By Morgan Spurr
It’s no secret—everyone has a different comfort level when it comes to sharing feelings or expressing thoughts. For some of us, it’s woven into everyday life, while for others it’s more of a challenge to open up.
 As some of you may (or may not) have noticed, the Silver Linings Society girls and I took a few month break and didn’t really explain why… so here we go! After meeting and speaking about the break, we decided that we really love the transparency that we’ve tried to have so far—being able to speak our minds and let you know the “real story” about things! Whether that’s disclosing in a “What to Check Out” post that one of us didn’t actually read anything that month or discussing times when it’s okay to show a little bit of weakness or let yourself sit back and breathe.
For a little over a year we posted about twice a week, and all was going well but sometimes, as ALL of you know, life can get in the way. Taylor had a career change and did some refocusing, my dad passed away unexpectedly and Lauren was a bit overwhelmed with her freelance workload, so we all were feeling a little disconnected from this whole thing. After not being able to meet as often and having a hard time finding inspiration, we talked about our thoughts on everything and Taylor ended up deciding to part ways with the blog. She’s been teaching yoga at two local studios and started a new website, Yoga with Taylor where you can learn more about her approach, classes and events. We’d highly recommend checking out her classes and workshops if you live in the Burlington or Richmond areas! Agreeing that the blog couldn’t be a priority at the time, Lauren and I decided to take a little break! What started as a month turned into two and I had a chance to really think about what I wanted to see the blog turn into. We spoke about what we thought worked and what didn’t and decided to make some changes that we are really excited about. While this blog is still pretty small (and I’m not quite sure how many people are going to be reading this), I felt strange not explaining why we were MIA for a little bit. And in the theme of transparency, we decided that it was a good time to talk about it. Making the decision to take a step back from a project you’re working on, a friend or even a job, is a very difficult thing to do and can be a blow to your pride since there are such negative connotations around “giving up.” But sometimes it takes time for you to separate yourself from something to figure out if it’s right for you, and what you can do to make it more engaging, enjoyable, productive or successful. It takes courage to allow yourself to hit pause when you may feel like others are expecting things of you. But if you don’t, it can harbor resentment and make things a lot worse. So in all of this, I want you to know that it’s okay to take a break or even quit if what you’re putting your time and effort into just isn’t working or feeling right! This is NOT to say that we are quitting the blog, we have actually regrouped and made some strategies and plans for next year that we can’t wait to share with you! Lauren and I will be looking for guest writers and topic suggestions so if anyone has anything that they’d like to contribute, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us! We know that we aren’t the only millennials in the world with experiences and perspectives to share, so we’d appreciate some input from others! That way, we can make sure that we are covering subjects that are relevant to all of us as a whole. So keep on commenting, let us know what you want to read and thank you so much for your support! Xoxo Silver Linings Society (Samantha & Lauren)  Do you dread going to work every day or find yourself losing patience, motivation or momentum? Well, you're not alone!
It's no secret that many millennials with college educations don't end up finding jobs in their field and that could contribute to a feeling of frustration, lack of focus and drive to go above and beyond in the workplace. However, even if you do have a job in your field or are working somewhere that you enjoy, you can still find yourself in a rut. by Taylor Downs, RYT 200  Photography by Lauren Mazzotta When it's beautiful outdoors, it can be really hard to make it to the yoga studio for practice. I totally get it! Every time folks show up to my Friday slow flow class around 5pm I'm amazed.
Because it's not always realistic to make it to the studio, I whipped up an easy practice you can do at home! Depending on how long you like to hold each pose, you can expect this practice to be around 15 minutes. In this practice, we stretch those muscles we use a lot during the summer - the quads, hamstrings, and the hips. Additionally, we create space in the body through side bending and mild backbends - because, well, it's hot outside! by Taylor Downs  With all of the rain this spring, allergies have been really awkward in 2017, or at least that’s the vibe I get from all of my friends afflicted with seasonal sniffles! I’m not personally affected by allergies, but my partner and many of my friends are, along with 30% of all American adults. So while I don’t have to sniffle all the time, I do have to listen to my partner sniffle all night long, which I think almost counts. (Just kidding… but also not!)  In the last six years, I have moved NINE times... the last time being about a week ago! Whether it's across the hall or 300 miles away, every time I move, I feel hurried, stressed out and unprepared when I inevitably land in my new place surrounded by boxes of crap that I haven’t gone through in way too long.
This time around, I decided to try saving my sanity and even though my boyfriend and I purchased a house with infinitely more room than any apartment I’ve ever lived in, I went through my things, took my time, and got rid of what I didn’t use to make this move as smooth as possible. Here are a few tips that I’ve learned along the way to make moving as stress-free and productive as it can be! by Taylor Downs  Photography by Lauren Mazzotta With spring just around the corner, many of us are thinking about refreshing our homes with a nice clean - especially now that we can leave the windows open to air out the toxic cleaning fumes!
While some cleaning chemicals feel like must-haves in the home, there are a few essential oils that can help bring a more natural approach to your seasonal cleaning. by Taylor Downs, RYT 200  Photography by Lauren Mazzotta Happy spring!
Spring arrives at a time when we're often feeling pretty lethargic and just over winter. So when it begins warming up, we're so ready to get outside and be active. With that in mind, here is a short yoga sequence you can practice inside or outside. We focus on lengthening, twisting, and stretching the tissues of the body in order to feel stretched and renewed - even after a short practice.  Photography by Lauren Mazzotta In March, we challenged ourselves to incorporate more self-care into our schedules—whether for a week or the whole month.
In short, self-care is about tending to your needs. From getting a massage, to going to bed early or catching up with a friend: self-care is whatever you need on a particular day or in the moment. If you’re new to the idea, Taylor wrote a great post about it, which you can read here: What is Self-Care? + 21 Ideas for Adding Self-Care Into Your Life With all of the ways you can practice self-care, this challenge sounds super simple, right? Well, we had a surprisingly hard time with this one. Read on to see what happened!  The Quarter-Life Crisis is a REAL and scary thing. Most of us have been there, having various expectations of what entering our early twenties is going to be like and then realizing that not everything is as easy or as fulfilling as we thought.
Even if it seems like you’re the only one dealing with this, it’s normal to feel lost, afraid, lonely, and confused. Figuring out what and/or who you’d like to be at this point in your life, and navigating new adulthood can take some getting used to. In recent years, I’ve gone through a few waves of this feeling, which is usually brought on by some sort of stress in a young person’s life (like moving out on your own, un or underemployment, etc.) and I’ve found a few tips and tools that have helped me to have an easier time dealing with it. |