Mental Health

Bookish, Blog & More // 2022 Goals

- Bunny 3 Comments

Hi Friends,
In this post, I am going to be sharing my bookish, blog and personal resolutions. I love the start of a New Year because it means new beginnings and adventures. I always like to make resolutions even if I sometimes don’t stick to them.

Blog Goals
– Be More Flexible: I don’t want to be so hard on myself when it comes to a posting schedule. I try to post three times a week, but I don’t want to stress out if that isn’t always possible.
– Branch Out: This is a book blog, and books will forever be the main focus. However, I want to post some lifestyle content every once in a while. I would like to share my other interests outside of books.
– Engage More: I want to read more blogs and engage with other bloggers. I don’t ever seem to make time to read blogs, which is something I hope to change.

Bookish Goals
– GoodReads Goal: As per-usual I would like to achieve my GoodReads goal. I have set it at 50 books, and I think it is doable.
– Read My Shelf: I own a lot of unread books, and that stresses me out. I want to make reading my own books a priority this year.
– Backlist Books: I tend to pick up new releases or hyped books. This year, I want to make an effort of reading older titles that I never got around too.

Personal Goals
– Mental Health: My mental health is very important to me. I want to remember to stay on top of my mental health, and take care of myself.
– Routine: I would like to have more of a set morning and night routine. Something that will put me in a good mood, and help start the day off right. As for night, I want to have a routine that I can look forward to at the end of the day.
– Stay Active: I wouldn’t say that I am not an active person, but I do go weeks without doing any kind of fitness. I would like to consistently be active and healthy.

Those are some of my goals for the year. I have other goals, and one major personal goal. But I thought I would just share a few with you all. Do you make New Year’s resolutions? What are some of yours? Don’t forget to start off the year right by following my blog!

Until The Next Chapter,
Bunny

One Way Or Another // Book Review

- Bunny 1 Comment

Author: Kara McDowell
Published: 2020
Genre: YA/Contemporary/Holiday
Rating:Full, star, bookmark, favorite, favourite, like, rating icon - Download on IconfinderFull, star, bookmark, favorite, favourite, like, rating icon - Download on IconfinderFull, star, bookmark, favorite, favourite, like, rating icon - Download on Iconfinder

Synopsis
Sliding Doors meets To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before in a sweet, smart holiday romance about a girl who decides to stop letting her anxiety stand in the way of true love.

I saw this book in stores last holiday season, and the cover intrigued me. I went into the book completely blind, since all I knew was that it is a YA contemporary that’s set at Christmas time. But, this book threw me for a loop. We jump straight into the plot from the get go, and learn all about the main character, Paige. She is an extreme worrier, who is paranoid to make a decision. She overthinks every choice, and gets anxiety when thinking about the effects her choices can have on her life.

In the book, we follow Paige as she spend Christmas with her best friend, and long time crush, Fitz. However, we also follow her to New York where she spends the holiday with her mom. The book showcases alternating time lines where the reader gets to see the outcome of both choices. At first, I was completely confused, because she was on a plane to New York. Then suddenly, Fitz was picking her up so she could spend Christmas at his family cabin.

As the book went on, I got use to the dual storylines. It was a cool concept, and with such an indecisive main character, I understood why the author chose to go this route. Still, I didn’t feel like the whole dual timeline works in a book. I have seen movies with this type of plot, and prefer it in films and shows rather than books. Yet, even in live-action, the lines between both paths can become blurry.

This was supposed to be a friends-to-lovers story, which I think got lost along the way. At one point, I was rooting for her to end up with another potential love interest. Paige was way too invested in Fitz, which was slightly annoying. Her crush wasn’t subtle or cute, but obsessive and desperate. She was pining so hard for her best friend, who was a serial dater. We do learn a lot about Fitz and the reason behind his relationship habits, but by then, I already wasn’t a fan of his character.

Something that the author did remarkably well was the mental health representation. Like Paige, I suffer from mental health disorders, anxiety being one of them. I completely understood her thoughts and worries in a way that only someone who also feels that way can. She thought that her brain was broken, and was scared that her illness was a burden to those around her.

“Rabbit holes are my specialty. I live and breathe in them.”

There are many times when I have felt the exact same way. It took me a long time to understand that my brain isn’t broken, but it does work differently than others. If anything, this is a self love story about coming to terms with your mental health struggles, and realizing you don’t have to let them control your life.

As for the two time lines, I’m not sure which one I enjoyed more, but I did find the ending thought provoking. It begs the question that all things will ultimately turn out the way they’re supposed to, no matter the path to you chose. It’s an interesting concept. One really has to wonder if fate does play a big part in our lives and decisions.

