Checking In

I haven't posted in  couple of months, for various reasons, and I need to figure out some way of making it a habit to write here on a more regular basis. 

That being said, I feel like I've been doing a pretty good job of working on my goal to be happier and healthier. In some ways I feel like I have been more emotional, but not necessarily in a bad way. In fact, multiple articles I've read and videos that I have watched have told me that as we become more awakened, we can become more emotional and/or sensitive to the world around us. I think for me this has proven true, as I have been spending more time and energy on reorganizing my life, and questioning certain choices and decisions. I feel that I'm just starting to enter a period of transformation, and that I am becoming stronger and happier because of it. 

Not to say that I don't still have major stressors in my life, but I'm slowly learning to work past them, and not let them control my life, although it can be extremely hard sometimes. This week in particular has been extremely stressful, due to an incident that was out of my control that happened last week, and in some ways I have felt like I was drowning in stress and anxiety. Normally I am able to keep my anxiety under control pretty well, but the last week really has presented a challenge, and it's been hard. 

However, last night, walking home from work after a very nice, warm spring day, surrounded by the fragrant aroma of blooming flowers... I finally felt like I could breathe again for the first time in several days. 

Now, I know that in life there will always be moments of sadness, or stress, or anger, but one thing I have learned is that no matter how bad things can get, there is always something to be thankful for or to smile about. Friends and family have kept me going this week; the last few years I have purposely surrounded myself with people who are positive, and supportive, and who I know will always be there for me if I need anything. As funny as it sounds, my mom's chickens also can really help when I'm having a rough time. I have a favorite one named Dolly, who is a little orange silkie, and I have been picking her up and cuddling her since she was a little chick and would fall asleep cuddled up in my jacket, against my neck.

Flowers, sunshine, wind, birdsong, books, a hot cup of tea, a cat cuddled up on my lap, the giggles of my children - all of these are things that make me smile and get through any hardships I may be going through. 

I think one of the most important things to remember is that no matter how bad we feel in a moment, things can always get better, and that the way we react and cope with a situation, is what will make all of the difference in the long run.

I may have had a hard week, but that's all it is, a hard week, and I refuse to let it effect my life. I have so many thing to be happy about and thankful for, and I choose to focus on those instead.

Anyways, here's to a new week and to further my journey towards healing.

~ Hannah Elise 

A Week In

It has been (just over) a week since I committed myself to working on my health and taking better care of myself, and I have to admit that it has been harder than I thought it would be. I always forget how hard it is to break bad habits, and create good ones, until I actually try to change them.

I have actually done a pretty good job so far of eating better, but at the same time, it seems like the healthier I try to eat, the more I crave crappy foods. Now, when I am at home I eat well, because I hardly ever buy processed foods and I cook from scratch. The hard part is working in a restaurant where we serve lots of pizza and fried foods. I have started trying to make the effort to eat at home, before work, in the hopes that I don't become as hungry throughout my workday, but it's still a work in progress.

As far as any changes in diet, I'm focused on increasing my intake of certain foods, instead of focusing on what I "can't" or "shouldn't" have; MORE raw vegetables; MORE water; MORE good fats; MORE eating in. Of course, I am trying to cut back on things like processed sugars, bad fats, simple carbs, and caffeine, but based on articles I have read, changes seem to go a little smoother when you focus on "can" instead of cannot", and I refuse to beat myself up for slipping up.

The last couple of weeks I have also started to drink chaga tea, which I have read has amazing health benefits. Among other things, it is supposed to increase your metabolism and energy, is full of antioxidants, and supports the immune system. So far, there haven't been any noticeable changes, but I don't expect anything to happen overnight. I've been trying to drink at least a couple cups of chaga a day, which has probably been the easiest change so far.

In addition to changing my eating habits, I've been working on trying to exercise on a more regular basis, and working on my meditation and spirituality, but I will focus on that in a future post. For now I plan on staying positive and moving forward without stressing about things.

Wish me luck!

~ Hannah Elise ♥

Beginning My Journey to Healing

Today will be the first day in my journey to heal. 

I am only 24 years old, yet I have become so tired; tired of work; tired of constantly feeling like there's never enough time for the things I want to do; tired of feeling stuck doing what is "expected" of me as an individual in today's society; tired of the hate in the world and the negativity I see everywhere; tired of feeling tired. 

For the next year, I plan on devoting myself to healing from the pain of everyday, modern life. 

I plan on focusing my energy this next year on healing through really living, while learning how to better care for myself. I plan on working on my physical health, of course, but more importantly, my mental health and spirituality. 

I'm done merely existing, feeing like a bystander in my own life. I am ready to take control of my own story, and finally feel alive again.

No more waiting, I'm making things happen. 

