Category: Life Updates

Want to stay up to date with what I’ve been up to and where I’ve been? This is the section for you!

Let’s Chat

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Hi everyone,

13269362_495596163976343_2083116012_nHow are you doing? Well? Not so well? Hopefully you’re doing well. If not, I’m putting a picture of my dog in this blog post to brighten your spirits just a little. Look at that adorable face!

How am I doing? That’s a hard question to answer. Things are… seemingly good. My blood work is good, my apartment is not on fire and it is not a chemo week. Things are good. So why am I still making that grumpy face when I know something isn’t good?

It’s because we don’t talk anymore.

I’m not saying you and I don’t talk anymore. There’s a good chance I have no idea who you are so we’ve never met (Hi, by the way. Nice to meet you). I’m saying people don’t talk about the hard subjects anymore. When I say hard subjects, I’m referring to tragic events that have happened and once they’re over, no one calls it by what it is anymore (ex: bombings, suicide, abandonment, etc.) Why don’t we talk about them?

The easy answer would be “technology has ruined the future of communication,” but I don’t believe that. Others would argue “it’s not socially acceptable to bring up such things,” but I don’t believe that either. There are YouTube videos and blog posts and news articles about challenging content that we as a society choose to click away from. The opportunity is there and we do not take it. There are people telling their most personal stories to inspire others and we step away from them hoping that they’ll stop for our convenience. People pour their hearts into that work and we ignore it. For whatever reason, we don’t want to know. We don’t want to ask. I catch myself doing that all the time. In fact, I did it to a fellow woman who posted about her cancer story. I got about halfway through her story, realized that it was going to have a very sad ending and CLICKED AWAY LIKE A MONSTER. Who does that? Me. I did that. Why?

The answer is hard to admit: I was afraid. I was afraid to finish the story and to get to know this person even if I never got to meet her in real life. I was afraid to make a connection and care. I was afraid that what she had to say would alter the world that I live in now and I didn’t want my world to be screwed with. I have a whole blog dedicated to positivity and good vibes for people. To bring a smile to someone’s face when they need it. I could’ve reached out and sent her good thoughts or at least finished reading her blog post. But I didn’t do that and I should have.

So let’s talk for a second. Can we do that? Are we at that level yet?

Everyone has something that has touched their lives and yet they won’t talk about it because they’re afraid. Afraid of what others will say, afraid of the answers they’ll receive, whatever it may be. For me, it’s cancer (insert scary music here). I’m beginning to believe that there’s some folklore where if you say “cancer” in a darkened bathroom three times, a nurse with chemo drugs will pop up in the mirror.

It’s not that I’m afraid to talk about it but I’m afraid that what I have to say will turn people away so I try really hard to not talk about it unless it’s in a cancer update post. And even then I try to spin it in the happiest way that I can so I don’t alarm anyone.

Because cancer has become such a large part of my life so quickly it only makes sense that I think about it and talk about it a lot. I know that I have friends and family out there who want to ask me questions about it but refrain for whatever reason. So I want you to know something:

You can talk about it with me.

Cancer is a really scary word, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t talk about it. The only way for our worldview to be broadened is by talking about the hard stuff. Cancer is unruly. It is real. It affects a lot of people, so let’s talk about it. Maybe then we can try to find something positive and good about something that’s really horrible. I’m not one for tip toeing around problems. I’m not a medical professional nor am I an expert on anything, but I am willing to answer any questions I can about it, so don’t be afraid to ask. Being curious about hard subjects is not wrong and shouldn’t be punished. The more we talk about these hard subjects, the more room there is for finding some positivity as we move forward in our lives.

Or, if you’re not ready yet, we don’t have to talk about it at all. We could talk about the weather or some other topic you’re really into. I am also down for that. You just let me know and I’m ready to listen.

 

Until Next Time,

Dana

The Best Company at Unicorn City

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After living in a dorm with 400 other people for two and half years, I’ve learned to appreciate alone time. Today is the first day in well over a month that I’ve had completely to myself. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very much an extrovert. I love people and spending time with them. This past week was very exciting because I had so many people come over to the Unicorn City. (Fun fact: for those that don’t know, my apartment is also called Unicorn City because I own a clan of unicorn stuffed animals. And yes, they’re all named thank you very much.)

I love visiting with people and it’s always good fun when they come over, but there is something really sweet about having a day to myself. It gives me a chance to recharge and do all the things I can’t do when company is over: watch my favorite shows, eat mac and cheese from the pan, doing the dishes and, of course, sleeping. On days to myself I will stay in bed way past a socially acceptable time to be in bed. But hey! I’m alone! There’s no one here to judge. Except for Milo, but he’s my fish. He won’t tell on me.

