenoid supplements, which help maintain the carotenoids in your retina

As always, it’s a good idea to discuss supplements with your doctor. A doctor is best equipped to advise you on using any health product, including over-the-counter medications and health supplements.

Here at Knew Health, we offer our Members discounts on dietary supplements and vitamins, among other perks and services.

3) Wear sunglasses

When you hear of sun protection, you probably think about sunscreen. And while sunscreen is important, protecting your eyes should also be a priority.

High-quality sunglasses can protect your eyes from sun damage, which can lead to cataracts, macular degeneration, and astigmatism. Opt for sunglasses that block out 99 to 100 percent of UVA and UVB radiation from sunlight.

You can also use a wide-brimmed sun hat or peak cap while you’re out on a sunny day. It’s also a good idea to take a break from the sun once in a while and spend some time in the shade.

And if you’re doing a specialized activity, such as welding, it’s essential to wear appropriate protection (not regular sunglasses). When skiing or doing similar snow sports, you should use sun goggles.

4) Give your eyes a break from the screen

Staring at a TV all day won’t give you square eyes – but it can damage your vision. Unfortunately, most of us have to use computers and phones for hours every day in order to work and communicate with loved ones.

To help with this, give your eyes a break from the screen. One trick is to follow the 20-20-20 rule. Every 20 minutes, you should stop staring at your computer and look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds.

There are a few other ways to reduce the impact a screen has on your eyes. For example:

Ensure your room/office is well-lit. If the entire room is dark except for your screen, it’ll harm your eyes. Try to curb late-night phone use, too.

Reduce the glare on your screen by opting for a screen with a matt, anti-glare coating.

Reduce the blue light on your phone and computer. Phones often have a “night mode” to reduce eye strain.

Keep a distance from the screen. Holding your phone too close to your face, or sitting too close to your computer, can cause eye damage. A screen should be at least between 16 and 18 inches away.

Lower the brightness where necessary. This prevents eye strain.

Although screens are an inevitable part of our lives, it’s important to take breaks when you can. For recreation, a little TV and phone time is fine – but try to give your eyes some rest after work and on weekends.

5) Clean your contact lenses

If you use contact lenses, cleaning them often is essential. Disinfect them regularly with a quality lens solution. Only ever handle them when your hands are clean. Debris and bacteria can harm the tissue on your eyes, which can worsen eye conditions and cause infections.

And of course, replace them when needed. Depending on the kind of contact lens you have, you’ll probably have to replace them once a month – check with your optometrist if you’re not sure. If you swim often, particularly in the ocean, you might need to change your contact lenses more regularly.

To make this easier, set a reminder on your phone to change your contact lenses on the same date every month. Clean and replace your contact lens case often, too, to prevent infections.

6) Quit smoking

If you need another reason to quit smoking, here it is!

Smoking doesn’t just harm your lungs, heart, teeth, and skin – it also harms your eyes. Smoking increases your risk of developing cataracts and age-related macular degeneration.

The good news is that your body starts to recover within the first few hours of smoke cessation. If you’d like to quit cigarettes but you’re not sure how to start, speak to your primary care provider.

7) Stay fit

We all know that fitness is essential for health, but believe it or not, your eyesight will benefit too.

High blood pressure and diabetes type 2 can cause a range of eyesight issues. Regularly exercising can help prevent both blood pressure problems and diabetes.

We also recommend having regular check-ups to monitor your blood pressure and blood sugar levels. We offer a free annual fasting insulin test to our Members, which is one of the quickest and most accurate ways to determine whether you’re heading towards insulin resistance and diabetes.

8) Manage chronic diseases

Some chronic diseases can affect your vision. For example, diabetes can cause full or partial blindness. High cholesterol, asthma, cancer, and high blood pressure can also affect your eye health.

But if you manage those conditions well, they’re less likely to lead to eye conditions.

Managing your conditions can include:

Regular appointments with your health care practitioners

Maintaining a healthy diet, as per your doctor’s instructions

Exercising, as per your doctor’s instructions

Taking medication correctly

Avoiding alcohol, cigarettes, and other drugs

9) Reduce stress levels

You already know that chronic stress is terrible for your mind and body. This includes your eyes.

In fact, research has shown that stress can cause a range of eye health problems. When you’re stressed, your cortisol levels rise. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing – it helps your body when you’re in “flight or fight” mode.

However, when you’re always stressed, your cortisol levels will be high constantly. Your body struggles to deal with that amount of cortisol. This can lead to chronic inflammation.

And inflammation can cause a range of issues in the body, from digestive problems to insulin resistance. It can also cause eye problems, as the sensitive eye tissue might become inflamed. As you can imagine, having eye problems can be stressful in itself – so this can be a self-perpetuating cycle.

Additionally, as mentioned before, managing chronic diseases can help prevent eye damage – and lowering your stress levels will help keep those chronic diseases under control.

Try to reduce your stress levels where possible. This can include:

Cutting back on responsibility in work and at home where possible

Participating in a hobby that you enjoy

Meditating or doing mindfulness exercises

Trying deep breathing exercises

Journaling to express and process your feelings

Exercising – we’ve mentioned this before, but it’s worth repeating!

Trying talk therapy or counseling, especially during tough times

Spending time with loved ones who support you

Getting enough sleep every night

Reducing stress is easier said than done, but if you introduce a few positive changes in your life, you might find that it feels a bit more manageable.

10) Have regular check-ups

If you have any eyesight problem, you need to visit an optician regularly. This enables them to diagnose issues quickly. Plus, wearing glasses or contacts that are too weak or too strong can damage your vision further.

The same goes for anyone who suspects they might have a vision issue. Rather go to an optician and rule it out than strain your eyes for months or years. As you age, you’re more likely to develop a vision problem, so it’s a particularly good idea to get regular check-ups.

