By Charlie Emilia
This millennial content creator, social media geek, part-time healthy person and now first-time mom is back to her original roots as a writer. Formerly a radio show, “Chill Out with Charlie” was a peek into my life and what I had going on. Since leaving the airwaves, my journey has taken an extreme turn. For updates on what’s been happening, sit back and chill out with me as I navigate these new paths in a whole new way.
I’ve been noticing a trend of people being very hard on the year 2020. If memes could kill, the year would be beaten and gone. While I consider myself a Meme Aficionado and I thoroughly enjoy meme culture, I also realise that it can be damaging. We will repost funny memes with ideas that we relate to and it can consume how we can perceive something. What we fail to realise is that the year two thousand and twenty is exposing a lot of flaws in our daily lives that we’ve been neglecting, because, ‘everything is fine’, ‘I’m fine’, and ‘it’s okay’. But, the question here is, ‘are you really okay, or is 2020 showing you what you’ve refused to address?’
Anxiety, depression and other mental health issues are running rampant among younger people. The economy has been teetering on one string for the longest while. Pollution is a growing worry for the environment and people in general. Obesity and sickness is increasing and targeting people younger and younger. None of this is okay, or fine, but as long as we didn’t have to directly address it, we could pretend like things weren’t falling apart from neglect. 2020 is showing us this is not the way to deal with it.
Not being one to shy away from addressing things, I’ve been ducking and dodging a lot of how I feel right now. So, I figured why not take control of the rest of my year and steer myself into a new direction. While there are many things that I can’t change on my own there are some I can make better before I step foot into 2021. One way you can combat the effects of this year is to get healthier. Thanks to a lot of marketing for unnecessary processes when you hear the term healthier, you think ideas and thoughts like ‘detox’, ‘workouts’, and ‘crash diets’. No. take those thoughts out of your head. Now, think small changes to eating habits, thinking, and actions, which will lead to a healthier outcome. People seem to love to see quick results, but personally I’ve experienced that when I make smaller changes over a longer period of time, I’m able to see better results.
So, I started by creating a list. Lists are how I thrive and plan. I started by creating an outline for what I want by just saying what I want changed in my life. In simply writing it all down, it was evident that many of the things I want to change about my life can be sorted into four categories: my finances, mental health, environmental footprint and physical health. Great! Then I sorted my desires under each category and thus, my 2020 Vision was formed. Think of it like a delayed New Year’s resolution. It was actually inspired by my friend’s Vision Board party. During the party we sat, drank, ate and created visual representations of what we want for our lives. I didn’t get to finfish mine, but I think a lot of that has to do with me being more into words, than pictures. Once I started fleshing out my thoughts more and more, it developed into a full-on plan of action.
Writing things down, and being honest with myself about what I want to change has already taught me so much about myself and created a clear path for how I will work on bettering myself. I’ve taken a serious look at my insecurities, and dug up some habits that may not be the best for my mental or physical health. This is the only kind of detox I genuinely believe in; addressing your shortcomings and purging yourself of them. With it all down on paper I’ve been able to see the patterns of how certain behaviours may fuel my unhealthy situations in other aspects of my life. It’s been life-changing, to say the least. Imagine seeing yourself in the most honest and purest form, and working on the things you want.
I’m not sure if you guys are interested in seeing the list or how I outlined the process of how I’m going about my changes, but if you are, please reach out to me and request it. I’m interested in doing a series on my own self-improvement, but I’m not sure if my readers want it. So, check out my social media info below and contact me via any of them. Thanks for taking time out of your day to read my writing, I appreciate you.
Feel free to follow me on Facebook.com/LikeCharlieEmilia or my Instagram @Chvrl13. I’m open to questions, comments and any concerns you may have about your own health. But, please remember, I am not a doctor. My column is strictly for entertainment and, although I may try my utmost to give accurate information, it should in no way replace a visit to your healthcare provider.
Until next time, “Stay Distant. Stay Safe!”
