Thursday, December 20, 2012

Since the world is ending...

In case you didn't know tomorrow is the Mayan apocalypse. Personally I don't believe the hype because this seems awfully similar to Y2K but I think that the worlds impending demise brings up some interesting things we should be thinking about.

So lets say hypothetically that the world is in fact ending tomorrow. What would you do with your last days on earth? I posed this question to a close friend and his response was go bungee jumping. While there is certain nothing wrong with that it got me thinking about why we put things like that on our bucket lists.



If you listen to that country song "Live Like you are dying" he mentions that he would go sky diving and ride a bull and all that jazz. Does is strike anyone else as odd that we feel like these are things that would make our life complete and fully "lived." Why have we only fully experienced life if we do a set list of risky activities like sky diving and bungee jumping? There's nothing wrong with wanting to do those things but if you could only do a few things where would your priorities lie?

We are encouraged to live everyday like our last and I think we interpret that as we should take risks when really I think it means you should appreciate what you have in this moment, right now.

My family has a habit of always telling each other I love you and hugging and kissing before we part. No matter if you're just going to the grocery store. I never hang up the phone without saying I love you to my parents or any of my siblings. For me living like you are dying means that you can leave the earth right now having said everything you needed to say.

What was the last thing you said to someone you love? Would you be ok if that was the last thing you ever said to them? If not tell them how much they mean to you not because it's the Mayan apocalypse, but because you never know when your last chance to say it will be.

But on the off chance the apocalypse does happen we have our survival packs by the back door!


As Always, Stay Classy
XOXO

Hayley

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Surviving the Holidays Single

For those that are newly single or just facing yet another Christmas/New Years with no one it's not always easy to cope with being alone. Sometimes this leads us to make stupid decisions like not leaving bed for days or dating a crappy guy out of desperation. While I can't magically help you find the love of  your life I guarantee you won't find him at the bottom of a tub of Ben and Jerry's.

Last Christmas break I spent the majority of time in bed surrounded by cats no joke. It was on the fourth day that I hadn't left my room and I was covered in cats, crying because the wedding dress I loved was being discontinued that my parents and sister intervened. They told me that I had to shower because it was sad and just plain gross. My incentive was ice cream. That was definitely a low point I never plan on reaching again so here are my helpful tips to stop you for doing what I did.

#1 Stay busy!

I know that the nice part about break is that you get to relax and maybe sleep in a bit. The only problem is that you can't let sleep be the only thing on your schedule. Try to set a time you have to wake up and things to do so you don't end up in bed till mid-afternoon everyday. Some ideas would be visiting old friends to catch up, going to make new friends, or even just going out to window shop. Anything is better than nothing!

My bed was covered in cats!


#2 Create a support system.

Even if you are away from your best friends over break make sure that you have check in times with them. If you start feeling really blue make sure you have someone that you can call to vent to that will cheer you up.

#3 Dress your best.

I've realized for myself that how I look affects how I feel. If everyday I don't get dressed or put in my contacts or fix my hair I start to feel as sloppy as I look. This isn't to say that you have to be dressed to the nines every time you go to Walmart but at least put on some real pants for heavens sakes.

This was my outfit for most of break.


#4 Don't let relatives get you down.

We all have that aunt or grandma that questions why you are still single which is an instant mood killer. You can't prevent them from asking prying questions, like when my Grandma asked me if I was "into the boy thing right now are not." But we can control how we react to those questions. So instead of getting upset tell the about something else positive and great going on in your life.
Ex. Well I don't have a man in my life but I just got promoted at my job!

#5 Keep things in perspective.

While sometimes you may feel like the only single person left in the world you have to keep in mind that despite what Facebook may tell you, you're not. Chances are you're probably to young and amazing to be worrying about spinsterhood right now. So instead of focusing on how depressing your love life is, work to make you the best you can be.

And remember you have to love yourself before anyone can even have a chance at loving you so use the holiday season for self-improvement rather than self-loathing. Happy holidays!



As Always, Stay Classy
XOXO

Hayley Kiah





Saturday, December 8, 2012

Catfish: Can you love a stranger?

Just another show in MTV's long list of forgettable reality series, Catfish has seemed to have struck a cord with us. Meeting someone online isn't all that hard in our digital age. But the idea of falling in love with them and talking to them for years without proof of who they are sounds a little far fetched.

For those of you that have better things to do than watch MTV and are unaware of what Catfish is, here is a brief summary. Basically it is a show based on connecting long term online lovers. The team comes in and films everything as they investigate their mystery lovers. Then they try to get ahold of them and have them meet in person. Sometimes it's girls pretending to be boys or vice versa, or sometimes they just don't hit it off like they thought they would, on rare occasion it actually works out.



So how can it be possible to be in love with someone you've never met? Or is it even possible? I would have to say that in my opinion I don't think you can really truly be "in love" with someone you haven't physically spent time with. You miss out on all the little unspoken things about them that create the bond of love.

But why then are so many people open to loving strangers they have never met and may never meet? I think it really speaks to the loneliness our generation feels. Are we really that desperate to find love that we are willing to create it with a stranger? Apparently so.

Someone you will never meet can never judge you for you flaws or imperfections. They will only love you for the parts of you that you let them see. It's so much safer than real life. You can place all your hopes and dreams into that person and be relatively confident you won't get hurt.

I'm sure the idea of meeting this person they have created this fantasy with is somewhat appealing. Why else would they go on the show. But often times it seems like there fantasy doesn't match up with reality.

I guess the moral of the story is that we can't let ourselves be so scared of the real world that we choose to live solely in online relationships. Sometimes reality hurts but that's just a chance you have to take to experience real life the way you should.




As Always, Stay Classy
XOXO

Hayley



Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Act Like a Man

I'm sure we are all familiar with the old adage, think like a man, act like a lady. But in today's college culture more and more women are changing it to act like a man. We justify our actions by saying we're just doing what all men do to us. There is just one little issue with this life philosophy.

Men don't necessarily do what women think they are doing. 

I will give you a minute to be shocked and let this soak in. Think about what your knowledge of college or any men is (if you are a male this won't really pertain to you). You probably envision a sweet talking, player that's goal is to get in as many girls pants as possible. While this may not be every guy I bet someone came into your head.



Going off this idea that men treat women like things to be conquered, it's easy for a female to justify sleeping around or treating men like objects. We're just doing what guys do right? That makes it ok. I think in a lot of women's heads they believe that they can never be worse than the guys, they're just keeping up and surviving.

The problem with this equation is that we over exaggerate how big of players men are. Take for instance a guy at my school that myself and a lot of the female population believe to be a "man-whore." Being the expert at creating awkward situations that I am, I point blank asked if this was true. He denied up an down that he had been whoring around the school. At first I was skeptical but after a good 45 minutes of interrogating him and his roommates I believed him.

In fact I can think of several other females on this campus that have significantly worse track records than he does. If the most notorious guy on campus really isn't that bad, then what does that mean for us girls?

We do things because we think other people are doing them also and it justifies our actions. But all this seems to have lead to is girls with higher numbers and lower self-esteem.

Maybe it's time we start basing our relationship/sexual choices on what we want not what we think other people are doing or what guys are doing. If you find someone you genuinely care about and who genuinely cares about you, how could you go wrong? Well probably a lot of ways but we'll save that for another day!

As always, stay classy
XOXO

Hayley





 
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