According to the CDC, an estimated 93 million adults in the United States are at high risk for vision loss – yet only half of them have visited an eye doctor in the past 12 months. The CDC also notes that most people who don’t seek eye care do so because of lack of awareness or because of the high costs associated with vision care. Knew Health offers a range of perks and services for Members, such as discounted supplements, discounted lab work, health coaching, and more to assist in promoting wellness and avoiding chronic medical conditions and costly bills.

Visit for more https://knewhealth.com/caring-for-your-vision-10-ways-to-prevent-eye-conditions/

#knewhealth #health #healthcare #eyes #eyecare

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pasofinoassociation · 4 years ago

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How Horseback Riding Can Benefit Children

Nature and the beautiful surroundings are a tremendous teaching tool as well as a way of building both a child's individuality and inventive spirit as they grow up and take in the environment around them.

There is a wealth of information accessible on the internet about how Recreational Riding benefits children with behavioral and learning issues, and how the link formed between horse and kid is a priceless partnership which can be duplicated. And while all of this is true, we also want to highlight the importance of horseback riding to all kids, not only those who face challenges in school or in their social lives.

Learning to ride a horse and experiencing the thrill of it is a fantastic way to get kids out of their rooms and away from the television. We've prepared a series of five of our favorite reasons why your youngster could and must learn to ride a horse to make our case.

1. It Encourages People To Be Healthy And Fit

Physical fitness and health are topics that we hear about frequently in the news, with the currently having the greatest rate of obese young people in the country's history. Recreational Riding is no exception, since it gets youngsters outside in the clean air and encourages them to activate their muscles and abdominal strength to work in unison with the horse's motions.

Horseback riding improves hand-eye coordination and encourages kids about movement and agility while also imprinting healthy behaviors and physical associations in them — if the horse is pleased and strong he will move well.

2. Enhances Social Skills And Strengthens Bonds

One of the main advantages of Recreational Riding is the increased social aspect, with the equestrian community being recognized for friendly rides, magnificent scenery outings, and stable yard talks. When children begin a new hobby, they get the chance to make new connections and riding a horse allows youngsters not only to meet new people among their other riders, but also to form a link with the horse directly.

Horses look up to their rider as their master and rely on him for nonverbal instructions, which can help even the cuddliest kids to break out of their shells and open up, forming a bond with their horse.

3. Instills Self-Control And Problem-Solving Skills

Horseback riding promotes self-control and consciousness, as the overall experience depends on focus, comprehension, and a calm demeanor. This, in turn, can improve a child's care and concern, which can be transferred to other parts of their lives, such as their home and school.

Riding can also increase a child's capacity to solve problems and deal with real-life circumstances, which can only benefit their academic achievement. They start to experience and develop acclimated to teamwork as they discover the significance of a great collaboration; a skill they will return to many times during their lives.

4. Improves Self-Esteem And Well-Being

Learning Recreational Riding can give children of all ages a boost of confidence by demonstrating that they can do something substantial, even if that "something" appears at first glance to be a massive beast that they may be afraid of. This is a powerful experience for people of all ages, but it is especially beneficial to youngsters since it places them in a position of power and authority, allowing them to develop initial leader and accountability abilities.

Children learn these social skills in the protection of a horse yard, where they are subjected to the risks of human error while being accompanied by a horse. Many children are ashamed when they break something or do something inappropriate at school, but the backyard is a space where they may make these human errors without being judged.

The horse becomes a friend to the child, allowing them to gain confidence without being shattered by their peers.

5. It's Enjoyable!

Kids are nowadays bombarded by video games and digital diversions; what better way to disconnect from all of that for an hour or two than to take their favorite saddle pad, hop on the back of a horse, and immerse themselves in nature? You'll for sure to thank us later!

#Recreational Riding

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chasingeast · 5 years ago

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Day 1: Let’s Begin- 10:55 A.M., Saturday, December 21, 2019

Dear Me,

This is your time. Use this power. This will be a place for you to recognize and record your triumphs your losses. The highs and the lows. I want you to reminisce and learn. To grow and blossom into something greater. I've thought to myself often ever since I was younger what I might truly want out of life in itself and it's still a question I'm asking myself. What I want out of it. I felt like for so long I had this Grand idea of what it might look like, how I might look like, when it would happen. And in my present and current years I've learned that it isn't anything to what I imagined. I thought I would have been married by now with my first child on the way, I thought I would have my career set in stone, I would be with someone, that so many other things would have been in place. And yet, to the surprises of life, I have certain things and still more yet to come. I always told myself that it would be when I was 28. That it was the most magical number because of an anime character I used to love named Rurouni Kenshin. He lived life, even though it was made up. It just seemed like everything was so wonderful at a time when nothing was set in stone. The world was ahead of me, I had so much life to live still. Fast forward 10+ years into the present and here we are.

I have a job which I’m still on probation for, but does it really matter? I know I do well at it. I have a gift and a nack that, though I wouldn’t go around boosting to everyone, that I am pretty damned good at it. Could there be other areas within the field that I could improve in? Yes. I’m learning from them each day and am trying to make a breakthrough. It has been a direction for me for so long. When you were younger, you were told that you had to go to school to go to college and finally pick a degree. Teaching has been a direction for me for as long as I can remember. Why? I’m not completely sure how it started, but I do know that I felt so proud of myself when I was able to work with the kids at chinese school when I was in middle school and volunteering. There was just something so special about it. Maybe it was because it was at a time when I was so shy that speaking was painful, but with the kids, the words would just pour out of me. The praise also helped from everyone around me. My peers, the teachers, and other adults recognized that within me.

