Tag: humour

5 Characters That Make Me

~ Artiecarden ~ 2 Comments

Hey pals,

 

This went around on Twitter recently (it was actually 4 characters, but I couldn’t narrow it down any further!) and I decided that these 5 characters, if you smushed them together and squinted a little, would make me. I didn’t get to explain this at all on Twitter, so I thought I’d do so here!

A big part of the factor is appearance. All dark short haired people who’re kinda androgynous. I’ll go through, character by character from here because it really does come down to their personalities and interests that makes me go ‘oh me’.IMG_5303

  1. Klaus (number 4): Umbrella Academy. Sassy, queer, wears some funky outfit choices… Honestly an icon and I like to think of myself that way. I used to smoke as much as he does in the show so I still heavily relate.
  2. Susanna Kaysen: Girl, Interrupted. One of several self-obsessed writers (which is my whole ass personality) who have made my list. She has BPD too, which… big mood. Though she is more on the IMG_5308quiet side, I find a lot of myself in her qualities, particularly her obsession with getting Lisa to like her and then realising how awful Lisa was for her and having the guts to return to therapy (or, inpatient for her…) But she shows you can regain control after a BPD diagnosis and I feel like I’ve shown this too.
  3. Jughead Jones: Riverdale. The other obnoxious and narcissistic writer, who is super moody and an edgelord. I mean, me too. I think one of the main IMG_5304links between these characters is their sense of humour, they’re all very witty and have really fast responses. Jughead is definitely on the more deadpan / morose side of my humour. Also wearing hats in winter. I desperately upset there aren’t any cafes of diners near me that look like the one in Riverdale because you would definitely find me there on my laptop as well.
  4. Haruhi Fujioka: OHSHC. I wish I was smart enough for a scholarship to a really expensive school, but Haruhi is kinda fluid and actually IMG_5305enjoys presenting as male and confusing people but doesn’t identify AS A MAN. SAME. Also, they call themselves dude and such and makes all the pretty boys uncomfortable. But also seduced them by accident (which is very not me, but I effing wish.)
  5. Viola (particularly as Sebastian): She’s The Man. Again, some gender weirdness. Obviously, Viola doesn’t identify as a man or genderqueer BUT I high-key am obsessed with her trying to pull of being a dude. Also, entirely hilarious, I think I developed my IMG_5306facial expressions based off this movie alone.

 

As an overall, they generally encompass my choice of clothing (Except maybe Viola… very early 2000s yuck) all have similar length dark hair, and are sarcastic as all fuck. That’s all you really need to know.

(Oh also, my birthday is in a week !! show me some love with a donation?)

 

~ Artie

My Journal: Messy and Half-Filled

~ Artiecarden ~ Leave a comment

Hey pals,

I wanted to talk about my journal today. I feel like we are brought up with one format for how diaries or journaling is supposed to work. You have to write everyday, you have to expose everything but not, you’re supposed to have juicy secrets and crazy love affairs and everything has to look perfect.

I think (especially now with instagram) that people feel like they have to make everything look perfect, even though it’s just for them. Studyblr is a huge thing now too and social media is all about the aesthetic. When I grew up with the internet, I had facebook for people I knew in real life, instagram wasn’t a thing, twitter wasn’t really something we used… I had a tumblr under a name that wasn’t me. I fabricated a person (except it wasn’t, everything I wrote was me and how I felt) so no one would find it and know it was me. Everyone in my life had a different name or I only used their first name’s initial. I blogged about all the horrible ugly things that were inside my head as a teenager because therapy was more stigmatised than it is today and even if you had therapy they weren’t very nice people most of the time. My blog was my online diary, a real one was too much pressure and tumblr had loads of posts and pictures that described how I felt more than I was able to.

Diaries or journals have always been this teen girl media thing, a way to tell the story of the protagonist of a novel or film and they always looked perfect. Pretty notebooks, perfect handwriting, even a great hiding place or lock system.

