Laugh Everyday

Today I’m going to talk about something that I think is crucial to keeping me sane during these crazy times. I try to laugh every single day. With all of the current events happening right now I think we could all use a good laugh. Hahahaha. Laughter is the best medicine.

No seriously though, I need to laugh every single day or I will literally go insane and get really depressed. It’s a heartbreaking and stressful time right now, I feel for everyone. It is not a great time right now. It’s pretty crap. I just hope everyone is ok.

So how to I get myself to laugh every day? Well I have a few things I do:

1) I find funny memes / meme videos and post them on my stories almost every day. It reminds me to not take life so seriously and giggle every time I look or watch the meme

2) I watch stand up comedy, live comedy sketches, comedy shows or funny movies. I like a pretty wide range of comedy, however some of my favourites are Tim and Eric, The Eric Andre Show, Trailer Park Boys, South Park, etc, Yes I do like the crude, bizarre and random humour! I also love The Simpsons, Seinfeld, Mel Brooks movies, The Office, Peep Show, The IT Crowd, anything with Jim Carrey, Mike Myers, John C. Reilly in it to name a few, etc, etc. 

3) I hangout or talk with my friends, all my friends have good sense of humour, they make me laugh. 

What I’m saying here sounds so well “duhhhhh???! Of course you should do that to get out of a doom and gloom state of mind and negativity, just watch some comedy or hangout or talk with funny people .” Ya it does sound simple but it works! I’m making it a routine every day. 

This helps me stay sane and happy during these tough and sad times.  Maybe it will help you? 

Thanks for listening. As always be yourself, lots of love and stay weird my dudes……………….

Bye for now  XO

Why Social Media Kills Me

I’ve wanted to write about this for a while now. This rant is completely based on my experience with social media so please don’t interpret this as an attack to anyone who uses social media.

Why does social media kill me but I’m still a part of it? Well the main reason I’m involved with social media platforms is because I’m a musician and nowadays you HAVE to have an internet presence. If you are not actively using social media you cannot be known to the world and are not taken seriously in your art. Yes, I know some artists who refuse to have social media accounts but realistically you need it if you want to get any gigs, promote your music and put yourself out there in the world. The music industry has changed a lot and the internet is an essential tool to promote your art.

The web is saturated with millions of musicians which makes it a very exciting time but also a frustrating time. Anyone is able to create music, post it on the web and promote it. It’s pretty awesome that you don’t need thousands and thousands of dollars to record and promote your music but it does make it very difficult for people to hear your music in the massive ocean of musicians on the web.

How do I feel when I scroll on my social media platforms? Well firstly I get completely overwhelmed and sucked into spending a lot of time just trying to keep up with what people are posting, doing, etc. It’s too much information and it makes me anxious. I am definitely a person that has a hard time responding to things quickly as it stresses me out. I try to limit my time on my social media accounts. 

People wear masks as they only want to show what they want the public to see. I’m 100% guilty for doing this!!  No one, I mean NO ONE has a perfect and happy life all the time like they post on their profiles. We want to look like we are successful and awesome at every moment in our lives. Why does this bring me down? Well because it’s like a slap in the face that constantly says: “Why isn’t your life perfect? Why isn’t your body perfect? Why aren’t you pretty enough? Why aren’t you travelling the world and seeing amazing places? Why don’t you have your dream job? Why don’t you have a lot of money? It’s the constant pressure that says “you are not good enough!” People only want to share the positive things in their life - I get it. Who wants to hear about negative things that are happening? I do feel like that the spectrum has gone all the way to one side saying that we need to be perceived that our life is amazing all the time. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely see people also post negative, unhappy experiences or subject matter, however it’s definitely not that common. There is the constant expectation that we put on ourselves that we need to be loved, beautiful, successful and famous or else our life is a piece of shit! Not true at all, it’s all bullshit.

You are probably asking why don’t I just get rid of all my accounts? Well like I said before I can’t as a musician as I need a social media presence or I might as well just perform to the birds outside as my audience. I’m going to try to be as genuine and real in my posts from now on because I’m not perfect, no one is!

If you think I’m full of shit that’s totally fine, I won’t be offended. If you feel any kind of anxiety, depression or pressure to be perfect on social media please share! We are all in this mess together so I’m trying to stay positive. 

I’m trying my best to stay real, stay weird and be myself.
Peace out and lots of love.

OXO

World Mental Health Day!

World Mental Health Day

First of all, sending bigs hugs to everyone!!
I haven’t posted in a while as I have been working on myself to achieve a happier mind and body.
It’s World Mental Health Day today and I just wanted to share a few things from what I have learnt over the years and most recently about how to continuously improve my mental health.
I am no expert whatsoever in regards to mental health but I can share with you what has helped me achieve a happier mind.
My list that I’m sharing is always evolving from my experiences.

1. Follow your passions
Music is my passion. I always feel the need to keep creating, recording and performing music to feel whole.
Also anything artsy makes me happy - whether it be seeing a live show, drawing, dancing, watching film, etc.

2. Surround yourself with people you love and who make you happy
I really need my space but also need to be surrounded by people whom I love and make me happy. I need a balance between solitude and socializing. I’ve learnt to weed out toxic people in my life, and I’m still working on that to nourish healthy relationships.

3. Exercise
Enough said. Your body just needs it and my mind feels a lot better after exercising!

4. Seeking professional help
This shouldn’t be stigmatized anymore but it still is. We need guidance and help sometimes so don’t feel ashamed to seek help. I know this can be expensive depending where and what treatment you do. For me its worth it as I can’t have a healthy body without a healthy mind.

5. Be content with the NOW and be proud of what you have achieved
I usually really struggle with this one. I am always looking at pursuing future goals and dreams that I set for myself. I feel like I go hardcore on this sometimes that it makes me unhappy when I’m constantly trying to succeed my expectations. It’s hard for me to be satisfied with the now! Sometimes things take time and that’s ok. I just need to chill sometimes, sit back and enjoy the ride.

6. It’s ok to say “NO”
If you aren’t feeling something, don’t do it and just say no! Done.

7. Stop pleasing people
The more I stopped always pleasing others the more I started to please myself to make sure I was ok. People can think what they want to think, you don’t have control over that. The stress of trying to please everyone is not worth it as it’s impossible to please anyone anyways.

8. Putting yourself first isn’t selfish
I love to give and care people but sometimes you just can’t do it constantly. I used to put others first all the time and it started making me unhappy and physically unwell as I was not taking care of myself. It doesn’t mean you are selfish if you need to take care of yourself first.

9. Just don’t give a shit.
Sometimes we have to not really care that much! Life is too short.

6. Follow your heart and your gut.
You know deep down what you feel. If something doesn’t feel right, don’t do it. If something feels right, do it. Be strong and stand your ground. We all have self empowerment, so take control of your life.

I preach these statements but I’m always still working to improve my well-being.
I hope this maybe helps in some way.
Just let it out. Be free. All you need is love.

Lots of love,
Monique XO