welcome, spring ☀️

‘100 Years of the Best American Short Stories,’ edited by Lorrie Moore

‘The Love of a Good Woman,’ Alice Munro

‘The New Woman’s Broken Heart,’ Andrea Dworkin 

‘Her Body And Other Parties,’ Carmen Maria Machado

‘The Hour of the Star,’ Clarice Lispector 

‘Two or Three Things I Know For Sure,’ Dorothy Allison

‘The Tell-Tale Heart,’ Edgar Allan Poe

‘A Good Man is Hard to Find,’ Flannery O’Connor

‘Complete Stories,’ Franz Kafka

‘Dubliners,’ James Joyce

‘Interpreter of Maladies,’ Jhumpa Lahiri 

‘Something Childish But Very Natural,’ Katherine Mansfield 

‘The Garden Party,’ Katherine Mansfield

‘People Like That Are the only People Here,’ Lorrie Moore

‘Good Bones,’ Margaret Atwood

‘Murder in the Dark,’ Margaret Atwood

‘Singing My Sister Down,’ Margo Lanagan

‘Difficult Women,’ Roxane Gay

‘The Lottery,’ Shirley Jackson

‘How Did You Feel About it?,’ Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

‘The Melancholy of Anatomy,’ Shelley Jackson

‘The Awakening & Other Short Stories,’ Kate Chopin

‘The Library of Babel,’ Jorge Luis Borges

‘The Daughters of the Moon,’  Italo Calvino

‘Requiem For a Glass Heart,’ Roxane Gay

‘St. Lucy’s Home For Girls Raised By Wolves,’ Karen Russel

may i be content

may i be kind to myself and others

may i be resilient 

while we’re at it, try to replace “but” with and

i am trying hard and i can do better

i am anxious and i will get through it

(here are some study tips straight from my psych notes)

1. interest: the brain prioritizes by meaning, value, and relevance so u remember things better if ur interested

find a study partner

do extra practice or research

teach it to someone else (this works so well!)

2. intent: be actively paying attention. very little learning actually takes place without attention

use a concentration check sheet (every time u get distracted, put a check on ur sheet. this is supposed to program ur mind to pay attention)

while u read, talk back to the author

ask questions during lectures (this is scary ik!! but do it!)

3. basic background: make connections to what u already know

preview and skim the material before u read it. or google it!

write out a list of vocab words before a lecture and leave some spaces between them to fill in during the lecture

read ahead of lectures

watch crashcourse tbh

4. selectivity: start by studying whats important

look for bolded words, graphics, pictures, chapter review questions in ur readings

listen for verbal clues like emphasis and repetition during lectures

make urself a study guide as u read and write down questions for urself to answer later as review (kinda like cornell notes)

5. meaningful organization: u can learn/rmr better if u group ideas into diff categories

apply vocab words to ur life

make flashcards and sort them (try not to have more than seven items in one category!)

use mnemonics

6. recitation: saying ideas aloud in ur own words strengthens synaptic connections! when u say something aloud u r forcing urself to pay attention

after u read, ask urself questions

talk abt what u learned w/ classmates outside of class

again, teach someone else

7. visualization: ur brain’s quickest and longest-lasting response is to images

convert info into a chart or graph

draw it out

make a mental video of a process

look at picture/video examples

8. association: memory is increased when facts are consciously associated w something u already know. memory = making neural connections

ask urself: is this something i already know?

9. consolidation: give ur brain some time to establish a neural pathway

make a list of what u remember from class

review notes at the end of the day, every day

stop after reading each prg to write a question in ur notes

make ur own practice quiz

10. distributed practice: we all know cramming doesnt work but we do it anyway! but yeah short and frequent study sections work better

make a daily/weekly study schedule

create a time budget/time tracker (track everything ur doing for a week and see how u can be more efficient w/ the time u waste)

divide the reading/vocab by the number of days before an exam and do a little bit each day (u can use sticky notes to divide ur reading)

other tips:

stop stressing! this sounds stupid and it isnt going to be easy, but anxiety causes u to lose focus. try ur best to think positively. sleep a lot. minimize ur caffeine intake. take a walk maybe

when u need to remember something, look upward or close ur eyes (when ur eyes are open ur using visual parts of ur brain that u might not need to be using)

find a rival! (like the person right above u in class rank) secretly compete w/ them (envy can improve mental persistence bc it makes u focus more intensely) but dont overdo it! 

