Tag: selfcare

It’s Been One Week

Mikayla Olivia Orrson1 Comment

And I’m not referring to the Barenaked Ladies masterpiece.

First, let me apologize for basically falling off the map. After my last post, my life completely fell apart. I sunk into a deep depression and couldn’t find the will to write or talk about it. I’ll get into that with separate posts about what happened and the hard lessons I learned.

As I was saying, it’s been one week since the craziest decision I’ve made yet!

*DRUM ROLL*

I moved to Los Angeles!

What?! Yes! I made the decision about 3 weeks before landing here.

Why Los Angeles?

Why not. I’m 25 and I don’t want to spend my whole life in one spot, it was time to start moving.

What Are You Going To Do in Los Angeles?

Same thing I was doing in New York. I’m going to have a survival job, I’m going to write, and I’m going to look for happiness.

What About Your Friends and Family?

The beautiful thing about friends and family is that they will love you no matter what. And if they don’t, then they aren’t your friends and you can adopt a new family. Thankfully, I am blessed with incredible people in my life who are supportive in my spontaneous adventure.

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Great!

Now that we got that out of the way, let’s talk about my first week!

I landed last Tuesday, October 1st. It was an awful experience traveling. I was flying with my cat and the poor little guy was traumatized by airport security. I wasn’t doing so swell either, I had a panic attack in the airport and ended up in a wheelchair.

After the near 6 hour flight, we made it to LAX. My lovely friend, Joe, picked us up and drove us home.

Well, not home. But my new apartment.

Here’s how the week has been, surreal. That’s the best word I can use to describe it.

I’m going to break it all down in positives and negatives. Full knowing that the negatives will change and the positives will too. But as of right now, this is how I’m doing.

Positives

  • I’ve been exercising! I have successfully run about 5 miles each morning. (I gotta get this little tummy fat under control!)
  • I have had time to decompress from everything I went through in New York. I feel my body is more relaxed. I feel my laughs are genuine and not an act.
  • Joe, he’s being very supportive of me.
  • The weather, everyday truly is perfect.
  • I went for a hike and it was breathtaking.
  • Food is cheaper, and better quality.
  • Most importantly, I moved across the country! I did something people are terrified to do.

Negatives

  • I miss my friends in New York.
  • I miss being in the same time zone as my family.
  • I miss the familiar places, like my favorite coffee shops, wine bar, and restaurants.
  • I don’t like how shallow the conversations are around me.
  • I miss the leaves changing (I know the contradicts the weather as a positive.)
    I miss my life. It took me 7 years to build my life in New York and I thought I would be okay with this adventure but I haven’t felt okay yet. (But it’s only Day 7)

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I know the issues I’m having will change as time passes. I’ll have new friends, I’ll discover new familiar places, and I’ll find the people who have worthwhile conversations.

Get ready for posts two times a week from now on. I’m back.

-Mikayla Olivia Orrson

11 Days of Showing My Makeup Remover Towelettes And What I Learned

Mikayla Olivia OrrsonLeave a comment

There’s my face in all it’s glory! I first started this project as a message about inner-beauty, yada yada. But, I learned way more interesting things about myself!

Here are my revelations:

1. I can clearly tell by looking at each picture which days I had work vs my off days. Can you tell?

At work, I wear vibrant lipstick colors and lots of mascara. On my days off, I do minimal makeup.

Not too interesting, right? Wrong! It put me in a tailspin of overthinking about make up at work.

I want to believe I put makeup on for work because I want to ‘put my best face forward.’ But, even that doesn’t sit right with me. Why? Because my ‘best face’ is my real face. So, why am I putting on this mask to work? I think to find that answer I need to do some more deep inner diving.

Which leads me to the bigger point:

2. Do you see the yellowish color on the towelette? That’s my foundation. Seeing how much I put on was really eye opening to me.

My skin is my biggest insecurity. I constantly obsess over pimples, red marks, and even my freckles (most I’ve had since I was a child).

In college, I was at a seminar with the entire student body. In which, the owner/founder of the school pointed me out in the crowd and said that I would be beautiful if I knew how to take care of my skin. That moment was devastating, I was humiliated. And that insecurity only worsened and developed into a unhealthy relationship with my skin.

I don’t leave my house without foundation. I don’t even like being alone in my house without foundation in case I catch a glimpse of myself in a mirror!

What can I take away from this experience? Tons.

I’m going to set a challenge for myself and since I’m blogging about it, I have to actually come through. (Feel free to hold me accountable.)

The Challenge

One week of minimal to no makeup. On work days, I will do bare minimal (light foundation and mascara.) And on my off days, I will wear absolutely no makeup.

I know this isn’t a huge challenge for a lot of women, but it is to me. And it’s not the size of the challenge, its that you’re willing to be challenged.

Moral of The Story: We all have insecurities with our bodies, but it’s the little steps towards self acceptance that make the difference!

-Mikayla Olivia Orrson