I can’t say it’s always been easy. Right after college I took some time off because I wanted to go on my first overseas trip with my parents and univoice to china. I started to substitute shortly after I believe in the spring of 2013, which turned into a teacher aide position within a month until the end of the year. I was so nervous at the time to substitute. I still remember my first class which I believe was 4th grade. I didn’t know if they would listen to me and especially the rumored 8th grade class, which turned out great. Through many recommendations and praise from others, I ended up starting my job as a first grade teacher there, which I taught for two years. It was a difficult time. I felt like I was on top of the world, but struggled so much. When I look back now, I’m horrified at the type of teacher I was. I was not nice or kind, and struggled because I didn’t know what to do. I was just a child at the time at the age of 22 with a class of 21 students that I did not know how to manage. I can say that after 2 full years, many substituting opportunities, to another teacher aide position, to 3 maternity leave positions, I finally have put in my time with 2 full tenure tracked years, with currently my 3rd that I’m working on at the moment. I put in a great deal of effort and I know that effort does not always result with the best product, but I am getting smarter each day and am trying my best with things. I want to learn from each trial and hope that each day will bring me a new adventure and excitement to keep me going. I don’t know how my future will look nor what I will be doing in years to come, but I know at least right now this is where I am meant to be.

I have friends and family that I value and treasure. Now I can’t say that it’s been easy in the slightest either. My friends are so independent and lost in their own worlds, I feel like if I didn’t bring us together, then we never would be. I am not going around telling my tales of glory of how I am the glue for my friends, but I’m also not humble enough to hide it either. I love my old friends from college who though we’ve continued to go our own ways still find time for each other at least every now and again. My new friend whom I love dearly and is my support system at school. My new colleagues who I’m getting along with, although not quite close friends, but maybe one day. My old friend, who I love dearly and is my heart and soul understands me like no one else. E, who is also a dear friend, and sly and curt, but filled with love stories and fantasies. My univoice group whom I love and friends from all over who I adore. I love them for sticking through and being there for me. For my friends who do silly things with me and dress up as pizzas and run for a video montage. Who will have parties with me and help me clean. Who will be there for me in time of need and after every break up that I think they’re annoyed with me. Do I wish that some of them could be a little crazier and be more courageous, yes. I don’t mind though. I like spending time with them on occasion and I also enjoy doing my own things and being myself and my own person.

My family has been a whirlwind. There have been so many things that have happened in the past. Between ugliness and angst built against my family. The greed I learned about when I was younger about my dad’s side and selfishness that tore away at all my ideas of family values. The new selfishness that I continue to learn about my mom’s side when it comes to choices and greed that comes out of entitlement. I struggled with that for years now. It tore at me and broke me down in many ways that I do believe have helped me and forced me to see myself for who I am and who I want to be so that I can avoid being like them at all costs. My parents who are in constant peril and arguments because of poor communication and lack of duty towards one another. The white elephant in the room which will determine whether they hold together or separate due to divorce. My brother who I miss dearly and has run away yet again to find happiness elsewhere. I am happy for him, yet envious because I feel leashed to where I am with duties as a responsible daughter to the family.

I have my passions which I am thankful to have found others to share them with. I can’t say that I’ve necessarily grown in this department because I am still very much a homebody.

I love creating things. It brings me joy to make something. Knowing that I’m able to figure it out and see it through with an end result. My recent project was a body scrub which I gave to my coworkers as a present. It was a green tea peppermint scrub. Smells great, but is still in trial phase! Hopefully it works well!

I love to cook or bake or anything with food. I took E out to make handmade pasta. Though I can’t remember the name of the rolled pasta, it was delicious, as was the sauce! I’m hoping to make more in the future.

I love arts and crafts. It’s something that I’ve pushed to the backside for a long time. Probably because it consumed so much of my time. It was always so tedious. I loved every drawing and painting I created. I have a drive to do more. I like the metal art that I’ve started, as well as the wooden box. There’s still the miniature dollhouse I need to start. I’ve painted motivational rocks. I bought canvases to start painting winter scenes (my favorite).

I like to learn new things whether it be my hobby or someone else’s hobby. I just want to take it all in. The only new thing that I’ve done so far was to go to a board game convention with yahan and her friends. They’re crazy, but you can see the friendship and the love they have for each other. I love board games now. It’s not just a little part, it’s huge! Well, it certainly depends on having friends, but when you do it’s great! In years past I’ve been to popup events and lantern festivals. I would like to do more of that.

I love to be outdoors. It’s been a huge part of me for years now ever since I graduated college, so exactly 7 years ago. I needed a passion at the time and somehow it stumbled upon me while spending time with friends. We started slowly with hikes which turned into backpacking and camping. I can’t say that I’ve done as much as when I was younger but I do love each and every bit of it. I wish there was more I could do. I love looking at all the travel bloggers websites but something that I’ve come to realize most recently is that it’s just a fantasy. I might have the bravery to tackle certain activities but in all honesty, I don’t know that I’d even want to nowadays. In no way shape or form have I lost my love for the outdoors and hiking, but rather my goals have shifted. It’s still something that brings me joy. It is still something that challenges me. I needed this challenge to push myself. At the time, long ago when he and I broke up I needed something to distract me. This was the only thing that I had. I needed it to survive. Now, it’s nice when I can go but maybe not an end all.

I have my hopes and dreams. There are many things that I wish to accomplish. There are bigger things out there for me that I would like to do.

I would like to improve my mental wellness. I feel like I focus so much energy on negativity sometimes that it becomes all consuming. I need to learn to listen, understand it’s meaning, but let it go.

I would like to focus on my weaknesses. I want to develop a stronger backbone and really put my foot down when needed. I don’t want to let others push me around. I also don’t want to follow others and allow things to be just because I feel like there’s no other choice or because I just feel that I need them and would do anything for them.

