Hey friends! Is it really Wednesday already? These weeks have been flying by! Today, I wanted to do a little catch up session to unload some of what’s been swirling around my brain recently. Last time I did this over a month ago, I felt really happy and was pleasantly surprised by your sweet feedback and the fact that many of you connected to my random thoughts, so I hope you’ll join me for some one-on-one time today. It’s just you and me, pal. 🙂

1. Sometimes I look at Monja walking around my apartment, chewing on my shoes, or generally wreaking havoc and can’t help but think that my roommate is essentially a wild animal.
2. Everything I own is covered in dog hair. EVERYTHING. Sometimes when I’m out with friends, away from Monja for many hours or even days, we’ll find his hairs in odd places, like a bite of food one of us is about to eat or attached to a piece of jewelry.
3. Ever since Coachella, my friends and I have been really keen to see live music shows. I went to one last week and have one planned for next week, too. I love it! I used to go to a lot of shows in high school, but kind of fell out of the live music loop for awhile. I’m excited to continue with this. 🙂
4. Every time I read anything about dogs dying or being attacked, I start crying. It’s like I have some weird chemical imbalance. A dog died? MELYSSA MUST CRY. All I can think about is Monja and how I’d feel if anything happened to him.
5. Monja just farted. A part of me wants to throw up. Another part secretly likes it. I’ve said too much.
6. I really love my friends. They’re an eclectic bunch, but they’re all great, positive, and funny. It’s so nice to be around them again, now that I’m not living in Japan anymore.
7. You’d think that since I work as a graphic designer and blogger, I’d be spewing with creative juices. But most of the time I really don’t feel that way at all. I guess I’m learning that it’s one thing to be creative and it’s another feeling completely to be creative for someone else. I really love and enjoy what I get to do and often find myself “in the zone” while working, but there’s still something about it all that doesn’t feel quite as free as my creative hobbies used to. Perhaps because most of what I do isn’t really for me anymore — it’s for clients, readers, sponsors, anyone but myself. That doesn’t mean I’m unhappy with what I do, but more so that I need to actively carve out more time to let myself create for me. Wow, I feel like I just had a big revelation. I’m excited to put this thought into practice. 🙂
8. I also think I want to get back into photography. It was a huge hobby of mine a couple years ago and made me feel so good whenever I did it, but it fell by the wayside when I took up graphic design and blogging. I think it’s time to bring it back. 🙂
9. When I have long to-do lists, I can get pretty down on myself. I especially hate the feeling of being behind or letting people down. Usually when either of those things happen, I end up doing even less because I feel unmotivated and perhaps a little scared to begin my mountain of tasks. But I’ve found that when that happens, I have to focus on being kind to myself and allowing mistakes. I did that yesterday, after looking at my endless inbox and to-do list, and ya know what? I got a ton done and felt really great the whole day. Our attitude plays such a big role in what we’re capable of.
10. What’s your favorite candy? I recently realized that I have three criteria for mine: gummy, sour, and fruity. Prime examples include Sour Patch Kids, anything made by Trolli, and Rips.
11. I sold some random thing I own on eBay for almost $200 and now I have a sincere desire to sell everything in my house on eBay.
12. I like weird people and weird things. I like weird. 🙂
13. People often ask me what I miss about Japan. Mostly, it’s just the feeling I had there. I can’t really explain it. But I also really miss the language. When I see or hear Japanese, it means so much to me.
14. Lately I’ve been feeling a rut with my blog for perhaps the first time since its inception. It’s not that I dislike it — not that at all. But it’s that I feel less confident in my voice and what I have to offer. My thinking is that, since I’ve read SO many blog posts and articles at this point, nothing I think of feels original or useful anymore. I scrap more ideas than I keep, whereas before I was a machine — churning out new ideas constantly. I think I need to both believe in the usefulness of what I have to say and try to think outside the box a little more. I’m working on that and happy with some of the ideas I’ve conjured up so far.
15. I’m reading a book by Chuck Palahniuk and I love how his novels always make me think and question the world. He definitely brings out the cynic in me though, so I usually find it best to read something more idealistic in between Chuck books, otherwise I slowly begin to hate the world. *grin*
16. When I went to Coachella for the weekend, I took Monja to a new daycare/boarding center. There, he played with other dogs in one room all day, everyday. I was really nervous about that. The last boarding center we went to said he wasn’t allowed to have contact with other animals because of how he is toward other dogs on-leash (i.e. insane). That kind of broke my spirit and I was worried about what might happen at this new place with other dogs in such close proximity. But when I picked him up they told me “he was perfect” and played the whole weekend. It really meant so much to me that they gave him a chance.
17. I read this quote recently and loved it: “Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true.” It’s be Leon J. Suenes.

I think that’s enough for today! I’d love to hear some of your recent thoughts in the comments.

What’s on your mind?