When I was working in the crystal store, I would always offer black tourmaline. It’s an unassuming stone — black and chunky, glimmering only in the best positions. Without the hype of its benefits, I would be surprised if a single stone would ever be sold. But its benefits were second to none, and thus it became a must-have product.

It’s like a mirror, I’d say to curious crowds, holding handfuls of stones dug from the earth. It will show you everything you’re hiding from yourself.

I’ve always owned a few, but I’ve rarely put the crystals to work —…

Sometimes all it takes is an off-hand comment from someone to make your entire day.

“You look like John Wick today. The jacket, the walk. A female John Wick.”

Let’s put that in one of my top ten compliments received. I’ll credit a good deal of it to the blazer of the day — black, mild shoulder pads, and surprisingly sexy looking for a blazer (the $20 discount price tag increases sexiness' tenfold) — but to be honest, that day I was just feeling good. Confident. It was a Monday, I’d had a killer weekend in the mountains, I was…

7:26 am: Shaken awake by my own innate fear of accidently sleeping through my first Saturday shift at the job I’ve held for five months. My first Saturday shift in over a year.

Weekends have been a blissfully unaware time since being laid off in March from my primarily weekend -heavy university job; my free-floating jobless spring; my “I only work weekdays” summer job where I stood my ground against working the prime biking summer days; and the first five months of my current employment where issues relating to staffing levels and global pandemics prevented our doors from being open…

One of the best gifts I’ve received was a birthday present from the Boyfriend in 2020; a pair of sturdy (and expensive) mountain biking shoes. They didn’t come wrapped — in fact, I picked them myself, a week after my birthday. There was no surprise, no big reveal, but they were perfect. Exactly what I wanted.

Gift-giving is a goddamn sport. For some (ie, the strange few who have it as a love language, aka, the Leslie Knopes of the world) it comes as easy as breathing. For others, it’s a struggle of birthdays and Christmases spent in a desperate…

Anyone with internet access and a passion for the wild west of self-improvement will have heard of Wim Hof.

The Dutch extreme athlete became a household name due to his ability to withstand freezing temperature and his numerous Guinness World Records, such as prolonged full-body contact with ice (almost two hours). He’s used his extensive training in extreme weather to control his breathing, heart rate, and blood circulation to withstand immensely cold temperatures. He believes that this is something everyone can learn.

In late January I fell down Wim Hof rabbit hole. His techniques are perfected; complemented by world-renowned scientists…

My boyfriend is an Aquarius. I’m a Scorpio. Astrologists of the world are rolling over in their graves, or slow-motion dropping their coffees in shock: according to most, these two signs are unlikely to have a long term relationship.

Air vs water, rational vs emotional, the list goes on. Despite our differences and lack of astrological blessing, we’ve been together for over five years.

Compatibility isn’t everything.

Compatibility at first sight is bullshit, frankly. Compatibility means that you work well with someone. That you enjoy each other’s company, have similar views, and are agreeable. But it’s not love.

It is…

Ah, the morning routine.

Every entrepreneur with a DSLR has filmed one, every high school girl has pretended to be making one while getting ready; the internet is crammed with early risers and bulletproof coffee drinkers, all convinced that their up-at-five-coffee-meditation-workout combination is not only unique to them but a total gamechanger.

Let’s be honest: getting up at 5 am is not what’s going to ensure you have a productive day. For some, yes. But the vast majority can’t say that following the early morning routine of a successful person is what made them successful. Or that it helped them…

With the general population being in agreement about the grease-fire that was 2020, the expectations for 2021 are higher than ever. Despite very little change in the past month aside from a much-needed shift in the American government and the date, there is the idea that this year can be better.

Most people spent the majority of 2020 in a state of confusion and restlessness; hiding from a global disease within their homes, dealing with a host of issues ranging from systemically horrendous racism to political coups. …