keeping our estrogen in check.

being a twenty something year old female in this world, being amongst my same sex peers, i am noticing a conversation trend that i have to say irks me quite a bit. we women can not stop berating ourselves! every thread of communication between us is lined with this theme of self-deprecation. it's got to stop!

i'm not going to lie, i am somewhat guilty of this as well. if asked, i'm sure i could write a long list of physical traits i would love to improve. everyone has improvements to make and the day we choose to finally follow through and make those improvements for OURSELVES and no one else, is a day we should be proud of. i have always preached constant self evaluation and perpetual work to be the best version of yourself you can be. what we ladies have to realize, however, is that in our twenties, this is as good as it will get!

don't let that discourage you. as previously stated, you CAN improve. it may be a challenge to lose that extra tummy fat or tone up that hiney, but you CAN do it! the point i make is, this is your prime! you will one day look back at what you look like today and think "damn. i really wasn't that bad." you will ignore the tummy and the hiney and whatever else you nit pick about now, and realize that you were in fact a beautiful girl. it's time you own that.

there's a saying.."youth is wasted on the young" and it's true. there's another, "hindsight is twenty twenty" ...i think you get what i mean. if you're truly going to buckle down and work out all of those little problem areas you magnify now, by all means, do it. but let's not sit around complaining about it anymore, okay girls? let's embrace our youth and enjoy it while have it. let it not be wasted on us, "the young".

love,

madeline.

the emperor's new groove.

good news! i have recently embarked on a quest to find, and have subsequently ascertained my own GROOVE.

by “groove”, i don’t just mean a person’s quintessential dance move, a la mj and his moonwalk. (though if you could develop something of that caliber, by all means…) this groove refers to the way in which you are meant to live your life; the organization of your true potential. it is learning to master going with the flow and beat of your own heart and sometimes against the grain of your lazy pants instincts to find a good regimen that can keep you happy, healthy, and satisfied.

i have always had a few hobbies. haphazardly practiced and most certainly sporadic hobbies; the fruits of which were usually no more than half finished projects. and it is easy to be lazy. it is easy to put off today what can be done tomorrow and when tomorrow comes, wait yet another day to get “it” done. things of lesser value to you, things that could never express who you truly are (i.e. “the john and kate plus 8″ marathon on tlc, which after 5 or 6 episodes, you can sleuth out who was truly to blame for their divorce and develop the appropriate bitter feelings towards whomever you deem home wrecker) seem to mysteriously rise to the top of your to do list and before you know it, all of your half hobbies become lost and a strong sense of who you are goes with it.

why is it so easy to shirk that which we claim to love and replace it with meaningless activities? it is my belief that sometimes the obligatory nature of life’s responsibilities (work, eat, sleep, socialize to the extent that you choose) can swallow a person whole. we become “the vessel.” go through the motions to have a 20 something year old, semi-lucrative, socially fulfilling lifestyle with no real self reward. enter… THE GROOVE.

the groove will help you get back in touch with all of those things you viscerally enjoy. those things that when executed properly, make you happier than all else. your passions. your loves. your “i used to be really good at…” talents. get them back, make time for them. this is the tasty part of the food for your soul. next, is nourishment.

incorporating the nourishment into my own groove seemed wildly daunting at first, as well it should. you know what you’d like to slowly work into your daily regimen to improve that which you are, but when staring wide eyed at a long list of self improvements one can think “how am i ever going to do all of this.” my solution? break it down. truly settling into your groove should be a somewhat long process, and if you’re doing it all in one day you’re not doing it correctly. slowly integrate that which you’d like to change on a basis of time that does not intimidate you. do not give yourself limits. become the best version of yourself and do it at the rate to ensure it sticks.

just groove. you’ll be glad you did.

love, madeline

ain't no sunshine when she's gone.

i have been known to forgo what others see as the inevitable awkward when first making introductions. and i see this virtual blog as no different from true tangible situations. life is short and most need to learn how to trim out the fluff. fluff being “i am madeline gilbert” [mad-eh-lin gill-bear] and “thank you for visiting my blog” ..which perhaps i have just said so you’ve got me there, but nevertheless, my introduction is complete.

let’s learn something from bill withers. let’s cut out the fluff and more importantly the animosity from this extremely fly by existence we are all given, and bask in the sunshine while this nameless “she” is still around, shall we?

because whomever your “she” is, whether it is indeed a female you are treasuring, a good meal, a career, or a sacred song serendipitously playing from your car speakers while you are sitting alone in traffic, these sunshine moments are fleeting and they are perhaps the one thing we should compile/reflect upon at the end of our days.

i am saying nothing you have never heard before. my thoughts are completely unoriginal, and this message has been delivered ad nauseam through the years. your grandparents have said it, your parents, your spiritual leaders, and even ferris bueller.* and yet, sadly, no one’s warnings are heeded, and in this over communicative world, people seem to only share the bad. my facebook homepage sea of statuses has slowly turned to a platform for complaints, which pile up more quickly than my junk mail. literally millions of people at a time are logging in to update the world on how much more unfortunate their circumstances have become since the last unfortunate circumstance they have shared.

it is time to see the sunshine while “she” is there, cling to it with everything you have, and spread it like wild fire.

love,

madeline.

*”life moves pretty fast. if you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

about the blogger

miss alicia somma is : a theorist, a thespian, and sometimes a pedestrian.. but never an equestrian. she is almost vegetarian, but technically a pescatarian.