This week, I visited some seniors and we talked for a while back and I really realized how hard seniors have been hit with this pandemic. Maybe they’ve even been hit the hardest, haven’t been able to visit family and their families haven’t been able to visit with them. They’ve also lost some friends and family at the senior home, which was definitely hard for them. And we talked and asked them for advice that I was going into high school. And first and foremost, they made me feel very grateful for my family, my friends, my health, my education, and they also made me feel very happy and grateful that I was happy and I didn’t have many regrets in my life. One of the things they said when I asked for advice, was to live in the moment and to appreciate what you have, right that second. One of the seniors said that he chased his life, trying to find perfection. And when you think he- when he thought he found it. He realized that he wasn’t anywhere close because every time he thought something was perfect, he or someone else would tell him something he could improve upon. And so he wasn’t as happy in his life, as maybe he could have been. Another senior told me to not have many regrets. not stress out a lot and just live pretty carefree and fun living, fun-loving. Because in reality life is too short and that we don’t have time to worry about little things and small details. We should start looking at the big picture. Some seniors, told me, you know, about always looking on the bright side. So they taught me a lot of things and made me feel very very grateful for what I had.

Have you ever felt jealous of someone? What about? Jealousy is an incredibly strong emotion that I feel is wise to avoid, if possible. I think jealousy can lead to people making poor decisions and it can like kind of blind you in a sense. It can just like mess with your vision, kind of give you tunnel vision, you could say. But to be honest, yeah, of course, I felt jealous in the past. Whether that be comparing myself to siblings — not me doing it but like if family members are comparing me with my sibling. I am so jealous if I didn’t like reach to the standards they wanted, or if they’re like, oh, they can do this better than you. I’d be be like, “Wow, why can’t someone say that about me? Like, why can’t I get those same compliments?” It seems shallow, but I feel like and everyone has vulnerable moments like that where they’re just kind of fueled by jealousy because they don’t receive the appreciation that they desire, you could say. Other instances where I’ve been jealous. I don’t know, school. Schools have become kind of slightly toxic environments. Not that it’s the school itself, or the students itself. It’s just how the culture of education has kind of become, especially in high school. I attend, like a very, a highly competitive — I attend school in a highly competitive school district. So, a lot of times students in their minds pit themselves against each other, and there’s a lot of jealousy surrounding GPAs, grades, standardized testing scores, you feel as though you’re putting in a certain amount of effort and not seeing the same results, but you see someone that you know very well get those results and you’re like, wow, I wish I could be there. I wish I had that, like, I’m super jealous. So it’s, it’s an emotion that pops up often. I try to avoid it as much as possible because it doesn’t always have the best results or can lead to the best results. But I think it’s a very common emotion. I don’t think it’s something people should be scared to admit to, we all feel it. There’s nothing to hide. But maybe if we like talk these things through, have conversations about stuff like this. They might not be such a big deal. They might…

Have you ever heard the saying that the grass is always greener on the other side? Oh, yes. I have heard that. I feel like that’s true kind of every day for probably everyone. You see something that someone else has that you’re just like, wow, I want — I kind of want that, that’s so cool. There’s also –I know –I forgot the specific thing. But generally it’s like you see something that someone else has and you have that exact same thing. I know for me it was clothing. There’s also –I know –I forgot the specific thing. But generally it’s like you see something that someone else has and you have that exact same thing. I know for me it was clothing. There’s this girl who’s wearing this exact same piece of clothing as I did. I think it was a pant –it was probably like — I don’t — I’m not really sure, but it was something that was exactly the same as mine, but I just felt like, I feel like I didn’t look good and it just didn’t look good in me, but for her, it was beautiful on her, it was like absolutely amazing. It was just a lot greener over there, but I think that the grass is always greener on the other side, really relates to a lot of people kind of everyday type of thing. You always see other people and you’re like, wow, these people’s, you know, maybe fashion sense or academics or just life in general is better than mine, it’s always greener on the other side. And I also feel like that’s because you don’t look at your side enough. You always, your eyes always go to your neighbor’s side. Your eyes always go to someone else’s side. You just don’t look at your side enough is why you feel like the grass is always greener on the other side.

What are some other words for “cool”? Sometimes I’m being sarcastic. I’m like, “oh, neat.” N-E-A-T, like, “wow, that’s so neat.” in a very sarcastic tone. True to myself. Sometimes I say “sick”. That’s sick. My dad says “that’s gnarly”. I don’t know. I don’t know if I can think of any more off the top of my head. Oh, sometimes my — like if I’m joking around my friends and I’m like, “oh, that’s swag.” really rarely, but it’s I would never say that if I was being serious ever.