They are more than what we are taught they are. Yeah, sure, it’s great to make it look pretty (especially if that part makes you excited about doing it) but this perfectionism has held people back. I’ve known people who can never ever write on the first page of a notebook in case they make a mistake, even if it was a rough notebook. It’s hard to get past that feeling, but remember you do this for you.

My journal that I’ve been writing in since my graduation was a tool for maintaining my mental health. I moved away from my therapist that I really liked and who had really helped me get to the bottom of a few things and I didn’t want to stop ‘talking’ like that entirely. Yes, I write in it everyday (if I forget or am too busy, I try to catch up) but no, it’s not pretty. The outside is nice but I fucked up the front cover because my pen smudged. My handwriting (if you’re new here) is UGLY. Especially if I have a lot to write or a limited time. I also use it to experiment with designs and drawings for when I want to experiment with bullet journaling.

IMG_7506

But the important part is to chronologise my life. I want something to look back on from this period of my life to see how far I’ve come. For a more immediate reason, I keep track of symptoms in my journal. I talk about my sleep, my fatigue, pain, depression or anxiety, mood swings, diet and exercise, anything I try, all of it. I’ve learned that you do need to keep track somewhere, if it ever becomes important you have it in there. I’m experimenting with all sorts of things to try and better my physical health and to see if it helps my mental health too. And if I’ve done a lot, I write down everything I did that day and feel proud of myself for managing, for succeeding. I even write if I didn’t do anything that day and how I feel. There’s no fear in this journal of not being pretty enough or perfect enough.

I mean sure, one day when I write my memoir I’ll probably quote from it but it is not a thing to be edited. It is my truth of now. Right now, I forgot to fill it in today and I don’t want to go downstairs to get it coz it’s late and I’m tired and as comfortable as I can be after an exercise class. So I’ll do it tomorrow and write about the pain I felt today and where, I’ll talk about how annoying this exercise class was and how I’m not sure I want to go back, I’ll talk about managing to write this!

Don’t be afraid of scribbling things out, don’t be afraid of your less-than-perfect handwriting, don’t be afraid of writing about those ugly feelings inside you, because this whole thing is for you to share and to verbalise things you wouldn’t normally be able to.

This is my journal and its imperfection makes it perfect for me.

~ Artie

Why I Take Magnesium Pills

~ Artiecarden ~ 2 Comments

Hey pals,

 

I wanted to talk through my experience of taking Magnesium supplements and why I now take them alongside multi-vitamins.

A few years ago (I say few because I have no concept of how long ago this actually was), my mother and I saw a Kinesiologist. It’s a very bizarre experience, a lot of moving my limbs and tapping. She told me I am very low in Magnesium after listing everything that was wrong and the symptoms linked. She prescribed me Magnesium, another pill and selenium drops. I didn’t really feel any benefits from this back in the day and once I ran out, I stopped.

One thing I remember her saying, “Magnesium is needed for pretty much every human function,” and that definitely stayed with me.

I have always have problems with sleep, constantly feeling fatigued, and have had bouts of really bad anxiety. Earlier this year alone I struggled to leave my uni house to do anything. That was before I started taking Magnesium again.

I’ve googled the benefits of Magnesium on-and-off since seeing the Kinesiologist and debated going back on them or even seeing her again.

I’d recently seen a YouTuber I really like (Melanie Murphy, before you ask) starting to take Magnesium along with a selection of other vitamins and minerals and she said it has really helped her anxiety and she felt so chill! So I thought, “Hey, maybe I should give it a go?”

I could always do with better sleep, more energy, less anxiety, less pain even. Magnesium helps relax muscles and has a lot of anti-inflammatory benefits. At this point, with my chronic pain, I will try anything once.

Melanie mentioned that women (lets ignore the self-misgender, because we are talking bio sex here) should be taking/consuming around 300mg of Magnesium a day. I’ve looked this up, females aged 19+ should take 310-320mg a day. So I looked at Amazon to begin, and decided I would rather buy from a company I can completely trust to give me what they are claiming to sell.

I now buy all my supplements from Holland & Barrett, because that’s their thing. I looked at the highest dose they sell, which was only 250mg, but I decided to give that a chance. Maybe I don’t need to be taking 300+mg a day, but I definitely think I need to be taking some.