It’s really important to be able live with others, but a lesson that a lot of parents forget to teach being able to live with yourself. I mean, people come and go but you are stuck with you. Forever. And if you don’t like yourself, that’s a big problem.

Now hold up. You’re probably thinking, “Dana is saying that if I don’t like me, I need to change everything about me.” NO. ABSOLUTELY NOT. I’m sure that you’re a lovely person and chances are I’d like you if I met you (hi, by the way). However, if you don’t like yourself, I encourage you to change how you think about yourself. Instead of viewing yourself in a negative light, try something more positive.

Currently, for me, I have a really hard time accepting my body. It’s not as strong as it used to be a couple months ago and my body is what limits me from performing at 100%. But you know what? My body is mine. It’s beautiful. It may be annoying at times, but it’s healing. And I can live with that and love my body for what it is and what it will become.

Being alone can be hard because it is closely related to the world of loneliness. But being alone doesn’t mean you have to be lonely. Be your best company you’ve had over at your home. I know I’m my best company!

 

Until next time,

Dana

Moon Sand Gone Rogue

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Do you remember those really awesome early 2000s commercials about the glory of moon sand and the life changing effect it could have on your playtime? I do. I thought that stuff was the coolest thing since sliced bread. And now that I’m a broke adult with an apartment, I can make this dream a reality!
moonsand2My best friend from home, Lilly, came up to visit and help me out with this craft. It is honestly one of the easiest crafts to put together if you’re on a tight budget and schedule. All you need is 4 cups of flour and 1/2 cup of baby oil. THAT’S IT. It couldn’t be any easier.  Lilly and I mixed our ingredients in a bowl before we dumped it out on the coffee table and we learned a few things that we should’ve thought about before but didn’t. So I present to you some advice called… Lillytips!

Lillytip: Take off your jewelry. Flour and baby oil is everywhere.

Lillytip: If you’re going to dump the moon sand out onto a flat surface, make sure it’s in a shallow bin with edges. Again, flour and baby oil EVERYWHERE.

Both of which were true. We dumped it out onto my coffee table and if you’re not careful, moonsand3it will get on the floor. Fortunately, it really is just baby oil and flour, but if you’re making a more high grade moon sand with fancy ingredients, I can’t guarantee the safety of your carpet.

Anyways, all is fine and dandy in the world of moon sand. We were living our childhood dream. Lilly being the art major she is out created me on every level (picture to the right). She constructed this dragon head in about ten minutes and in that same time I made a sad box (picture was mysteriously deleted before it made it to this blog post). We even judged it on a 5 star scale with the following criteria: process of creating the moon sand, moldability, texture, cleanup and overall experience.

  • PROCESS
    • Dana- 5 stars “My dog could make this and he’s an idiot.”
    • Lilly- 5 stars “It’s so simple to make you’ll probably think you’re doing something wrong.”
  • MOLDABILITY
    • Dana-2.5 stars “I think I’m just bad at art.”
    • Lilly-3 stars “Unless you’re a genius, you won’t be able to sculpt a great work of art with it. Still, considering it’s literally made with flour, it’s impressively moldable.”
  • TEXTURE
    • Dana-2 stars “This is just flour and baby oil. It does not feel like sand.”
    • Lilly-2 stars “It feels like the inside of the good kind of stress ball.”
  • CLEANUP
    • Dana-4.5 stars “I hate cleaning but this wasn’t horrible at all.”
    • Lilly-3.5 stars “It was harder to clean up than I thought it would be. Maybe I’m just a messy person, but flour was (*cough* still is *cough*) all over my clothes.”
  • OVERALL
    • Dana-3.5 stars “Above average but barely.”
    • Lilly-3.4 stars “It was fun and we spent way longer playing with it than I thought we would. I definitely recommend it.”

 

Lillytip: If you’re going to go rogue, don’t add water.

Lilly and I were going to make a second moon sand recipe and compare it to the first but we ended up buying the wrong type of sand. We had all these leftover ingredients (tea tree oil, corn starch, etc) and they were STARING at us. So we added them. Everything was going great until we foolishly added water (part of the other recipe) and created a horrifying crumbly dough. If you were wondering, I do not recommend going rogue. And if you are, be smart about it (unlike us) because flour is not sand and flour does not mix well with water!

 

Until next time,

Dana