Self-care is about doing things to elevate your well-being. It’s important to take care of yourself so that life is easier to tackle. Self-care can be different for everyone, it’s not a one-size-fits all approach. We all have different circumstances and different things we want and need to feel good. There are some core things we can all do, however, that can contribute to self-care.
Physically, we can be more active. It is recommended to get in two and a half hours of physical activity a week. You can get this through running, walking, or sports.
We can also eat better. Eating well lowers your risk of developing diseases and helps you feel better day-to-day. Looking at the Dietary Guidelines for Americans is a good place to start.
Taking care of your physical health can also help your mental health, which is another aspect of self care. You can improve your mental health by making meaningful connections, finding a creative outlet, meditation, prayer, positive affirmations, spending time in nature, and taking time to do things you enjoy.
You can also improve your mental health by reducing factors that exacerbate it such as excessive phone use, drug use, bad eating, or being around people that don’t make you feel good.
Understanding the link between physical and mental health allows us tailor self-care practices that promote a fulfilling life.
My name is Emily. I’m from Omaha, Nebraska. I have never left the United States, but Queen Elizabeth II is my cousin. Well–She is my cousin…24 times removed. However, this also makes me distantly related to most of European royalty and celebrities of European descent. I can bet I am distantly related to many of my classmates if I cared to look back far enough.
EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND – JUNE 28: Queen Elizabeth II attends an Armed Forces Act of Loyalty Parade at the Palace of Holyroodhouse on June 28, 2022 in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Members of the Royal Family are spending a Royal Week in Scotland, carrying out a number of engagements between Monday June 27 and Friday July 01, 2022. (Photo by Jane Barlow – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
How did I come across this information?
My family have always been interested in our geneology, so I decided to do my part in mapping my family tree after I took a DNA test a few years ago. I am extremely privileged, as my ancestors’ records on my English side have been well-preserved, which is not the case for many countries due to war, colonization, and many other factors. Long story short, Queen Elizabeth and I share a 25th Great Grandfather, Reginald Fitzroy, who lived in the 1100s. Thus, we are cousins 24 times removed. Don’t even ask if we’re 2nd cousins or anything, I still have trouble remembering the concept.
What does this mean?
What this means is that, although Queen Elizabeth II lived a drastically different life from anything I will ever encounter, at some point in time we were connected. Our shared ancestor was deemed important because his father was king, who was king because of a system designed by humans. This system was put in place to make sense of the world, some people chose to follow along and others resisted. It just so happens I am descended from those who resisted and fled to the New World, while Elizabeth’s ancestors played into the system due to their advantaged rank and came out successful. Ultimately, the people for whom the system works are the ones who will push for its continuance. We are the victims of the consequences of decisions that were made before our time. As a result, Elizabeth was born into a world of luxury and was forced into the role of queen at 26 due to her uncle’s abdication. As a result, I was born into a lower class family in middle America who was forced into the role of financial supporter for my parents at the age of 16. I have the opportunity to recover from this, but I am starting the race already behind because of my socioeconomic position–And even then, I am still more privileged than others because of my race.
Did you know that, according to a Georgetown University study, “wealth is stronger indicator of success than intelligence.” Now, I know that Queen Elizabeth II was a smart lady, but I know that I am too, and so are billions of other folks across the world. How many people have forfeited their education, simply because it was too expensive? How many people have given up time with family, vacations, and job opportunities purely due to financial cost? The Royal family supported and still supports a system that keeps this class divide alive. It is humans who determine which of us are important, so it is up to us to collectively decide that those in lower socioeconomic classes are just as worthy as the Queen of England, deserving of financial security. How many geniuses has the world missed out on due to them being poor? Class is a social construct; therefore, we have the right to redefine our old work for improved constructs.
Helluva Boss is an adult animated series about a group of imps and a hellhound from Hell who work at a place called I.M.P. (Immediate Murder Professionals), where they get paid by clients to go up to earth and kill those who they blame the most for being the reason they died, or just simply want revenge on them.
Video Game High School (or VGHS for short and most commonly used term), is a live action series about an alternate reality where video games are considered to be the new sports, being even more important than news about the president, and how a young teen gets the golden ticket opportunity to go to VGHS, a school that transforms their students into the pros and go on to make millions.
So, what possibly could these two completely different sounding shows have in common despite having majorly different sounding story plots?
Not only are these comedies, not only are they tv shows (which was already implied, in case you weren’t viewing), but the crucial and most important connection that connects them in a very big way is that they’re both shows that were made exclusively for YouTube, and that ultimately led to their success.
