Denmark is the happiest nation in the world—according to studies—and researchers attribute Danes’ happiness to having low expectations in life. In other words, Danes have a non-idealized way of looking at the world. The happiness killer isn’t having ideals. Rather, it’s the power we give
Mental health battles are not sprints, they are marathons.
It was in that moment I made a commitment
5 ways they can make you better, not bitter.
We promise this won't go out of style.
Technology has made our life easier in so many ways, but it's important not to forget about traditional skills of the home.
I was struck by this quote by my friend and Darling contributor Katherine Wolf from her newly released book Hope Heals:
I imagine most of us have fairly straightforward pictures in our heads about what our lives will look like and who we’ll become. When something happens that is not inside the four corners of that picture we view it as a detour and hope to get back on track as quickly as possible. So what happens when you take a detour and can’t ever get back to the original picture?
Like many of you, I have an Amazon Prime account. My heart seems to skip a beat when my doorbell rings, dropping off another brown box. I find satisfaction in my constant consumerism and perhaps you do, too, but I also experience frustration. As my condo and especially my closet get more cluttered, the more frustrated and anxious I become. I’ve discovered the satisfaction I get from buying shiny, new things is fleeting and oftentimes, disappointing.
So, this year, my new motto is consume less and create more. I’ve set a stricter budget, am writing a book, taking a painting class and yes, even bought a grown-up coloring book.
An obsession with the female form has existed for centuries across different cultures and geographic regions. An over-obsession with the female form without regard to personhood is self-objectification. Most of us are familiar with the idea of men seeing women as objects through behaviors such as catcalling or engaging in pornography, but what about women objectifying themselves, and even each other?
Two researchers define the matter as “regular exposure to objectifying experiences that socialize girls and women to engage in self-objectification, whereby they come to internalize this view of themselves as an object or collection of body parts” (Kroon & Perez).
In short, self-objectification is thinking of oneself as an object first and a person second.
Haunted and heartbroken, I cried for an hour after reading Kate Fagan’s article “Split Image,” which revisits the life and death of Madison Holleran, a nineteen-year-old collegiate athlete who committed suicide. Her story was eerily similar to my own as an eighteen year old battling severe depression; I wanted to end my life. On the outside and on social media, Madison’s life looked near perfect.
Similarly, to onlookers I had everything going for me, but inside I was coming apart at the seams. I tried hard to make myself feel happy, to make myself feel worthy. Next to my white nightstand sat my stack of self-help books including, “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens,” “The Power of Positive Thinking”, and my journal, where I purged my deepest thoughts and listed my big, lofty goals daily: to lose ten pounds, become a model, to get a full-ride scholarship for soccer.
Yet, shortly after I graduated sum cum lade from high school, I came undone. I cracked under the pressure to be perfect. Deep-seeded insecurity, stress, perfectionism, and grave hormonal and physiological imbalances collided, shattering my picture-perfect world into bits of broken pieces.
We all know that romantic relationships can come to end, but what about friendships? As we grow older and more distant from friends we used to hold dear, is it possible to end friendships in a healthy way? Life transitions such as moves, school, career changes, new relationships, and shifts in personal values and world-views are just a few of the things that can drive a wedge between friends.
All of these shifts are natural and even to be expected, however, knowing when we should fight to preserve a friendship and when it might be best to part ways can be difficult.
Here are some tips to help you navigate the ever-changing dynamics of friendships:
Sonora Webster Carver was an American entertainer, widely known for being one of the first female horse divers in the world. She was born on February 2, 1904 to a working-class family in Waycross, Georgia. After seeing an ad placed by circus entertainer William Doc
While technology and social media have their advantages, a growing amount of research is proving that the overuse of both might be making us sick. Millennials (individuals with birth years ranging from the early 1980s to the early 2000s) are the most digitally connected generation.
Shame is the intensely painful feeling that we are unworthy of love and belonging. —Brené Brown To experience shame is to be fully human; to at times feel inadequate, insufficient, inferior, unworthy and even unlovable. While guilt is the feeling of doing wrong, shame is the feeling
Today is world suicide prevention day. When it comes to dark days and nights I get it. I am a survivor. Nine years ago severe clinical depression was violently destroying my picture-perfect world. Deep-seated insecurity, stress, perfectionism, and grave hormonal and physiological imbalances collided, shattering my world into
As a non-profit director and social media manager I currently oversee five Instagram accounts, so I spend a lot of my time in the world of hashtags and Instagram feeds. I have this theory of late: sometimes if we want to know some of the unhealthy patterns, or
Mother’s Day 2014 was the first time that I felt I was missing out. My husband and I have been married for nearly seven years. Having struggled with severe depression, motherhood is something that frightens me. I’m terrified I won’t be a good mom; that
Before my husband and I left on our trip for the Middle East, I had hoped that I wouldn’t come home the same. I wanted to be changed and challenged in some long-lasting way. We rode camels with the Pyramids as our backdrop, explored the ancient
Call me shallow, but one of my most vivid prayers as a little girl was for L.A. Gear shoes and pierced ears. Yes, in case you're wondering, I got my way. To this day I still struggle with buying into our culture of over-consumerism. Even
1. Get lost in your own reflection. For a sure fire way to be unlovely, gaze into the bathroom mirror more frequently than you peer into the beauty of others’ souls. True beauty and loveliness is outward-focused. It invests in others more than oneself. Be that
Over 60 percent of U.S. adult women are overweight, according to 2007 estimates from the National Center for Health Statistics of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Additionally over one-third of overweight adult women are obese. Not all, but many women find themselves overweight and
We all have bad days. Whether it’s the loss of a job or the fact that you spilled coffee all over your new shirt, down days are bound to come, perhaps even more so during the holidays. It’s up to you to know how to
We are always getting ready to live but never living.--Ralph Waldo Emerson When’s the last time you thought, “Once I get that job I’ll be happy” or “Once I meet that guy I’ll be happy” or “ Once I fill-in-the-blank I’ll be happy?” In his book “Happier,”