I would really like to break out of my comfort zone. I’d like to say I got a head start on that goal with Yahan and her friends. I wish I could have spoken more and opened up rather than seeming like a lost puppy, but it was the first time for me so I can’t expect much at the moment. I want to get to know more people and learn from them. I want to broaden my horizons and see the world through other people’s eyes so that one day I too can experience it with my own version.

I want to be braver and take chances. I want to love myself fully and see myself for who I really am. I want to constantly grow. That doesn’t necessarily mean I have to be different all the time, but if there is something I don’t like then I don’t want to linger and let it stay around to fester. I want to develop and become the best version of myself for myself.

I want to stop falling for the first person I interact with. There is something to be said about developing and having a connection with someone. There is also something to be said about not misinterpreting someone who is simply being kind and well mannered with a person who is flirting with you. They can still be nice to you but not actually like you in that way. I’m thankful that so and so never responded to my message. He sent me pictures that he snapped of me, which I thought was creepy considering it was only our 2nd time seeing each other (I’m also pretty sure there were more photos) but I’m glad he never responded. I was in a weak position and desperate for attention. It stung a little at first but I got over it like anything else fairly quick. It wasn’t meant to be and though it was a rude awakening, it was one of the most important ones. I’m sure that there will be someone out there who compliments me and will appreciate me for who I am. In order to find that person though, it’s going to require all the right ingredients of which I may not have in order at the moment but it’s okay.

I want to see if I can discover what in this world will make my heart beat. To make my heart race each and every day and make me feel the need to put my best foot forward each day. I want to know all of it and more. I want to know if there is more to life than just mulling around each day going to work, going home, sleeping, and repeating. I want to know what the highs and lows are. The small and simple joys that make everything worth it.

I won’t deny that I am going to start writing more often to myself out of inspiration from He. I’ve always looked up to him. Rolled my eyes plenty at him, but never-the-less, he has always been someone so special and irreplaceable to me. Love has been such a difficult thing for me. I feel like there just isn’t anything for me. I wonder half the time if the way I am , the situation I’ve gotten myself into is simply because of the expectations I’ve held or because of the longing I have that they could all replicate an irreplaceable person. I’m not necessarily saying that I won’t date anyone just because I’m writing. I am instead saying that I’m hoping by writing, I will be able to capture all of my memories and save them for myself so that I don’t ever forget them. I want to use any means possible to solidify my thoughts. I often found using all my senses helped me best. I was never perfect, worst at best, but I’m still trying.

I want to learn from myself and grow into a better person. I want to document my successes and failures so that hopefully one day I can prevent the same ones from happening. I want to find peace from within and I know that’s only possible if I let go of my grudges and my high standards. That doesn’t mean I can’t have one, but I need to learn to love a person and not the ideal traits that I want from them. It’s still nice if it can work hand in hand though. I want to start a family with someone who I trust and will bring me the same amount of joy that I bring them on a daily basis. I want to be someone who I will be proud of and can tell stories about to my students and my children and grandchildren. I want to be someone that others will look up to and turn to when in need, not because I need to be a savior, but because I want to be a leader to guide others and myself.

I’ve written for many years letters to those I can’t speak to anymore. My heart is still hurt from S who I gave every ounce of my effort towards and love towards to try and reconcile to see if maybe I would be worth it to someone. I think he could have been worth it, but in the time and place we are currently in, I don’t see it. I also don’t want a man who won’t act like a man or a protector. At the end of the day, I want someone who will watch my back, like I know how I’d throw myself to defend them from harm's way.

There’s something to be said about wanting to be with someone and being okay on your own. I think you need to love yourself first in order to love someone else. I do love myself, but there are parts of me that I am unsure of. I don’t need to know the answer to everything. I don’t have to stay firm in all my decisions because they can change. I just know that I need to make things change myself first. I want to in order to give myself and someone else the best chance. I like being alone and doing my own things. I just also want someone I can share adventures, hopes, and dreams with. It’s something that I crave. I mean I also miss sex too, but who doesn’t. Hopefully somewhere out there it will happen. In the meantime, I want to document all the feats and triumphs and silliness of everyday life so that when I one day meet someone and we see eye to eye that I have plenty of stories to tell them of how I got to where I am.

Love Always,

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kotstaruaeclassifiedads · 5 years ago

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Using Free Classified Ads For Article Marketing Purposes

If you want a risk-free, absolutely free way to advertise anything, well, the free classified online ads is one of the best venues to post your ads. But of course, just like any other online advertising endeavors, there are pros and cons in using the classified ads sites to expose your own advertisements for free and here are some of them. Did I mention that posting your ads on the many free classified ads will not cost you anything at all? Yes, I cannot stress it enough, if you are on a tight budget and you really want to put a squeeze on your advertising funding, one of the best options would be the free classified ads. The only investment that you will make with these postings is time. Your main opponent in the utilization of free classified ads in the posting of your ads is you. The response that you will get from your ad placements on the free classified ads will be solely based on how your ads were seen and perceived by your target audience, hence, all you have to do is create an eye-catcher of an ad that will captivate your viewers even for a split moment even if they are really on the lookout for something else. And this is very important, if you have a lot of great articles in store, then you do not post them all in clusters, instead use them sparingly and distribute them in as many free classified ads sites as possible. In fact, you can make a list of at least ten free classified ads sites and regularly send them articles and ads that you want to post. How do you determine which classified ads sites are better and which are not? The process is simple enough and all you have to do is place your preliminary ads in specific classified ads sites and assess their performance and from there you can pick the ones where your ads fare better. The title of your ads play a crucial role in the success or failure of your ad placements since that is the very first thing that your potential customers will see and how they interpret your title will determine if they will be clicking on your ad to see further what you have in store for them or entirely shoot down your enticement attempt by completely ignoring it. So create a great ad that is specifically targeting the demographics commonly populating the classified ads site where you will post your ads too. And this is what you should never forget, yes you are busy and you have other advertising and marketing priorities but one thing you should never forget is to monitor the progress of your ads. You can never tell when you ads are going to make those hits and when it comes, you should be really ready.