Now, I’m not saying these two shows were like every other YouTube original show out there, because there’s a significant difference in that comparison. The majority of already produced high budget shows that were well funded without worries were made for YouTube as YouTube Red originals on a premium service.
Of course, this was back when streaming services weren’t everywhere just yet, but Helluva Boss and VGHS don’t play like that. They are shows you can watch on YouTube, for free. Video Game High School was created by Freddie Wong from RocketJump, and the first season was only doable because of how Kickstarter was able to fund the first season, even to the point they could hire Zachary Levi for a few episodes.
Vivienne Medrano is an independent animator who created Helluva Boss (a spinoff to another great animated pilot that’s becoming a full series by A24 in 2024 January, Hazbin Hotel), only worked on the pilot with a much smaller team of people, and it took around a few years for that 11 minute video to be produced. It’s only thanks to merchandise and viewership count that they gained enough finances to produce a short first season.
Then again, both VGHS and Helluva Boss initially started out as short seasons, either for runtime or for the quantity of episodes produced.
VGHS needed seventy-five thousand dollars to be produced, but actually over achieved that goal, reaching into the $800,000 mark even. Not only would this guarantee that a second season will and did get produce shortly after the first season, but would also promise that many people would be around to watch and generate views for the show.
And as for Helluva Boss, the viewership count into the first season was insanely high, counting that and sales recorded from the merchandise sold for the show (which is another important element to producing the show), it was revealed that a second season was in development by the time the second episode of the first season premiered.
Not only were people watching the shows, they were loving them too. VGHS was comedic focused prior in the beginning of the first season, and with every passing season, the story did tend to get a bit more story focused with some actual character development and longer episodes produced every season too, and was able to incorporate some good use of drama, because that’s what positive recognition and a dedicated fanbase can get you.
Helluva Boss was comedic focused prior in the beginning of the first season, and with every passing season, the story did tend to get a bit more story focused with some actual character development and longer episodes produced every season too, and was able to incorporate some good use of drama, because that’s what positive recognition and a dedicated fanbase can get you.
Again, their popularity and quality of episodes and story improves with every season, for good reason. Unlike paying for a service every month or year, you have unlimited access to these great shows for free at any time on YouTube. And there are some pretty unique things about the shows too.
The cool thing about VGHS is the realistic visuals. I mean sure, there’s, and I do mean this literally, a little bit of CGI, but everything else that needs an action scene or fast paced movement is all done with actual people filming the scenes.
It’s like the live action portrayal of Sword Art Online, as you’re seeing yourself playing in a video game with your real world graphics there with you as well. The fact that the first season is able to pull this off practically flawlessly with a smaller than usual budget for a show is beyond amazing.
As an adult animated series, Helluva Boss breaks more significant barriers than shows like Big Mouth or Velma or anything on Fox Animation Domination nowadays could ever accomplish. The animation looks ridiculously high quality, like somewhere between professional show quality and just almost reaching towards movie animated quality. The violence and slapstick certainly prove that’s the case.
So, if you’re looking for a show that offers premium looking content and increased quality of storytelling given to people to free as if it was given by a generous Robin Hood, might I suggest not one, but two shows in mind?
Independent projects are usually expected to not draw as much of an audience as opposed to big budget mass produced content. However, these two shows not only show that’s not the case, but independent workers can make massive success in the media, whether for live action or animation.
Studio Ghibli, one of the most famous anime film production studios out there that brought memorable films like Howl’s Moving Castle, My Neighbor Toro, Ponyo, and Oscar winner Spirited Away. Clearly the most memorable part about them is the classic 2D hand drawn animation, as that’s what they are most recognized for. They’ve returned back to 2D animation many years later with the international release of The Boy and The Heron.
X, one of the world’s largest digital sites to gather news and information from. People are also able to share their pictures, videos, and thoughts and comments on many topics going on without too much restriction, whether it’s revolving around politics, entertainment, or general common topics in life.
So, what do these two completely at first glance unrelated things have in common besides just being so large?
That’s not their names. At least, not originally, and people got quite furious with those decisions.
Rebranding something always has lots of opinions from all sides, but these two seemingly unrelated things made the internet get so hateful with many justifiable reasons as to why they were mad at these changes. Time to go look over how a title change could cause such a massive impact on a movie and social media site.