~ Hannah Elise ❤

My Favorite Christmas Song

Have Yoursef a Merry Little Christmas is, hands down, my favorite Christmas song. I've always loved her voice and  Meet Me in St. Louis, the movie this song comes from, has been one of my favorites since I was a little girl. 

I'm listening to this now, while making gingerbread cookies, as snow sits on the ground outside. I'm pretty dang content. 

Enjoy!

❤️ Hannah Elise

We Are Better Than This

I tend to not share my political or religious views on social media, or even discuss them with many people in daily conversation. That's not to say I don't have very strong views, that I am passionate about, but I feel that people tend to be quick to judge and I would rather be known for my character, rather than what party I vote for or what god I worship.

That being said, I couldn't help saying something after the election results last night.

All I posted was a Facebook status that read "we are better than this."

This morning I woke up to one response to my status, contradicting what I had posted and telling me that obviously we are not better than this, because if we were, we wouldn't have had the two candidates that we ended up with.

While I agree that we could have gotten better candidates, as I have not wanted either of them to become President since this race began, I still have to stick to my original statement.

We are better than this.

As a woman, I am terrified to consider what having a president like Trump could be like. I am tired of feeling objectified and treated like a second-class citizen. I am tired of not being taken seriously, because it's "cute" when I get mad, and not receiving recognition at work for the same job, or having to work twice as hard for something that a male colleague gets handed to them. I am tired of being afraid to live alone or walk the streets at night, because I am female and that is the only reason someone needs to attack or rape me. I am tired of being told that I am being "pushy" or "bossy" when I'm trying to get something done, when those phrases wouldn't be as likely to be used to describe a man. I am tired of being expected to act a certain way because I'm female.

As a mother, it scares the crap out of me to be raising my children during a time when the leader of our country, who so many people look up to, ran his campaign based on prejudice and hate and just being a bully. We teach our children to be accepting of others' differences, and to not judge and to be kind, yet the man who they will grow up watching lead our country exemplifies none of those qualities.

As a friend and human being I am scared to consider how his presidency could affect the progress we've made towards equal rights. It is 2016 and we have come so far, how did a man who was openly endorsed by the KKK, and who has advocated violence get voted into office?

It's terrifying to think of what could happen in the next four to eight years, and I spent a good amount of time last night crying and thinking about it. We can't lose hope though.

We are better than this.

Yes, Trump may be our new president, but we are in charge of how we react..

As Martin Luther King Jr. said "Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that." If we are trying to combat Trump, who built his campaign around hate, rioting against him, burning flags, and inciting violence doesn't make us any better.

We need to stop living our lives centered around fear and hatred.

We don't know how the next four to eight years will pan out. We can hope for the best or expect the worst, but we can't see the future, and we have no control over it.

What we do know is that we are still alive, and we still have the same passions and beliefs that we had yesterday. We can still work together and build each other up and make things happen in our local communities. We can spread love and kindness to our fellow man. We can react to what happened and riot and spread hatred, or we can act to do our part in making the world a better place. 

We may not currently have the leader we wanted and the leader we wanted may not have even been running in this election, but we can take the opportunity to rise up and become the leaders that we need to lead the future forward.

We can't just sit around and accept how the world is and not move forward because we are afraid to get outside of our comfort zones. When people come together and support each other, we can do amazing things, and I think it's finally time that we start owning this power and creating the world that we want our children to live in.

We are better than this. 

One More Item Marked Off the Bucketlist

I have always loved music and have been singing since before I could officially talk (at least according to my mom). I grew up watching musicals, then performing in choir and musicals in high school. Afterwards though, I stopped and started focusing on other things, and I feel like I lost a piece of myself in the process. 

Finally, as of this last May, I started singing again with my best friend's dad. He has been playing and performing in bands off and on for the last 50 years and is an extremely talented guitar player, but hadn't been playing for a little while for the same reasons, and was in need of a vocalist. My friend suggested me, and The Songbird and the Axeman was born. 

Last month we finally had our first two concerts, and I loved it. Singing makes me feel so alive, and I can't believe I'm actually getting paid to do something I enjoy so much. I've wanted to do this for years, and I finally am. 

Dreams do come true. ❤️

Until next time,

The Songbird

Food!

This is a repost from my other blog, but I thought it went along with my previous post. 

I never realized before how much I really LOVE food. I mean, I've always said that I do, and that I enjoy eating good food, but I'm realizing that my life just revolves around it. I've been a restaurant server, a pastry chef, and now a cook, and I just love creating good food. I read about food, I watch travel shows that center around food, I love experimenting with new recipes, I want to farm and grow nutritious food to share with people, I go crazy looking at all the gorgeous food at the farmers' market, and I take lots of pictures of food. I am passionate about food. 

So don't be surprised when many of my posts contain some food-related topic. 

Happy eating!

~ Hannah Elise ❤️