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9musesartcenter · 5 years ago

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6 Isolation Tips from A Consummate Shut-In

It’s now… week five? Six? Seven-hundred? Of of Covid-19 social isolation. And in just this short period of time, I have watched as friends, acquaintances, and strangers- how do I put this delicately- lose it. Apparently, upending people’s lives and removing them from communities can have adverse effects. Who knew?

Having “lost it” a long time ago, I came prepared.  Because the habits I developed while learning to live with my own particular brands of mental illness have made it pretty easy for me to not only survive social isolation, but thrive. And even though our communities are beginning to open up, it does not mean everything is business as usual yet. Allow this shut-in to share with you some tips and tricks for your life both in and out of social isolation.

A Home Worth Spending Time In

Not everyone has access to their own home, their own room, or their own space. But if you do, it’s worth making your space a place worth being in. If it’s a pleasant space, that means you’ll be willing to spend more time in it. Making a space can also create a sense of stability, a touchstone for when the rest of the world gets a little chaotic. 

This is not to say that everyone has to get an interior decorator (although I do suggest looking up fun decorating ideas online), but putting things you love in your space can make a huge difference in how you feel about it. Putting up pictures or posters, a soft blanket, or memorabilia in a space can go a long way into making it enjoyable to be there. 

Likewise, a routine for maintaining cleanliness is also good for your space. We put work into the things we value, likewise, if we put work into something, we will value it more. Making a cleaning routine for your space can reinforce its importance to you. 

Cultivate Solitary Hobbies

Once upon a time, I was a lonely weirdo child who liked to read. I grew up into the weirdo adult that still likes to read. It’s a habit that has served me well through illness and many a hurricane-induced power outage. I have friends that knit and crochet. I have other friends that swear by video games. Others that do yoga, and other friends that bake. 

Find something enjoyable that you can do alone. Something that gives you joy and that you can readily do in your space without a lot of investment. It doesn’t have to be popular and it can be as unique as you are. I know at least two different people that like to search out rare movies and write reviews on letterboxd, and one that alters miniature toys, for instance. It has to be something that isn’t going to put additional pressure, that you can do at your own pace.

And after that, find something else to engage in. Building a variety of hobbies and joys will help you maintain wellness when one fails. If you become disinterested, you could have one or two other back-ups. 

Having solitary hobbies for when you’re alone can also distract you from negative-self talk. It’s a way to keep busy and discover your personal value beyond what you provide for others. 

Make Your Team

No person is an island, no matter how badly we might want to cut away from the continent from time to time. People need people, and even us loners are going to need someone else in our orbit every once in a while. The WRAP plan suggests at least 5 close people in your life. Though that is a good start, I would suggest ensuring that you make it a goal to cultivate many relationships at differing levels of intimacy. And a variety of ways to talk to people. 

I have a couple of groups where we talk to each other regularly on discord. A couple of friends that we just message each other funny memes. Other friends that I can talk books and politics with. Variety is the spice of life, but it’s also necessary to cultivate a variety of types of relationships. And a variety of formats to do it in. Whether its phone calls, chats, or zoom happy hours, making an effort of connect with others will help each of you weather isolation. 

Pick Up A Skill

I once had a colleague who went by the motto “ABL: Always Be Learning”. For people who are always learning, the world holds a certain amount of curiosity, and that can help keep your mind sharp and active. Like a hobby, picking up a skill requires some discipline, and it should be something you are “actively” trying to improve. 

Maybe it’s something that might give you an edge in your career, something you’ve always been curious about, or something completely out of left field, picking up a skill can be extremely gratifying experience. While having a hobby can give your life personal joy and value, picking up a skill can give you dimension. Building on a skill or learning a new skill can do wonders for your sense of accomplishment. It’s a goal-oriented way to spend your free time. 

It really is easier than ever to learn a skill. There are paid programs like Skillshare, and the free and personalized classes, like 9Muses Virtual Art and Wellness classes. Unlike traditional schooling, building a skill as an adult is all in how much time you are able to devote to it. Plus, no grades!

Move!

I am an unrepentant couch potato, but even this spud knows that you have to get off your keister. Making some movement part of a daily routine is as necessary for your mental health as your physical health. It doesn’t have to be big, but doing something with intention for a little bit of time can be extremely beneficial. Maybe consider a fitness routine from a Youtuber, or even just pacing around your home for ten minutes. As long as you’re keeping a social distance, why not consider a walk outside?

In this case, moving isn’t necessarily about fitness, it’s about taking yourself out of the situation. Doing something, anything, even the smallest of walks around the room can bring oxygen to the brain and make you feel better. 

Treat Yourself

At least once a day, give yourself something to be joyful for, something to enjoy or love. It might be a TV show, a compilations of funny animal videos, a literal treat like chocolate or ice cream, and so on. Finding happiness in little things helps us be grateful for what we have, rather than what we might not have. You might not be able to hang with your close friends, but you can text them or call them. You might not be able to watch a live basketball game, but you can rewatch highlights of the 1997 Bull’s season. Create a versatile list of things that make you happy, because happiness is a necessary human condition.

Do you have tricks dealing with social isolation of your own? Share them with us!

Artwork by Lisa Doering

#covid #covıd19 #togetherapart #mentalhealthawarness #mentalhealthsupport #mentalhealthawarnessmonth #mentalhealthmonth #tools2thrive #b4stage4

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rockpaintedladybugs388-blog · 6 years ago

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43°51′N 18°21′E and 9°39′N 123°51′E Rock Painting Ideas

Are You Experiencing Artistic Skills? Take A Look At These Arts And Crafts Tips

Rock Painting Ideas

https://urbancreativist.com/ rock painting ideas People of all ages can take advantage of crafts and arts. What you need is simply knowledge and basic materials. You will hold the knowledge you would like after reading through these tips. The only thing left to accomplish is decide what you want to make.

