I've been talking a lot lately about the dating scene to friends. Now days, I'm one of the only people in my friend group who is single, and I often hear people express their absolute horror at the idea of being single again in the age of dating apps. I can't really take offense to this attitude—My dating experience now days feels a whole world apart from when I was a young, optimistic 21-year-old.
Dating when I was 21 was easy. I was still in college and there is almost no easier time in your life to meet people than in college. I met my boyfriend at the time by making eye contact with him in the Subway line at the student union. It was literally that easy to meet new, exciting people.
Read MoreI could feel it starting to sneak up on me. Just a heaviness that seemed to be stalking my every move, hiding behind corners whenever I turned around to see who's there. Then it pounced. What started as a relaxing Friday of cooking turned into a night of drowning my anxiety and a sudden wave of sadness in chocolate ice cream and Meg Ryan movies from the 90s.
Sometimes it's easy to identify why you're feeling sad, be it a bad week, a breakup, or the death of a loved one. Sadness, for me, usually comes in two forms: an overwhelming sharp pain in my gut accompanied by a stream of tears on my pillow, or a dull feeling inside without an identifiable cause.
Read MoreWhen it comes to career stuff, I've been pretty lucky... you know, minus the fact that I graduated college and entered the job market during a major financial crisis (considered one of the worst times in US history to be a college-educated adult looking for your "big break" of an entry level job). It also didn't help that I was a newspaper major looking to break into an industry that was in a period of constant flux and uncertainty (or even dying—depending on who you asked.)
Read MoreI'd say I've spent way more of my adult life (than I would like to admit) looking at a situation I'm in and saying, "gurlllll, you need to get your shit together." So eventually, I decided to do something about it. Steps I've taken to work towards a better future an suppress that voice inside me that says, I don't know what I'm doing.
Read MoreI'm a pretty motivated runner and have been for the entirety of my adult life. Over the years, when discussing my love of running with friends who aren't as enamored with it, I'll often hear the statement: "I wish I was as motivated as you with running." While I know they mean well with this statement, in my head I'm thinking: "No, no you don't." Not because I don't think running is a good thing to enjoy, (it can be a great way to stay healthy and manage stress, and I think running is just overall fantastic) but because the drive that keeps me so motivated is often coming from that same voice that tries to tell me I need to run up and down the office stairs every day.
Read MoreThey say the first step to managing an addiction is admitting you have a problem: "Hi! I'm Gretchen, and I'm addicted to Instagram... and Tumblr... and Pinterest..." But now that Im aware that "I have a problem," what do I do about it? Why are apps so addicting and how do I manage my time on my phone when I use it as a business tool?
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