As a whole, the characters and plot weren’t my favorite, but I wouldn’t categorize the book as a disappointment. Have you read this book? Do you like alternating timeline plots? If you are a fan of reviews, give this post a like and a share. And make sure to follow the blog for all my post notifications.

Until The Next Chapter,
Bunny

Self Care For Mental Health // Toss Up Tuesday

- Bunny 1 Comment

Hi Friends,
Earlier this year, I did a post called “A Little Bit Personal” – where I shared some of my mental health struggles. Today, I wanted to talk about a few self-care things you can do when anxiety and depression become overwhelming. Currently, depression and anxiety have been dominating my days. Some days, it’s hard to get out of bed, or find the simple joy in doing things that I normally do. So I hope these tips can help you, and me.

Give Yourself Permission To Be Sad

First, I am guilty of ignoring this rule, and I’d bet that some of you are too. For some reason, I think that everything should be happy and good 24/7, which isn’t healthy or normal. So stop putting all this pressure on yourself to be in a good mood all the time. The first step in dealing with mental illness is telling yourself that it’s okay to not be okay. Our feelings are valid.

Sleep The Day Away

Does everyone feeling stressed when they sleep all day? Or is it just me? I am trying hard to remind myself that sleep is good for the brain. When you’re depressed, sleep can help clear your mind. Living with a mental illness is hard, and can lead to negative thinking. So, fo ahead and sleep off the sadness and destructive thoughts.

Talk It Out

It can be hard to share your feelings when you have anxiety and depression. But I have always found it better to open up to people, rather than keeping my feelings bottled up. I am blessed to have some amazing people in my life that I can talk to on the rough days. However, I know not everyone has a support system. There are plenty of online, text, and talk help lines. Crisis Text Line is a 24/7 chat that helps people with anxiety, depression, eating disorders and more.

Find Your Playlist

Music is such a powerful healing tool. When you are dealing with mental health issues, having a ‘default’ playlist you can go to can really help. Just shut the world out, and simply listen to the lyrics. Trying having a mix of sad songs, mental illness related songs and songs that make you happy on your playlist. Or playlists for your individual moods. You know yourself, run with it.

The Little Things

We always forget to think about the little things in life. Whatever is weighing you down, when you see it come to the forefront of your thoughts, just stop for a moment. Think about all the little things in your life that lift you up. We all have a reason – no matter how small – to smile.

I’d like to think that this post has reached someone, even one person, that needed to see these words today. We may not be fighting the same battle, but we are all fighting a battle. Now wake up, take a deep breath, and ride your wave. Help this post reach that one person that needs to see it, and like, share, subscribe.

Until The Next Chapter,

Bunny

A Little Bit Personal

- Bunny Leave a comment

Hello Book Lovers,
This isn’t going to be your typical post on this blog. Instead of talking about all things bookish, which I love. I wanted to have an open and honest decision about my mental health and how I have been feeling lately. If you are just stumbling across this blog, Hi I’m Bunny, and this is my little corner of the internet. I talk about all things bookish and more on this blog that I have come to love. I am a former Booktuber turned book blogger, and couldn’t be more happy.

Lately, I haven’t felt like myself, and I know that a lot of factors have contributed to that feelings. I have never mentioned this on the blog, but I suffer with depression, OCD, anxiety, ADD, Bipolar and women health concerns. Yep, I am a beautiful mess. I have dealt with a lot of self-hate lately and feeling of hopelessness. I am someone who is consistently thinking, and most of the time never feels satisfied in what they are doing regardless if it makes me happy.

In the past 2 years, I gained about 40 pounds, tried multiple medications, looked into therapy and been having lot of physical health issues. On top of everything, my husband health has also be steadily declining. Now, I am not writing this post to get sympathy or throw a pity party for myself. I am simply here to tell other that might be having a shit year, or years, and dealing with mental and/or physical issues, or just life in general that you are not alone.

I feel like having anxiety is the cool new trend, but let me tell you it isn’t fun to be consistently anxiousness. I want you guys to know that this blog no matter how small has helped me a lot, and I love all your support. Also, I have a growing community on Twitter and Instagram that I am very proud of.

I would like to mention that I had planned to do the mini PopCulture Readathon (Degrassi: TNG themed), but I want to take the next two weeks to focus on myself and recollect. I am throwing my tbr out the window and just mood reading for the rest of the month. I would love some post request down below, since I am thinking of doing 5 post a week in June to celebrate my birthday month. Also, should we start a monthly book club here on the blog? Let me know in the comments.

Thank you all for viewing this blog and sharing this post. I would sincerely love to know how you are doing and what you are reading.

Until The Next Chapter,
Bunny