The Boy and the Heron was originally called “How Do You Live?”, as it’s a title that suggests mystery in a coming of age tale that sparks bright and philosophical ideas for our young protagonist in a strange world, while also maturing as a human. However, that didn’t come to be, because the studio decided not to promote the movie whatsoever besides just a single image of the poster for Japan’s release, meaning there wasn’t any reliable feedback on whether that was a good title for the film. So, with international releasing, the film was ultimately retitled for a very controversial reason: This isn’t an adaptation of the book this is based off of.
It has slim to zero connections to How Do You Live?
It seemed like people were lied to as the 1937 novel that this film was “based” off on was given a 2021 release in English dialogue, which people assumed that meant it was to promote the story and get people excited to see all that was in the book be animated. None of that happens.
The studio didn’t oppose the title change and they still had the book get an English translated release for likely supposed promotion, but ultimately, they changed the story and title and therefore, many fans of the book and studio were left disappointed, either because they felt like the title doesn’t offer wise creative intelligence or because they felt like they were lied to.
Now, to explain how a title change could upset many Twitter users so much that they probably could give the new owner double middle fingered “X” memes is actually quite simple and interesting to explain.
Twitter was bought out by Elon Musk, who became in control of the digital space and decided rebranding was in order. It’s well known amongst most people that Elon Musk has an obsession with the letter “X”, as he puts it in everything, for space or his children, he likes to name lots of things with that very letter. Twitter was it’s own thing with tweets and had its own identity. Is society suppose to be calling their thoughts and videos “xeets” now? For a man who’s one of the richest billionaires in the world, he sure didn’t take the time to think of how that logic adds up.
The lines appears to be a bit thinner, but it’s so identical that one has to wonder how Elon was able to legally get away with that at all.
Lastly, a very important reason as to why this upset people is because the “X” is stated to be digital. Why’s that bad? Think of the Twitter design. It was a bird that carried messages from across the world to other people and for multiple people to see at once. X doesn’t have a proper mascot or icon, and also in this case, it means to be digitally exclusive and be powered by technology. That kind of technology involves being powered by artificial intelligence. If this year has proven anything, it’s that people don’t want AI to handle the media, of any kind whatsoever.
Now, after you’ve absorbed all that important information, you do know understand how X and The Boy and The Heron are connected now and why title changes in rebranding media-based property is a bad thing. Whether you were a longtime fan of a studio or longtime user of an app, it ultimately doesn’t matter in the end. If the act of rebranding isn’t met with ideal logic or causes confusing logic, then there isn’t a point in giving new title changes to your media-based property.
Rebranding things people know commonly as can result in people losing faith in a studio or app and ultimately leave to move on to other things. That’s why when things are made of any media-based property whatsoever, make sure it’s the best version that can be preserved and improved on as its own Identity.
Otherwise, you might as well hire the people who thought that “Max” was a better title name change than just “HBO Max” for a merger between Warner Bros. and Discovery. Or better yet, hire the marketing team who are in charge of the upcoming Agatha Harkness television show. I’m sure that will turn out fine and in no way question the intelligence or confidence of the people who are charge of the branding.
People always say to give blood, but what does that mean? Why should you do it? Who am I helping if I am planning to give blood? What are the different types of donations you can make while giving blood? How long is this process going to take? What happens to my donation after you are done? When my boss asked me to donate blood for a blood drive, these questions rushed through my head.
Giving blood is simple. You are just getting your blood taken out of you, and then it goes to another person who needs it. They do this by testing the iron level in your blood, and then when you have an iron level between 12.5 and 20.0, you are eligible to donate as long as you are within the weight requirement of 125 lbs. Then someone takes you back, and they try and find your vein. In my experience, my vein was very hard to find, but after two people, they found it. After this, they then prick your vein and start the process.
As the process continues, they take viles of your blood so that they know your blood is healthy to use. They send these vials to a lab to test for different levels and diseases in your blood. You are then instructed to squeeze this plastic pipe to ensure your blood flows well. Being very hydrated helps a lot because your blood flows faster. I pumped 500 milliliters in 6.5 minutes when I made my first donation. If you are not hydrated, this can take up to 10 minutes, depending on your body.
After you are done giving blood, your blood gets sent out to the lab, and you can expect a call with your results in about a week. This is done after every donation. When you start donating, they email and call you a lot; from what I have heard, this continues for a while. By donating blood and giving other donations, you are a hero. You save lives because your donations are there when needed.
You can give four different donations, including double red blood cells, whole blood, plasma, and palates. All of these donations can do different things.
For example, a double red blood cell donation will be given to someone with a blood disease, babies who are born early and do not have enough red blood cells, and people who have experienced trauma and have lost a lot of blood. When you give whole blood, this is mostly used in surgeries or for people with life-threatening injuries. When plasma is given in a transfusion, it is likely to help liver failure, infections, or burn patients. A palate donation helps cancer patients and aids in heart surgery and organ transplants.
