I Feel Like I'm On A Spiral That's Only Going Downwards. Many People Feel This Way, And I'm Not Exempt

Just heard somebody say that comparison is the theif of joy and I just snapped back to my senses.

— Trista Mateer ,“I Still Forget We’re Not Even Friends”

positive habit ideas

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ wake up earlier

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ exercise regularly

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ drink more water

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ follow a budget

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ read at least 10 pages per day

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ plan your week every sunday

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ listen to something positive in the morning

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ journal

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ minimise digital clutter

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ get adequate sleep

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ build financial security (emergency fund)

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ take evening walks

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ practice a new skill

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ avoid multitasking

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ check in with your personal goals once a week

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ put your phone away during conversations

What I yearn for

I want to k n o w. I want to understand literature references, I want to lay on grass in the summer and recognize constellations, I want to read books from all around the world, I want to know how history affects our everyday life, I want to learn how to play the piano, I wanto to learn diffrent poems written by diffrent authors and be able to recite them by heart, I want to learn diffrent languages. I want education to be accessible. I want to fall in love with every single day.

I finished reading the stranger the other day, and I could not articulate how the book made me feel. I talked about the book to two different teachers and have lacked an answer to the question, "What did you think about it?" both times. I understood and empathized to a degree on what Mersault was going through and his overall viewpoint. Not in whole, but enough I feel. It's a strange feeling. Funny enough, I feel absurd when trying to explain it.

As a saxaphone player, I understand this deeply

bari saxthur got lucky in that kayne didn’t write him a part in The Wager so he didn’t have to go to the world’s longest and ugliest rehearsals

Emphasis on cannibalism

Maybe I should have tried screaming instead...

Sometimes, I wonder if anyone will hear the words I speak towards the wall. Then again, can I really expect anyone to when I know no one will answer? Maybe I'm hoping for a spontaneous thought, an unexpected action that will lead me to a different room that's not filled with silence.

Repost so I can find later

Duolingo Sucks, Now What?: A Guide

Now that the quality of Duolingo has fallen (even more) due to AI and people are more willing to make the jump here are just some alternative apps and what languages they have:

"I just want an identical experience to DL"

Busuu (Languages: Spanish, Japanese, French, English, German, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Polish, Turkish, Russian, Arabic, Korean)

"I want a good audio-based app"

Language Transfer (Languages: French, Swahili, Italian, Greek, German, Turkish, Arabic, Spanish, English for Spanish Speakers)

"I want a good audio-based app and money's no object"

Pimsleur (Literally so many languages)

Glossika (Also a lot of languages, but minority languages are free)

*anecdote: I borrowed my brother's Japanese Pimsleur CD as a kid and I still remember how to say the weather is nice over a decade later. You can find the CDs at libraries and "other" places I'm sure.

"I have a pretty neat library card"

Mango (Languages: So many and the endangered/Indigenous courses are free even if you don't have a library that has a partnership with Mango)

Transparent Language: (Languages: THE MOST! Also the one that has the widest variety of African languages! Perhaps the most diverse in ESL and learning a foreign language not in English)

"I want SRS flashcards and have an android"

AnkiDroid: (Theoretically all languages, pre-made decks can be found easily)

"I want SRS flashcards and I have an iphone"

AnkiApp: It's almost as good as AnkiDroid and free compared to the official Anki app for iphone

"I don't mind ads and just want to learn Korean"

lingory

"I want an app made for Mandarin that's BETTER than DL and has multiple languages to learn Mandarin in"

ChineseSkill (You can use their older version of the course for free)

"I don't like any of these apps you mentioned already, give me one more"

Bunpo: (Languages: Japanese, Spanish, French, German, Korean, and Mandarin)

I hate being an academic procrastinator because I love being able to dive deep and spend hours on a project, or give my undividing attention to material and finish it to the best of my abilities.

But.

It just takes so long. The point of deep work is that it takes up time.

And from a standpoint, it's so easy to step back and say, I'm putting off that 4 hour session for later. But I'm not. Not until it's too late, that is. I like to believe that I'm getting better at it. But at this rate, im not too sure...