BLOGMAS - A Letter to Autumn

Dear Autumn,

You've come and gone again this year and you're still my favourite season.
I want to apologize to you, first of all, if I was too busy to live you as fully as I wanted. Sometimes my mind seems to become so foggy that I only see my to-do list and not the beautiful colours of the leaves.

Thank you, Autumn. Thank you for making the trees so beautiful that, whenever I'm in the car with my parents or my friend Rita, I point at them and say "Look at the beautiful trees!". Thank you for the man who sells chestnuts at the door of the Hospital, the smoke and the smell completing the beautiful setting of the red and orange trees.

Thank you for the beautiful pink, orange, red sunsets. Thank you for making them so beautiful that I have to stop whatever I'm doing to look at them. And, if that makes me a crazy person, I'm so glad that I'm crazy enough to look closely at beautiful things.

Thank you for warm drinks, shared with friends at coffee shop tables, along with deep conversations. Thank you for those friends and those conversations that fill my soul.

Thank you for Halloween, that weekend when I was feeling anxious beyond measure, but getting to celebrate Halloween, my sister's birthday and Ana's birthday took my mind off things and made me feel sane enough to make it through the rest of the semester.

Thank you for the beginning of the Christmas season. For the lights in the street, for the beautiful Christmas tree I made with my family, for the Christmas shopping that I'm proud to have completed before today, the day you leave.

Thank you for amazing movies, beautiful books, trips to the library, study afternoons, acoustic music, walks with a camera in my hand.

Thank you, Autumn. See you next year!

BLOGMAS - I am really, really thankful.

As a medical student, I live a stressful life. There are lectures to attend, books to study, deadlines to make. This stressful lifestyle is so glorified that sometimes I feel like there's some kind of competition, on who feels more stress and who suffers more because of it.

My life made me a very optimistic person and someone who looks for peace even if everything seems to be falling apart. When my anxiety comes by to say hello, I know that I have to do something to not let it win. And one of those things, for me, is practising thankfulness. I thank God for a lot of stuff daily, especially when I'm not feeling that good.

I'm thankful for:

the financial means to study something I love

my perseverance to keep doing it no matter how hard it gets

my true friendships

Christmas season, Secret Santa dinners and choosing gifts for people I love

the financial means to be able to give presents to those I love most

my loving family

cats

the existence of music to keep me sane

books

having access to a huge library where I can get more books

coffee and tea

cakes, muffins, pancakes, crepes, scones and chocolate

being able to watch football matches

having my driver's license and being able to drive my mum's car

but also riding the bus

Facebook conversations with my friends

Pilates classes

my health

being able to afford clothes I feel comfortable and good-looking in

my ability to sing decently

my positivity

I could go on and on, but then you people would get tired, so that's it for now!

lots of love,

Mariana

stuff I'm thankful for: October

I've always found that listing the good things that have happened in a period of time helps me put my life in perspective: do the good things outnumber the bad ones? If not, what can I do to improve my life right now? That's why this idea came up: from now on, at the end of each month, I will write a list of the good things that have happened, so that I can reflect upon them and feel more thankful.

October has come and gone so fast! I can't believe it's November already: it seems like Christmas will be here any minute! Not that I'm complaining, because it's my favourite holiday. :)

From all the things that have happened this past month, I am especially thankful for:

• Getting to know my new classmates better - 12-hour-long school days become more bearable when you are surrounded by funny people!
• Hanging out with my best friends from uni. One of them had never seen the Harry Potter movies before (shame!!!) so, every now and then, we go to her house to show her these masterpieces. We also end up having good food, deep, meaningful talks and a great time overall.

• Lifelong friends who know your heart, and who never leave even though most people do.
• A boyfriend who, despite having lots of tests and stuff to study, always makes time to be with me. I've been learning that, in a relationship, it's not enough to have affection for the person. You have to keep choosing them, in order to love them better. Even if that means that most of your dates are study dates.
• Analog photography. I've been experimenting with it  and I'm loving the results! I love capturing candid moments and beautiful landscapes, even if the price of it requires me to be more selective.
• Festive occasions - in this case, Halloween. It's only a recent tradition in my country, but I still decorated my house for it, and I loved giving candy to the kids who went trick or treating in my neighbourhood! I think it's great that these kids are leaving their TVs and computers to get to know their neighbours better.

• The beautiful sunsets of Autumn. I've been sharing lots of pictures on Instagram of the breathtaking sunsets I get to see.
• Stepping on crunchy leaves!!

• My new rain boots. I can jump on puddles of water with them. Yaaaay!

Well, that's all, folks - let's see what November brings!

lots of love,

Mariana