If you've got a young one with small hands, use a q-tip as being a miniature paint brush. Big paint brushes often means big messes with small children. A q-tip alternatively is an ideal size for them. Plus the cotton end acts much like a pencil to draw in with. This can be a really cheap but functional solution!

You may use different items for crafts. Paper products which would otherwise be disposed of are excellent supplies. Empty rolls of paper towel or bathroom tissue are great head to use. newspapers and Magazines can also be used. Use what can normally be trash for creative projects.

Make friends with those who own or work on your local hobby store. This will help to you receive valuable insight on sales, loyalty discounts and deals. You may also be able to display your crafts or meet individuals that are interested in exactly the same crafts you are.

Let your child's creativity to determine how art projects come out. You ought to avoid examples so kids can create things themselves. Permit them to use their creativity for interesting ideas. It's the idea of them expressing imagination and creativity more than it is about doing something according to a specific model.

To spend an entertaining afternoon filling in the paint-by-number picture, be sure to have all of the paints you will need lined up, in addition to a bowl water to completely clean out your brush between color applications. This introduces your hand on the rigors of painting while not having to think the picture at the same time.

If you are using any type of paint, solvent or any other chemical compound with your art projects, it is necessary for you to do this within a place that has a lot of ventilation. You might be putting yourself among others in danger should they inhale too many of the fumes that can come readily available materials.

You can find a great deal of crafting supplies on Etsy. They already have items resold by people such as you. You may sale items here, too, although not only will you are making purchases on this site. The web page is good when you want vintage media for craft projects.

If you'd such as a mosaic to possess a cloudy turn to it, Spray cleaner on the rag. The mortar powder is challenging to get out without it and also you don't want it gumming the finish in the final project.

Children at all age levels like to do crafts and arts. Locate a project they will certainly find enjoyable once you learn a huge number of kids. In case you are clueless in regards to what project to accomplish, ask your friends or look online to get concepts for a fun project.

Have you been thinking about selling your arts and crafts? Then, whether you are selling them online or with a show, make sure you are conscious of your state's requirements. Technically, once you sell your crafts, you happen to be business and you should go by whatever requirements your state has for this kind of business.

Tend not to start working upon an crafts and arts project except if you are confident relating to your skills. Do your homework regarding the projects you are considering to successfully supply the essential skills and tools. When you run into unforeseen difficulties, you may turn out feeling frustrated and offer up on your project.

Are you looking for ways to cut costs when buying craft supplies? Look to online crafting forums for your latest guidance on unannounced sales. Additionally, many crafting forums offer free tutorials to help you become familiar with a new craft or further develop your crafting skills one stage further.

Do you ever recycle old bottles and tins for your craft projects? They are often engrossed in labels that can be quite difficult to remove, you might already know. One method to make removal easier would be to soak the object in tepid water for 10 minutes. Afterwards, you must be able to get rid of the old label easily. For labels which can be particularly hard to remove, apply a thick layer of cooking oil upon them. Permit it to soak overnight in this oil. The following day, the label should peel right off.

In the event you enjoyed art class as you were in school, you may use your natural power to create wall art for your own home. A trip to your nearby art and craft supply store gives you ideas and provide you any materials you will need. The only other thing you will need is a little inspiration and some time to be imaginative.

Youtube is an excellent source for learning how to do a craft. there are millions of videos on every craft project for you to learn and view from. Simply enter the name from the craft you are looking at and after that peruse the videos up until you find one which meets your needs.

Try to maintain your crafting area organized. There is nothing more frustrating than to have to wade by way of a pile of scraps to find what exactly you need. You can get your supplies much quicker if you keep things organized. Moreover, your crafting area can look a lot nicer.

On websites that provide crafts and arts exchanges and/or freebies, post an advert describing what you are interested in. You will end up astonished at the things you find. The actual item you need just may be available.

Now you can discover how easy crafts and arts may be. The toughest part is starting. Why not have that over with and commence now? When you begin, one action will follow another until you are performed. When done, you'll have something you designed to have and to hold. That's an excellent feeling.

Improve Your Camping Knowledge About These Ideas

Does the notion of taking a camping trip intimidate you due to your insufficient experience? You can find over your fears. You only need a certain amount of confidence along with the right advice. You might have reached the proper source. Helpful tricks and tips from expert campers are contained on this page.

Pre-cool your ice chest by filling it with plenty of ice, no less than 6 hours prior to departure. When you are intending to leave, pack up your refrigerated cooled drinks and block ice, not cubed. Popping room temp beverages can take up valuable ice-life, as well as the cubes will melt faster compared to a block!

When you are camping, an absolute necessity for your personal gear can be a survival knife. This is a vital component of your camping gear. Buy a high quality survival knife, not simply the lowest priced you will discover, your life may be determined by it. These knives are all very similar these people have a long blade serrated using one side along with a hollow handle. Inside of the handle you may carry fishingline and hooks, a compass, and matches as being a small survival kit.

When going camping, make certain you bring the proper sleeping bag along with you. Some sleeping bags is not going to keep you warm once the temperature dips below 40 degrees, while some can have you sweating all night long long since they are too hot. The label around the bag usually can tell you what types of temperatures are appropriate for each sleeping bag.

Let people know where your group is headed. Just in case anything transpires with any kind of you, you need to know there are those who know where you are at. This is an excellent precautionary measure to take if something would occur to your camping group, because help will probably be on the way soon.

Whenever you bring your puppy over a camping trip, make sure that they have adequate tick protection. If your dog has everything he needs and what you must do for proper tick prevention and removal, bugs thrive in forests, and a lot of flea treatments usually do not extend protection to feature ticks, so ask your vet before departing.