 

It’s been a bit over a month now, it’s not a miracle pill but it definitely has made a lot of my above issues easier to combat. I may not dose off at 9pm every day, but getting to sleep before midnight is and waking up between 9 and 10am is becoming a habit. That’s pretty crazy, considering my previous sleeping pattern was 2am bed and 11am wake up. I have more energy and more cognitive ability. My pain is hit-and-miss but it always is. And when it comes to my anxiety, it’s pretty non-existent at this point; I’m capable of just taking things as they come.

If you’re thinking about trying Magnesium supplements, I say go for it. I did read that it can affect medications so double check with your doctor or pharmacist. But I’ve experienced a pretty positive change in my health and hope it continues to get better the longer I take them.

 

I’d love to know about your experiences!

 

~ Artie

 

What I take: https://www.hollandandbarrett.com/shop/product/holland-barrett-magnesium-tablets-250mg-60005830?skuid=005830

Financially Not Great

~ Artiecarden ~ 1 Comment

Hey pals,

 

I had a lot of my plans fall through recently, which was pretty distressing to begin but now I’ve just accepted that it has happened. It has given me some new life possibilities that I would have never even entertained. For example, going abroad. Whether that’s to work, an internship, or just some travelling time, doesn’t really matter. I had to do everything with someone.

I’ve always thought myself independent (except not entirely when within romantic relationships) but having to start over from my Mother’s spare bedroom has given me some thought and clarity. A new perspective, one I really didn’t think I’d ever have.

I love living in the UK. I haven’t explored enough of it for one, but I like how it works (ish), I like what I’ve got here (sort of), and I’m pretty bloody useless at learning and remembering languages (I’ve tried, and I would like to try again). I think mainly, I don’t have to pay for my health care or prescriptions, which is pretty sweet.

I’m often flooded with the realisation of how big the world is, and how I haven’t seen hardly any of it. I want to change that. I’ve been thinking of the different options that might exist. I see groups of school kids from other countries over here during summer, meeting new people but in a safe environment. Considering I’m an anxious mess when it comes to travelling (and many other things that aren’t relevant right now) I wanted to see if I could find a way to travel somewhere with or meeting a group out there with secure accomodation. I clearly can’t trust anyone to do anything with me, OR they don’t have the money, so I do want to do this by myself.

I actually had a brief moment where I thought, ‘wow, who’d have thought I’d be happy to be single?’ because, sure, I was comfortable being alone, but for this reason I was actually happy about it. I would never (and I mean never) gone abroad by myself whilst with someone, I wouldn’t have put that distance between us, that strain. And it’s very freeing to realise that.

I originally wanted to go away somewhere or like everyone does inter-railing, but with a group. Or then I thought, I’ll just go to one place and travel out on their transport to other areas nearby. Then I saw an ad on instagram.

How about

~ an internship ~

So nothing is decided right now, I’m still doing my research. Unfortunately, any of these options would cost a lot (particularly the internship, this actually blew my mind). So, I’ll apologise now, but I’m going to put below ways you can help me with funds, there’s a selection so please don’t click off just yet! And anyone who has done, or is planning to, do something similar, please let me know your experiences in the comments! I’d love to hear more!

~ Artie

 

 

Here is a selection of ways you can help me raise the funds for something like this:

  • I have a Patreon with behind the scenes type content, stuff that no one outside of Patreon would have access to seeing in a selection of levels.
  • I am a brand affiliate of Geopetric.com, they are a vegan, cruelty-free, and fair wage company in the U.S for pet products. With my affiliate code you can get 20% off, and not just once you can use it on every order you make on the website. So use our code: LAYLABARKSALOT20
  • You can make any size donation to my paypal.me link
  • I have a depop where I sell a selection of items (preferably only to U.K residents as postage is awful) find me with @amiexdelisle
  • I do tarot card readings online via email for £1 (or whatever is equal for your currency) just hit me up on any of my social media for more information.
  • and finally if there isn’t anything you can do money-wise, then sharing would do a big help. There’s one of these posts on basically every platform I use.