Not a Christian, But Not an Atheist Either

As I see this journey I've been on within the last year or so with my own sense of self worth, I realize now that there's no need to carry any sort of label onto my beliefs. However, I do feel like my heart, actions and emotions help to thoroughly define what it is I do or don't believe- anything else is left undecided.

We all experience feelings of denial or doubt regardless, and I'm not excluded to those emotions either. Once we outwardly deny or reject something enough, it becomes a conviction that we hold onto inside of our hearts. What we allow ourselves to accept however becomes part of what we want to become; it becomes a new part of our current existence.

I feel like it's important for me to emphasize just how powerful our emotions can be and how we allow them to shape who we are. Actions speak louder than words, but at the same time, your words need to be carefully thought over before being let out of your mouth. A lot of the time, we just don't think before speaking; it's like a subconscious habit that we just don't take more control over because some people will just brush it off like it's nothing. I feel like it's vital for us to be self-aware of the things we say and do in our everyday lives so that we can become better than who we were yesterday.

So now that I've gotten through all this psychological talk, I'd like to wrap this up by saying that while I'm perfectly content with my life and where I'm at, I still respect and understand those who have any kind of affiliation with religion. I remember when I used to be in that position where I didn't know how to stand up and live life on my own terms. I remember when I felt helpless, confused and overwhelmed with my emotions. However, I still remain firm in saying that life is and can be whatever you want it to be; I just hope that you won't go in blindly like I once did.

My Thoughts On Consumerism & Minimalism

Maybe it's just me, but sometimes the amount of money we waste in this world really baffles me. Now don't get me wrong here, I myself used to be very unaware and unconscious of my spending/consumption habits, but a lot has changed within me since then. I only treat myself on the rare occasion and I still have enough money in my account. I'm not a student as of right now, so I don't have to worry about any financial debts. I'd also say that I've become more practical and wiser when it comes to buying things I need, versus buying things I want just for the sake of having it.

At this point of my life, I'd say that the topic of saving money and becoming a more conscious consumer is something that I feel very strongly about. I could honestly go on and on about the disadvantages to spending money on things that are either too expensive or just don't add any value to our lives. Guess this makes me a bit of a minimalist in some ways, but I'm perfectly fine with that.

The advantages to living with less are that it takes away a lot of the stress of making little, every day decisions. It can also help you to focus better on more important decisions you need to make. One thing I've noticed is that while I do still struggle with being indecisive sometimes, what I do to help reduce the stress that comes with it is by taking in deep breaths and just disconnecting myself from any noisy distractions. I've noticed that for me personally, the more time I spend in the quiet, the less likely I am to get distracted (I have a mild case of ADD for those of you who don't know). Technology and social media is honestly such an eyesore sometimes, so when you spend less time on that, you're able to connect more with the people around you. This is something that I try to practice fairly regularly.

So even though I do consider myself a minimalist in a lot of ways, I have to give credit to two people on YouTube who have helped me to get started on this journey of sorts. This first person is brand new to my subscription list; Anthony Ongaro from the YT channel Break the Twitch [channel link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyicqwQM9aIZ9mAw5xP4Q2g/about]. 
The second person is someone I've followed for a couple years now (I think)- Brittany from the channel VasseurBeauty [channel link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVKFs0cesQUEGtn8gQmhbHw]. Both of these people have the best advice/starter tips for anyone who is interested in minimalism.