Like a courtesy with other campers, don't leave your lighting on overnight, should you be near to others. Pack a timer that one could connect to your lights which will automatically shut them off after a certain time. Leaving lights on overnight is actually a popular complaint among most American campers!

Camping in the wilderness alone is one of the most dangerous things that can be done. It is crucial that you just always bring one or more friend with you unless you are extremely knowledgeable about the wilderness. Additionally, bringing several friends with multiple tents is the perfect situation, but this is not always possible.

In this particular modern day, there is not any excuse for being in the woods without some form of communication ability. Naturally, no person enjoys to receive telephone calls while they are relaxing, so leave your phone off but fully charged, in the event that it comes with an emergency, and you must contact someone.

Ensure you see the campground regulations and rules. The most significant concerns is trash as well as noisiness inside a campsite. Noise travels far in a campsite, however often believe that people can't hear them. It is extremely difficult to have any privacy, especially when people are supposed to be observing quiet hours.

Wear layered clothing to handle your whole body temperature. When camping, it is actually a hassle to have to change clothing when temperatures suddenly rise or drop. It is possible to easily and quickly peel off or place on layers of clothing since the need arises when you layer your clothing.

Maintain the environment at heart while you are in your campsite. Enjoying nature is one of the main benefits associated with camping, so it is important to respect our planet. Dispose of all your trash, and don't get too rowdy. For those who have someone to use, you may also take along a solar-powered device.

When you find yourself going camping, do your greatest to get as early of any start as possible. It will be your career to pitch your tent so that you have somewhere to rest comfortably, and that will be considerably harder for you to do once it actually starts to get dark outside.

You may be in real trouble over a long camping trip when you don't want to drink plenty of water. In the event you really hate the taste, purchase some one-use lemonade and combine it with bottles water, water is vital to staying hydrated, so. This may make you stay hydrated throughout your adventure.

Camping will make for the very relaxing weekend in your lifetime or it can be a hellish trip. The way your camping experience appears is down to one important element: preparation. Being prepared to tackle any situation which may arise will enable you to provide an enjoyable trip.

Discover ways to mark the trails that you will be exploring. It might be quite simple to get lost in the woods. Marking the trails that you are currently walking can make it easy to find your way returning to camp. If you achieve lost, it will also help others find you.

Take along a lot of zip-lock bags on your own camping trip, to get a great mixing tool with foods in addition to great storage. Be certain that the bag is totally sealed, then pop in any foods you have to combine, like chicken and batter or steak with marinade! Zip-lock bags work most effectively at keeping whatever you need water-proofed too.

There are plenty of what exactly you need to consider for your next camping trip, as you have seen. A lot of things can play a factor with your safety along with the overall enjoyment of the experience. Use the things you have read with this article, and you will find a better camping experience the next time you choose to go outdoors!

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malwurt · 6 years ago

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Writer’s Block

Every author experiences it at one point or another. What writer’s block means is that you’re so critical of your own work that the analytical side of your brain blocks out all the ideas that your creative side comes up with, essentially shutting down the part of your brain needed to write. But how do you deal with a writer’s block, and, perhaps more importantly, how do you decrease its impact on your work?

The Process

First things first: writer’s block is a term to describe being unable to write when you would like to. However, with it is carried a connotation that you should write. After all, that is what makes an author, right?

It’s a common misconception that as long as you write, you can be an author. There are many ways to become an author, but the amount of time you spend writing will most likely never surpass a third of the time you spend on a finished product if you’re looking to be published. If you write for fun, this may be different, but if you care about the quality of your work, you write a draft, take hard criticism, rewrite, smooth over, lather, rinse, repeat.

The point is: the reason you’re having a writer’s block is that you’re being critical, which means you’re using the analytical part of your brain. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. You’re not supposed to write all the time. Sometimes, you’re writing. Other times, you’re gathering inspiration. Then you research. When you’re not doing that, you might be editing. Or, in the end, you might just be gathering strength. Writing takes up an essential, but much smaller part of writing than many people think. And each part of the process is valuable. If you’re not developing your skill, perhaps you’re learning something about yourself and how you work as an author.

This is what I call the micro-process of writing, and understanding how you work best in each state of your micro-process is key to unlocking how to avoid writer’s block. If you can identify which state you’re in, you can figure out the way to best handle that part of your process.

In addition, you might want to consider the macro-process of writing. People who’ve been writing for years might need something different from people who’ve only just started out. Someone who usually writes short stories might have difficulty writing an entire novel. And finally, someone who’s used to minimalism might find emulating a flowery style a greater challenge than others. Comparing yourself to others can be a useful tool in understanding your own style, process, goals, and achievements, as long as you use it well.

Below will be a list of suggestions on how to deal with writer’s block.

Experiment: make writing into a game, challenge yourself, and play around with style.

Get feedback: different groups are good for different kinds of feedback.

Read: be inspired by your favourite authors or find new, surprising ones to change perspective.

Edit: if the analytical part of your brain is in charge, why not use it to your advantage?

Write: some people just power through, and others feel best when they’ve finished something, anything.

Relax: sometimes, all you need is (self) love.

Experiment

P R O S: getting a new perspective, having fun, blowing life back into your writing, developing skills.

C O N S: if your analytical brain won’t let up, this might just seem like another dead end and can end up as more pressure on you, cementing your writer’s block.

Experimentation can take many forms. You might have identified a section of your writing that you’d like to develop more, like dialogue, and go in search of writing tips in that area, trying it out. You might decide to try something completely new, like writing poetry instead of prose. Or you might find a community to share your work with.