Blood donations have just become more accessible as well. On September 25th, the FDA established a new donor screening process that does not get affected by your sexual or gender identity. This new process has changed the way people answer questions about sexual partners. This change allowed new questions to be asked. This question was if you have had any new or multiple sexual partners in the past three months. If this question is answered yes, you will be asked if this was anal sex.
The issue about anal sex and blood donation is that this is the easiest way to transfer HIV/AIDS. Even though your blood is screened, there are still errors in testing, and you could also be in the widow period where your HIV/AIDS virus is not detectable in a lab test. Blood centers like to keep their blood supply healthy. The change to the donor history allows more people to donate. This is a great thing!
Giving blood and plasma takes about an hour. At the same time, giving palates takes about two and a half hours. It has been reported that giving palates feels much better on your body because you are still receiving your red blood cells back. With giving blood, you can feel fatigued and worn out after donating. With plasma donation, you can donate every 28 days. Platelet donation can be done every week. Double red blood cells can be donated every 112 days, and Whole blood can be donated every 56 days. I am blood type A+ what about you?
Cultural communication is very important. You can find more information from this link, “Cross-Cultural Communication and Cultural Understand.” The ability to communicate with cultural boundaries leads to stronger relationships among diverse people with diverse backgrounds. “Different cultures live and work together closely. When you adapt to various cultural norms, you put the other person at ease, better facilitate open conversation, become more productive as a team, and communicate more effectively overall.” Cultural communications give people the opportunity to understand language barriers, multicultural nonverbal cues, and work together to understand ideas. This also allows people to avoid miscommunications as this is usually the major issue with diversity. As this country becomes more and more diverse, it is important to be able to converse in cultural communication whether it’s your personal life or professional life. Some main cultural communications you can try to understand is the language, nonverbal communications and social norms. Lets give Minnesota for example.
From “How to talk Minnesota” by TpT we learn Minnesota culture and the Minnesota way. Here are a few Minnesota culture you can learn next time you visit Minnesota. There are three work forces, “You bet, That’s different, and Whatever.” You can memorize and try to speak Minnesotan just by using these three work forces. Besides talking, body language is also important to learn. Learning non-verbal-communication the Minnesotan way will also be helpful. Here are some non-verbal Minnesotan way, “Keep your distance, avoid touching people, shake hands quickly, and keep arms at sides or folded.” Minnesotans when having conversations make very little eye contact and barely face each other. One last Minnesota way I like to share that you can use. Did you know that abruptly accepting offers right away when being offered anything is not the Minnesotan way. Minnesotan never accept food or any offer until asked the third time. Yes, this is true. I hope these tips are useful for you when you visit Minnesota.
For nearly the last twenty years, social media has helped reinvent the way we as a society communicate in our daily lives. By creating accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (now known as X), the American public actively utilizes the medium as a means to create a dialogue, share ideas and buy and sell goods and services online in a fascinating and new way. According to the Pew Research Center, almost seven out of ten Americans now use social media.
When I joined Facebook way back in 2008, the social media network itself was still very much in its early stages of development, offering a state of the art yet simple means of keeping in contact with both friends and family. Having discovered the platform through a friend, I couldn’t help but feel an immense sense of camaraderie and excitement when she assisted me in the creation and publication of my very first post.
Though I was a little nervous using the service at first, it wouldn’t take long for Facebook to become a fun and exciting new outlet for me to not only share the joys and mundanities of my daily life with others, it also became a useful device in helping me keep track of the rapidly changing events in the lives of those in my personal circle.
Fast forward to 2016. It was during this now unforgettable year that the very contentious and at times controversial presidential race between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton commenced.
Though I had begun to experience some ups and downs with Facebook up to this point before, it was due to the perpetual infighting and at times venomous and exhausting comments that I read from supporters of both candidates that finally influenced me to break up with the social media platform.
For me, deciding to leave Facebook was a personal choice I made in an effort to look out for my own mental health and save myself from social media burnout when I felt I needed to do so the most. However, though social media may at times grate on our state of mind, for many in the public it is an integral aspect of life and choosing to abandon it all together may not be a very viable option.
So how do we go about finding a balance in our online lives in order to manage a positive state of mental health while continuing to utilize and reap the benefits that social media has to offer?
Perhaps taking the initiative to do a little self-exploration is the first step in finding ways to balance one’s online mental health. Ask yourself questions such as what role does social media play in my life? And how important is it for me to manage my screen time and intake of the medium whenever I am online?
