Hi! Happy new month and all of that. If I'm going to be honest, until I opened my laptop this evening, I had no idea what I was going to write. Please enjoy this tumble into the chaotic labyrinth I call a mind.

Regularly Scheduled Programming

Namaste!

Yes, I just finished watching Wedding Season. And while I am a sucker for romcoms, I did make a promise to myself to start watching all the Middle Eastern and non-Korean Asian dramas on my Netflix watch list. So, when I saw that there's a romantic comedy aka my favourite genre ever, you know I had to turn up and watch.

I loved Wedding Season. I feel like it's one of those movies I'll have to go back and rewatch if I want to give specifics into it but on the first watch, it gave me gooey feelings on the inside and that's a W in my books.

Wedding Season follows Ravi and Asha, two Desi-Americans who just want to live life and focus on their careers but whose parents won't get off their necks about getting married. To keep their parents off their case, they agree to go as each other's dates during 'wedding season' and then break up after because that's a foolproof plan that could never go wrong, right?

Anyways, if you want to know more, you'd have to watch the movie. Something that stuck out to me during this was Ravi telling Asha, "Everybody's afraid. You just have to let your love be bigger than your fear." I like that, I like that a lot. It reminds me of one of my favourite quotes - Courage is not the absence of fear, but the choice to act in spite of it.

I try to remember that when I'm afraid, which is almost always all the time, if I'm being honest. There's just so much to be scared of and afraid about but what matters is showing up despite it and in spite of it.

There's this conception that you have to not feel 'negative' emotions or else you're not the person you thought you were, or weak, or something. There was a paper I read, I can't remember where to be honest, where the person/people wrote that people see emotions as actions rather than reactions that they are. Or something along those lines.

For example; if you touch something very hot and it burns you and you withdraw it in pain, that's normal, yes? What's not normal would be if you didn't feel pain, you'd probably have to go to the hospital for something nerve related but I digress.

Feeling pain is a reaction to taking something hurt. Just the way any emotion you feel is a reaction to the circumstances around and within you (I think inner happiness and contentment is a thing sha). What do you do when you have a burn? Soothe it and go along your way. Because it has happened, you've relieved the pain and now you act despite it - except it's a third-degree burn that hampers your ability to act. There are obvious exceptions and nuances that would have to be applied to each situation but this is what the gist of it is.

When angels appeared to people in the bible and led with 'Do not be afraid', do you really think that those people magically stopped being afraid and started talking with the angels like they were buddies? Have you seen renditions of biblically accurate angels? They are terrifying. But in each of these stories, the person decided to act in spite of their fear and listen to the angel, or you know get blown to bits. Sorry, my bible studies knowledge is a bit rusty.

So, yes, in the wise words of Ravi from Wedding Season; let your love be bigger than your fear, your love for life, for living, for plenty money, for peace and a fulfilled life, let that be bigger than whatever fear is holding you back. This is advice to myself by the way, if you take it toh, good for you.

Side note - I absolutely love when you get the most profound quotes from the most unlikely places. Totally puts paid to the people that think that entertainment is shallow.

On Life.

I went to see Thor: Love and Thunder with my cousin yesterday, while TLAT is definitely last on my list of Thor movies, I still think it's pretty good. It's very Taika Waititi, in the sense that it follows the humorous lines of Thor: Ragnarok. TLAT is a feel-good, fun Thor movie that tries to expand on the Thor arc that was introduced in Ragnarok but kind of fell short. Jane Foster as Thor was hot though, and Tessa Thompson as King Valkyrie can take all my money and-

Let me stop there. I am no longer job hunting for some reason. All the rejections have gotten to me and I need to take time to recuperate before going back into the job market again. If you have anybody that's looking to hire sha, let me know ijn.

On Books.

I have been reading Three Simple Rules for about a week now. The spice is nice but God, what I would give for some actual romance. Book Twitter has been nudging me towards reading Archer's Voice, I just might get it.

I did try reading a bunch of comics on my phone but my eyes reminded me that they're bad and need assistance.

This however is my favourite piece that I have read this week -

ADD in Women: Why Girls' ADHD Symptoms Are Not Diagnosed — www.additudemag.com

ADHD impacts both genders equally, but outdated stereotypes leave many women undiagnosed and fighting depression. Here is the truth about symptoms in girls.

As someone self-diagnosed with ADD, I'm always trying to read as much as I can about it, mostly late at night when I can't sleep. This piece reminds me of reading Act your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert and how neurodivergence is often misdiagnosed and undiagnosed in women because a lot of doctors only have the 'male symptoms' to work with. The Brown Sisters trilogy is a great series to read.

In this article, they talk about how often girls mask and I think that's a direct result of how society puts pressure on women to do things but that's a story for another day, maybe next week.

On Music.

Someone I know sent me this song to listen to, and if you even know me a little bit, you'd know that sending me music you think I'd like is pretty much a declaration of love. So whether this guy knows it or not, we're now great friends.

We Don't Eat - song and lyrics by James Vincent McMorrow | Spotify — open.spotify.com

Listen to We Don't Eat on Spotify. James Vincent McMorrow · Song · 2010.

There's a lot of layers to this song and I do recommend listening to it with earpiece or headsets.

Lemonade.

This week's Lemonade is a double-edged sword. I relaxed my hair on Friday and what you people failed to tell me is that relaxing your hair after dyeing is a big no-no. My hair is now down to 50% volume. The bright side is that the colour's now approaching light pink and if I get a windfall of money, I would be able to cosplay Itadori for the Abuja Comic Con.

Ave atque Vale,

Zia.