Playfulness is the name of the game. A good way of experimenting is by doing small challenges. You can often find writing challenges on writers’ fora or simply by searching for them on Google. The clearer you are on what you need to experiment with, the easier it will be to find something that fits you. If you just want to have fun, I would suggest searching the fora on fanfiction.net. Some of them may be fandom-specific, but you can often find good challenge themes and apply them to your own work instead.

If it isn’t fun, though, this might not be what you need.

Get feedback

P R O S: get recognition, praise, or a second opinion on where you need to work/improve.

C O N S: if you ask for the wrong kind of feedback, be prepared to be disappointed.

Do you hate your own work? Talk to someone you have a feeling might feel differently and is able to point out why, like family and friends that you trust to be compassionate about it.

Do you feel like you’re not going anywhere with your writing? Update your social media or writing profiles with snippets or full works and promote it to the world. Having people follow you process will give you perspective and a reason to keep working.

Do you feel stuck and too close to your own work to identify what’s wrong? Ask someone with the skill and insight to point out to you what needs to be done and how to do it.

Like in all other areas of dealing with a writer’s block, though, make sure you know what you’re asking for and why. Identifying what you’d like feedback on and how will also help whoever you’re asking for help know what to focus on.

Read

P R O S: inspiration and motivation to improve. reading also helps you identify what you like about someone else’s writing, which will reflect back on your own style.

C O N S: comparing yourself to others can be disheartening, especially if you’re not comparing yourself to someone on the same terms.

Most authors enjoy reading and will most likely accredit their passion for writing to this hobby. However, there are different ways to read: you can read leisurely, enjoying a good book, comic etc. to the point where you disappear completely into the universe and characters, or you can read critically, identifying what the author does right and wrong and how you would do it differently.

The first kind can spark inspiration or motivation without warning, but if you’re waiting for inspiration to strike and magically solve your writer’s block, you leave yourself with very little agency. The second kind, however, will help you analyse what you personally believe makes a good story and use that to your advantage. If you’re already in a critical mood, after all, you might as well be critical about someone else’s work, right?

Be careful, however. It’s easy to slide from analysis to comparison, and comparing your writing to an already-published piece of work is rarely a good idea. Remember to be mindful of the work or person you’re comparing yourself to; just because you like something doesn’t mean it fits your style, and just because you’re the same age as the author you’re inspired by doesn’t mean you’ve had the same conditions. This is not an excuse to cut yourself slack if you’re just looking for a reason not to work on your writing, but if reading leaves you more exhausted than excited at the prospect of writing yourself, this is not the time to do it.

Edit

P R O S: cleaning up, strengthening the foundation for when you write on.

C O N S: bolstering the criticism of your own work, running down your motivation.

Editing, much like cleaning your room, house, or sink, can feel both exhausting and refreshing. Since you’re already in a critical mood, it’s a good idea to use your analytical energy on bettering your work. On the other hand, if your criticism is emotional rather than analytical, giving yourself more ammunition to shoot yourself down won’t be the best way to go about it. Instead, you could try to look at the previous possibilities to help feel better about your writing, like playing around and experimenting or asking good people to identify what they like about what you’re doing.

Write

P R O S: keeping yourself going, finishing something, not feeling like you’ve given up.

C O N S: might exhaust you further.

Some people just need to write, even when they hate what they’re writing. Others feel guilty when they’re not, which puts them in a further slump. And then there are those who, when they stop writing, just have a harder time getting back into it.

There are many reasons to keep writing when the going gets tough. Especially if you plan to get feedback. If you’re not able to write on your main project, try experimentation to blow some life back into writing. Or force yourself to shush the criticism that keeps your writer’s block alive.

Some people, however, might just feel exhausted if they force themselves to write, giving up quickly, hating everything they do, and further perpetuating the negative cycle of their writer’s block. If you’re one of those people, perhaps you need to take the last advice:

Relax

P R O S: everyone needs a break from time to time, balance, energy regeneration.

C O N S: instead of a few days or a week, stepping away might end up making it harder to come back.

You have to take care of yourself. Keep your posture straight. Look away from the screen. Get outside. Eat. Sleep. Many creatives know how difficult it can be not to be at the mercy of their inspiration; better strike while the iron is hot, after all. But a balanced process is not about exhausting yourself until you need a month to catch your break. If you want to go the distance, you have to refuel.

Relaxing is part of that. Especially as a writer, it can be difficult to let go of your work. Even when out with friends or family or just taking a walk, inspiration might push its way to the forefront of your mind at any odd time, but drawing your boundaries, both when you’re working and when you’re not is key to a healthy way of dealing with writer’s block, which might also appear because you’re stressed. Taking care of yourself is the best way to make sure you won’t be tackled by a writer’s block.

Just make sure you are also able to step back in after an appropriate amount of time, ready to roll up your sleeves.

Block and Load

There can be many different reasons why you’re not writing, but it’s almost always because you feel overwhelmed. You can feel emotionally overwhelmed or rationally overwhelmed, and identifying which it is will help you figure out what you need. Also remember that there can be several reasons.

Emotionally

1. You don’t feel good enough. Solution: be good to yourself, get praise.

2. You’re stressed. Solution: take a break, take smaller steps, remember your accomplishments.

Rationally

1. You’ve hit a snag in pacing, character, style etc. Solution: take time to practise, ask for feedback to identify your areas of improvement.

2. You’re in an analytical mood. Solution: write anyway, forget your critical voice, edit, analyse others’ writing.

3. You don’t feel like you’re developing your work or skills fast enough. Solution: keep writing, put your writing on display, set up a schedule to help you reach small goals every day.

Hopefully, this will help you. If I’ve missed anything or you have further questions, don’t hesitate to send me a message with feedback, and I will get to it as soon as I can.

#writer's block #writing #writers on tumblr #writersontumblr #writeblr #writing tips #spilled ink #spilled thoughts #writersblock

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