PsychicTurtleBlog

1: A dark day inside with the sound of rain against the windows

2: The smell of a coffee shop as I'm passing

3:Going to a plant nursery and shopping around for herbs and cacti

4:Spending time with people that make me feel safe

5:The smell of the ocean

6: A heated blanket when I don’t feel good

7:Scary movies even if I am alone, especially when I’m alone

8:Adorable games about farming and fan art of my favorite characters

Does anyone else like to still do those silly self-help questions online like we don’t already know how to make ourselves happier?

If I am ever feeling down or a little lost with my life one thing that helps is baking! Pumpkin bread is my favorite go-to no matter the time of year and just the thought of making some brings a smile to my face. I know not everyone likes pumpkin, but if you are feeling bored or just need a distraction from life I think this would be the perfect relaxing evening plan. Plus pumpkin can be very good for the immune system! Here is a recipe I used when I was just finding my love for the pumpkin loaf. Although it may take you tinkering with the spices to find just how you like it. 

Not only is it a fun hobby and a great way to grow your own food, but it’s good for your body too! Now the number one known reason for it being healthy is you are outside a lot of the day. Once sunlight hits your skin this triggers your body to start making Vitamin D which is essential for a normal day-to-day life. I have also found many articles that talk about how it can help with retaining memories as you age. An example of this is when Healthline.com states, “ After the residents had raked and planted in vegetable gardens, researchers discovered increased amounts of some brain nerve growth factors associated with memory in both males and females.” 

Now I’m sure we have all noticed since the pandemic first started many of us have found comfort in surrounding ourselves with plants. I think it is mainly because plants are a distraction, especially when there isn’t anything else to do but be stuck inside, plus they were and are one of the only things we can control in confusing times. They just seem to generally make people produce serotonin. I get such a feeling of pride when I see one of my plants blooming or producing well for a season so the feeling of comfort in plants just seems natural. There are many fun facts to learn about certain plants as well, such as lavender can help reduce anxiety or in many countries, it is normal for watermelon to be served with a type of cheese. The list just goes on! I one hundred percent encourage anyone and everyone to go and not only learn about plants but see how they help you become healthier too. 

By Alexis Myers

(These are just a few reasons of why they were so powerful and some of why they fell)

Rome became a very strong empire because of a few simple things. They were very stable agriculturally. Many people farmed things such as olives and many other grains to trade for profit. This fact also had many people settling down causing the population to grow. SeattlePI states in their article, “The extra population later helped Rome’s military expansion by providing a large supply of troops. The surplus also helped Rome to establish trade ties with other Mediterranean powers, enhancing the cities economic might.” This brought them many allies and set a very strong military in place. 

The geography of Rome also played a very big role in helping Rome become so powerful. Their location helped avoid invasion, they had great soil to grow all of their crops, plus they were between many other countries. With their location so close to the center of everyone they had easy trade of goods while keeping good contact / relations with other countries. SeattlePI also states, “The Alps, located on the northern border of modern-day Italy, seal off the peninsula from the rest of Europe during winter. This natural roadblock protected Rome from outside invasions by forcing attackers to move slowly through narrow passes, giving the Romans time to respond.” This is a good example of how the Romans had the upper hand when it came to most battles that took place making them hard to concur. 

Later Rome faced many things that led to their fall as such a great nation. A major factor was the change to the christian religion. Ushistory.org makes a very good statement in their article supporting this by stating, “ The christian religion, which was monotheisian ran counter to the traditional Roman religion, which was polytheistic (many gods). At different times, the Romans persecuted the Christians because of their beliefs, which were popular among the poor.” This went against their beliefs that their ruler was too a god so this discredited their emperor leaving many not very loyal and questioning of him. After accepting Christianity as their main religion these doubts began to take place in Rome. 

They later had military issues that led to their downfall. “There were threats from northern european tribes and they couldn’t defend themselves due to low funds of the military.” This harmed them with their relations with other countries making them stop things such as trade. They also lost their trust in many of their allies and became much weaker with their military because they simply did not have the money for the supplies needed. 

There were also many economic issues that hurt this great nation. History.com states, “ Constant wars and overspending had significantly lightened imperial coffers, and oppressive taxation and inflation had widened the gap between the rich and the poor.” This country simply couldn’t keep up with the prices of their constant wars and other expenses. This led to the fall of Rome because they may have been fine at adapting; their society was far too divided and they had too much poverty between the social classes. 

Reference page;

Nick Robinson, 2020, How did Geography help Rome rise to power?, SeattlePI - https://education.seattlepi.com/did-geography-rome-rise-power-5408.html#:~:text=The%20Roman%20population%20grew%20quickly,enhancing%20the%20city's%20economic%20might.

Brynn Holland, 2018, HISTORY vault: Rome: Rise and Fall, History.com - https://www.history.com/news/history-vault-rome-rise-and-fall