With or without a voice

Dear Optimists,

Have you ever considered what your life would be if you weren’t able to speak at all? Have you noticed how dependent we are of our ability to talk?

I lost my voice last Sunday (I’ve been suffering from false croup) – and even though I tend to lose my voice completely about twice a year, it never fails to amaze me how much our world is based on being able to communicate with one another.

Luckily, I found my voice lying around somewhere under the couch on Friday – about time, I must add, because people were getting tired of my weird gestures nobody seemed to understand and afterwards waiting for me to write down whatever I had to say.

But even though I found it, it seems to have forgotten that it used to belong to a 25-year-old female:

With or without a voice – I’m still ill. But now it’s way easier to ask my boyfriend to fix me soup/buy me sweets/caress me/change the channel because I’m definitely way too weak to do it myself! 😉

Love,
Nadia.

A little piece of Heaven

Dear Optimists,

The postman came! My boyfriend slept on the couch to make sure that he heard him knock on our door while I was at the university. He volunteered. I swear!

When I arrived home I hurried to open the package. That was when I noticed the plastic screen protector-thingy.

What was even more fantastic was the fact that there was one on the front and one on the back.

Sometimes I scare myself. But it’s the smaller things in life that counts, right?

Love,
Nadia.

PS. I’m still waiting for my SIM card, which means I can’t use this little piece of Heaven…

Guest Post Wednesday: A Thank-You email

Dear Optimists,

You might remember Carolynn the Dyer, the lovely lady who won our 100th post contest?

She won a hand-painted one-of-a-kind watercolour by me, Nadia. Not too long ago we received a Thank-You email from her, which reminded us why we do this (just like every single comment from you guys reminds us!):

Dear Nadia and Den,

I got the drawing in the mail today. What timing! You see, I’m in charge of a major activity at church tonight, and just this morning I realized that about half the things I thought were completed hadn’t even been started yet.

It’s been Stress Central Station over here ever since.

Anyway, I was running around like a squirrel on entirely too much caffeine, going to dash off to the store for (yet another) something I forgot, when I heard the mailman at the door–with a package. Package! Who doesn’t love that? Better yet, it had your picture in it, all smiling and lovely. It got me to stop, breathe, and just… smile.

Thank you, you lovely people!

Love,
Carolynn

It’s prettier in real life. We’re less orange-y.

Thank you, Carolynn.
Nadia & Den.

Big spender

Dear Optimists,

I’ve been waiting for forever. Or so it seems.
For one, I needed the money before I could get it. When I finally had the money, it was impossible to figure out where to get it. And now, after spending weeks on a waiting list, I’ve bought it!

Nope, I’m not getting new titties or having anything done, silly. I bought myself an 64gb iPhone 4s. My 32gb 3gs simply doesn’t cut it anymore, and I can’t wait to get acquainted with Siri.

All I can do now is to wait for the postman to arrive with my package. Tomorrow, they say. But to make sure that I hear them knocking, I know where I’m staying!

Karma’s been a bitch, though. She heard that I wasn’t too fond of my phone, so I lost it on the train this morning. Tomorrow can’t come quick enough!

Love,
Nadia.

My 6. semester

Dear Optimists,

I’ve been looking forward to this semester for the past five – even though I’m going to get my Master’s as well and that’ll be another 4 semesters – but this will be the end of my Bachelor’s degree years!

I must admit that it’s been overwhelming, more than I thought it would be. No doubt that nothing in life comes easily, but I wasn’t exactly prepared for the workload.

(Wait. Isn’t that the books Den read to his future nieces?)

Last night I had a chat with Mette about my not-so-impressive ability to handle stress. She made it clear that I had to put myself first instead of everybody else – something that I tend to do at all times; if people around me are happy, I’m happy. It should be the other way around.

I heard what she was saying, but I wasn’t listening (sorry, Mette). I was really too focused on listening to my pulse that I could hear so clearly in my ear – bum bum bum.

Then she sent me this.

And I understood.

Always, ALWAYS remember yourselves, Optimists!

Thank you for being there, Mette.

Love,
Nadia.
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Want to have your drawing featured, too? Want to read one of our stories before everybody else and illustrate it? Now’s your chance!
Read more about how to become a Guest Artist on Dear Optimists here!

Guest Post Wednesday: Everything’s gonna be alright

Dear Optimists,

Today wasn’t such a great day. I found myself worried about money and my studies, plus it was cold outside; you know the kind of day.

But then I decided that I was gonna get my chin up and enjoy the rest of the day (even though it was hailing – in the middle of our Summer!?), so I put on some happy tunes. Before I knew of it I was dancing around my room! Like an idiot!

But you know what? Now I’m smiling and ended up having a good day!

With a song called Everything’s Gonna Be Alright playing on loop and no-one to laugh at me, why wouldn’t I be?

Enjoy the smaller things and keep smiling and dancing!

Love,
Julie.

Being one of the cool kids

Dear Optimists,

I was never one of the cool kids growing up. But that changed last week.

Not too long ago, I drew a picture for my friend, Mette of the two of us walking hand in hand with humour between us.

She saved the illustration on her phone, so that every time she picked it up she’d see it. It pleased me that I could make her smile with ease without actually being there or doing anything.

Mette works at an after-school centre. One day the children accidently got a hold of her phone and saw the drawing. Mette told me how they went on and on about how cute and adorable the drawing was for several hours minutes.

Finally, I was one of them! I felt like drawing something for each and every one of them. I felt like this:

(Surprisingly, they liked this drawing better!)

I swear. I’m not coming down from that piedestal!

Love,
Nadia.

Optimistic rocker

Dear Optimists,

My hands hurt. Also my wrists.

You might think “Girl, what have you been up to?!?” Worry not – it’s not from bar fights, shady ‘after-midnight fooling around’, or extreme exercising (read: masturbation). I’ve just been GAMING.

And damn have I been gaming. I’ve been playing so much that I completed one game of Guitar Hero and am now half-way through another one. Seriously though, I only spend around a zillion hours a day…I don’t have a problem. I’m simply a rockstar – we don’t take account of silly things like time – pff.

I also can’t wait to get Batman – Arkham Asylum and the other games my boyfriend ordered for us the other day. Man do I love breaks from school!

Any other Guitar Hero players out there?

Love,
Nadia.

DO is taking action – you should too!

Two bills before Congress, known as the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House, would censor the Web and impose harmful regulations on American business. Take action before it’s too late! Let them know how you feel by clicking the image!

Trick your mind into happiness

Dear Optimists,

On bad days it’s hard to find the face that suits your mood.

Some walk around showing their exact emotions, tainting others with their negativity. Others put on a fake smile and no one will ever know what exactly they feel.

Obviously, it’s important not to hide your true feelings – if you’re feeling blue; you’re “allowed” to display it.

At the same time, it’s tough to be around really negative people that can’t see anything optimistic about a dandelion growing on the side of the motorway (as a certain someone).

Studies have shown that not only will a smile affect others around you; it’ll also affect your own mood! Simply put: you trick the brain into believing you’re actually happy!

So, on a gloomy day, wouldn’t it be better to just smile and laugh about how easy it is to bluff your own brain?

Give us a smile in the comments!

Love,
Nadia.

PS. Big thanks to everybody who gave me great advice when I was feeling low.