walking and sleeping build memory storage in ur brain

eat flavonoids! (grapes, berries, tea leaves, cocoa beans make neurons in the brain more capable of forming new memories + increase blood flow to the brain)

I don’t usually share a whole lot but THIS IS INCREDIBLE 

Aries: 風光る(Kaze Hikaru) A warm spring breeze which follows the winter. Spring’s cherry blossom breath flushing over your face. A warm spring kiss after the freeze of winter air.

Taurus: 雅 (Miyabi) Elegance, refinement, sophistication. Graceful manners. Courtliness. Eliminating anything vulgar. 

Gemini: 本音 (Honne) & 建前 (Tatemae) Ones true self (honne), true soul and the facade, the mask they wear in public (tatemae).

Cancer: なつかしい (Natsukashii) The feeling of nostalgia. Desiring and missing something. Happy memories of the past. Transcient state of mind recollecting the best of the past.

Leo: 花笑み (Hanaemi) A flowering smile. a smile as beautiful as blooming flowers, opening up their lush petals. inspiring people to be happy.

Virgo: 真面目 (Majime) A personality possessed by one who is hard-working, earnest, punctual, honest. A reliable person who will get things done without causing a ruckus, good morals.

Libra: 逢りば兄弟 (Ichariba Chode) Meeting someone and instantly considering them a friend, or even like a sibling. Instantly harmonizing with another.

Scorpio: しのびなく(Shinobi Naku) To shed silent tears, to hide your tears from others. Like a ninja or warriors cry.

Sagittarius: 幽玄 (Yugen) An extension of feeling “awoke”, an awarness that there is more to this universe beyond temporal existence which triggers deep, mysterious feelings. A philosophical feeling, close to touching a profound reality which underlines our extistence.

Capricorn: 頑張る (Ganbaru) Working hard, going above and beyond, reaching your full potential beyond belief. Perservering through tough times.

Aquarius: 合縁奇縁 (Aienkien) An unusual couple, brought together by some sort of “quirk of fate”. Strangely united but happy together. 

the bees in my yard are now so familiar with my walking pace and usual route that they sometimes stop and wait for me to pass when our paths intersect.

KonMari

 I’m really happy with the way my home has become lighter. Things that caused me anxiety or were somehow connected with guilt or stress are mostly gone. I spend MUCH less time on cleaning, and somehow gravitate towards hyggelig activities which I have neglected for years.

I actually (re)discovered Hygge through Konmari. 

Konmari is about comfort, not minimalism. It’s about a wholesome home that inspires you to live well. It’s about having the right amount of things that make you happy. It’s about removing the rest of the stuff so that your favourite things can shine. Also I found the books soothing, and even though the approach is Japanese and not nordic, it’s still very hygge.

For the uninitiated, Konmari is a method of going through your possessions in a specific order, and keeping only those that spark joy (give you a good feeling in the gut, which means that they are aligned with who you are right now and with how you want your home and life to be).

I actually learned in psychology that it was better for your memory if you learned in short bursts constantly throughout the day, but honestly, that doesn’t always work out. Sometimes we are short on time or large on information we have to go through. Sooo for those long hours of studying, here’s some concentration tips!

Clothing and location matter! Choose places that are free of distractions or that motivate you to work. My bedroom is fairly quiet, but it’s easy to be distracted by it. Sometimes it’s better for me to work around other people so that they keep me from just sitting back and texting my friends haha whoops. Also choose comfortable clothing, since likely you’ll have to sit in the same place/position for long stretches of time.

Take breaks at appointed times. When you’re studying for long periods, it is so so so so important to take a break! You brain needs to rest, my friends! Pomodoro your way to success.

Change your study location around. Sometimes staying in the same place can be boring as well. Give your mind some variety.

Have a specific plan. Before you start studying, make a list of all the topics you want to cover and the tasks you want to complete. This gives you a clear game plan.

a snapshot of my bullet journal (january 2018) ahhh i miss all the blues and i liked all the experimenting that i did with the formatting in that month :”)