Let’s be honest, social media isn’t going anywhere. In many ways, it has become too important of a relationship for us to simply just walk away from. And like any relationship we choose to maintain, it takes some effort to make sure it stays well-balanced and healthy.
One of the first things you learn in the military academy is that war is expensive. You would think that the average soldier would be content fighting for their empire out of a sense of duty, but no! The average soldier also requires the incentive of coin, as well as the gunsmiths, artisans, stablemasters.. you get the point.
You know who does have coin that we could use for war? The Prussians, British, and the greedy Duke of Wellington. They have much that we do not, and soon we shall spread revolution in their borders. So how can the empire obtain the funds in order to reform society? By offloading our costly new world colony to the Americans, we are able to both put down rebellions going on elsewhere, and spread some revolution to our neighbors.
Why stop at home? Surely we are the best equipped to lead the masses, given the size of our empire, and how are we are descendants of those who fell Rome. Our Gallic ancestry is rich in wisdom, coming from those who destroyed the greatest tyranny in our continents history, and why should we let slip the chance to instead unite everyone under our banner?
To my fellow countryman, we have secured our debts so that we may continue forth our campaign of revolution. Let it be known that all monarchies shall crumble before our might, and that only those under our banner may be enlightened. We make haste now against the new British coalition. Truly,
While it is well known that reading is an important skill to have and develop when you are gaining knowledge, it is also true that high school students in the US do not have the best records on having lifelong reading practices. According to Wexler (2020), a journalist from The Atlantic, American students have not improved their reading skills in 20 years. She states in her article that students struggle to develop actual independent reading skills, and that the way schools teach reading negatively affects students’ reading ability. School districts have tried to implement many resources to teach students how to read, and how to develop reading comprehension skills that allow them to be successful in school and after graduation. However, with the high increase of new communications and social media, it seems harder to enhances such practices in young adults. This blog post focuses on trying to connect the dots on the question of how is technology impacting young adults in developing positive reading habits in high school and after graduation?
The previous link article highlights the struggle that many young adults face when it comes to reading and critical thinking. Furthermore, it sheds light on the importance of literacy and its impact on individuals and society, as well as the vital role that literacy and critical thinking play in navigating the modern world. That is why we have to talk about the significant impact that social media has on society and youth. In an article from The Guardian written by Erum Salam (2023), it can be analyzed the potential negative effects of social media on the mental health of young adults, and its connection of literacy and critical thinking skills. As developing positive reading habits and embracing knowledge, it is crucial not only for academic success, but also for the well-being and mental health of individuals in today’s digital age.
In conclusion, the broader link between social media and reading habits in youth serve as a starting point to talk about the larger significance of literacy, critical thinking, and their impact on individuals and society.
Americans are no strangers to the plight of obesity, and the role it plays in our steadily declining health as a nation. After all, it is now known that excessive consumption of sugary beverages (namely soda) is directly attributed to the increase in obesity rates (https://www.who.int/health-topics/obesity/#tab=tab_3). So what should the response from us be? How should we try to combat this campaign against our very well-being? For starters, why not switch the soda out for sparkling water? I know this may seem unappealing to some, but the benefits of quitting soda are plentiful. Almost no sparkling water has any sugar or sodium in their products, if they have any at all. That is just ONE of the benefits to switching to water, even if flat water is a bit boring at first I can attest the water will taste better over time as an individual realizes the sugary taste of soda is not thirst quenching but thirst inducing…
It should come as no surprise that the major players in the soda game are none other than Coke as well as Pepsi. These giants of the ‘soft drink industry’ are massive influences on many businesses due to their deep financial reserves, yet as long as the public is informed about this particular issue of obesity in relation to soft drinks they may have a chance at avoiding the consequences. The harsh reality is that, “Findings from large cross-sectional studies along with cohort studies have shown a positive association between increased intake of sugar-sweetened beverages and weight gain as well as obesity in both children and adults.” (Faruque et al., 2019). Essentially the problem with our general health is the over consumption of sugar-laden foods, but the real issue is our society’s predilection to constantly crave Coke and/or Pepsi products, in whatever form they take.
Faruque, S., Tong, J., Lacmanovic, V., Agbonghae, C., Minaya, D. M., & Czaja, K. (2019). The Dose Makes the Poison: Sugar and Obesity in the United States – a Review. Polish Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences, 69(3), 219–233. https://doi.org/10.31883/pjfns/110735
MDST 485 Class Blog 