#AskSeana (#9): Anxiety, Love At First Sight, and Pet Peeves

Hello, lovelies!

It's been a long time since my last #AskSeana Q&A, and since I received a flood of questions these past couple weeks from the sweetest people ever, I figured it was high time I start answering them.

As always, feel free to contact me through any of my social media links (personal or blogger) with a question for my next Q&A!

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1.) Do you have a nickname? Is there a cool story behind it?

I have the typical nicknames, where people just chop my name in half and call me Sea (or Kel if we're talking about my real, non-blogger name), but my family calls me something else.

When I was little, I told my dad that I didn't want him to call me "pumpkin" like other parents did for their kids, because I thought it was dumb to call someone a vegetable. And then I decided that I wanted to be called "Peachy" instead, because to my younger self a fruit name was far more superior and cute than a vegetable one. (I don't get it either.) Either way, it's a name that's stuck even as I'm moving off to college and adulting.

2.) Hi Seana! I'm a tea lover, and I just wanted to know what kind of tea is your favorite (Looooove your new blog design by the way.)

Ah! You're so sweet! I'm glad you like how the blog's been shaping up. (:

On the note of tea, I'm not a huuuuuuge fan of tea because it kind of just tastes like sad, herb-water to me most of the time, but I am OBSESSED with a few flavors, the first of which is rose. I think rose tea is my all-time favorite because it's just a really classic and sweet flavor without being bland, but I also really like hibiscus, peppermint, and peach tea depending on my mood.

3.) Okay this is probably such a weird question, but do you spell the color gray as "grey" or "gray?"

I actually love this question! I used to spell it "gray" because that's just the American spelling of it, but then as I read more books and made friends with some British bloggers, "grey" just started to rub off on me, and I now I actually just find it more aesthetically pleasing to spell it that way.

3.) Are you excited for college??

YES YES YES! (Like as excited as I look in this picture of me wearing a 2XL Buddy the Elf shirt last Christmas.)

As I've mentioned in the past, I'll be attending Calvin College, which is in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and I cannot wait to move in. My roommate is a lovely friend of mine from high school, and we went crazy in Target the other day finding cutesy (yet functional) dorm decor for our new little place on campus. I might do a little dorm tour when it's all set up in a few weeks when we move in, but we'll see how much free time I have. (:

I'm most excited to meet new people and just get a breath of fresh air from familiarity. I'm also super excited for classes, because even though I know they'll be hard, I've got a psych pathology class which is awesome since I'm obsessed with everything psychology and it's for sure going to be my major, along with communications as a second major or as a minor.

The only little thing I'm nervous about is a.) getting lost and b.) meeting new people is great and all, but I'm also an introverted extrovert so making friends is sometimes hard for me. What I mean by that is that I can be really outgoing and fun, but I'm also extremely shy in new situations, and I'm not good at asserting myself or pushing into people's bubbles if they don't approach me first. But regardless, I'm sure everything will be good once I get more comfy on campus.

4.) Hey Sea, I'm newer at blogging, and I was wondering if you have any tips of how to balance blogging and school? (I'm going into my sophomore year of high school.)

Okay, so I'm not the BEST person to ask when it comes to staying on top of blogging (oops), but I do have some tips that I think are essential for blogging with a busy lifestyle.

First: SCHEDULE SCHEDULE SCHEDULE! When you have free time, that's the time when you should just crank out posts as much as you can, or when you've got a ton of inspiration. Then schedule those bad boys in advance to be published on whatever days you normally post, and then that way you won't feel like you're cramped for time every time a new post is supposed to go up. Learning that I could schedule posts was a complete lifesaver starting out, and now I hardly ever just write a post and publish it the same day.

Second, don't stress yourself out! If you miss a day of posting, or you have to take a sudden hiatus, that is okay! This blogging community is so supportive and lovely, and no one reading your blog regularly is going to scold you for having a busy life, because it's something we all understand. Blogging should be fun, and the second it feels more like a chore, that's when you should even purposely take a break and regroup when inspiration strikes again.

5.) THIS IS A REALLY IMPORTANT QUESTION: DO YOU THINK PINEAPPLE BELONGS ON PIZZA? YES OR NO.

Yes.

Hawaiian pizza is a dream.

6.) Are you a night owl or an early bird?

My body is definitely wired like an early bird. I go to bed early for teenager standards, and I automatically wake up anytime between 5-8 am when I don't have to set an alarm, which is good and bad. I don't mind having more hours in the day to get things done, but it makes it difficult for me to stay out late with my friends because I'm always the sleepy one, and I know if I don't get a decent amount of sleep then I'll be dead the next day.

7.) Biggest pet peeve? (Mine's people chewing with their mouths open. YUCK!)

Oooh, I totally agree about the food one! My biggest pet peeve is when people who don't have mental health issues decide to comment on them, or when they make a remark that they really shouldn't make.

For example, I have friends who I know do not have anxiety, and they'll make comments like, "This is giving me anxiety," or "I basically had a panic attack." This drives me mad to no end, because if you don't understand how it feels to truly be anxious or panicky, you don't really have the full capacity to understand how people with anxiety feel or what those words mean to them. The thought of a panic attack strikes real fear in my heart, and anxiety makes me physically sick because my body doesn't function the way it should all the time when it hits. So off-hand remarks about something I battle with every day makes me grind my teeth in frustration because it's not something that should be taken lightly or joked about.

8.) You're presented with a glass. Is it half-empty or half-full?

Half-full, always. Negativity isn't worth my time.

9.) Hi Sea, just out of curiosity, do you believe in love at first sight?

Call me a cynic, but no. Absolutely not.

I think it's impossible to know you love someone when you see them for the first time, but I do think being interested with someone or thinking you want to get to know them better when you first see them is possible.

But love? Ha.

10.) What's your favorite time of day?

I adore really early morning when everything's all dewy and fresh, and I also love nighttime when the air is cool and you can wear a big, snuggly sweatshirt.

11.) What's your favorite makeup look to wear?

Soooo this picture is about a year old, but this is still a similar look to what I like to wear. Glowy cheeks with a more nude-ish lip is what I tend towards, and the eyes are usually what I mix up on a daily basis. I usually do a neutral eye look, but sometimes I'll go bolder with a darker lid color or some winged liner.

12.) Current jam?

Me being my indecisive self, I have two current jams (if by jams you mean songs and not jelly, and if you mean jelly, my current favorite is blackberry).

The first is called "Hoodie" by Hey Violet.

Hey Violet is one of those bands that I had heard nothing about, but then they just blew up recently with some of their more pop-centered singles like "Break My Heart" and "Guys My Age." And while I liked those, I am BEYOND OBSESSED with this song. I love how it's sort of a pop-rock hybrid, and it's a bomb dance and shower song.

My second jam is "Carry Your Throne" by Jon Bellion.

Ugh, all of his songs are just masterpieces. This one isn't off of his new album, but I love the lyrics and the techno-electronic feel it has to it as well. The actual music video for this song is also super intriguing and well-thought out, so give that a look when you have a chance.

13.) What's a weird food combination that you actually like? (I firmly believe that hot sauce tastes good on chips.)

My weird food combo is peanut butter and cheese sandwiches. I know. It sounds really gross and weird, but it's one of those things that you have to try to understand.

14.) Do you have any "old person" habits, Sea? I'm ALWAYS doing puzzles and my family always makes fun of me for it lol.

This question is hilarious! I love that you called them "old person habits." I go to bed SO early. Like by nine p.m. I'm in bed chilling on my phone, and I'm generally asleep by ten-thirty. I just sleep so much and so early, but it's because of my early-bird internal clock.

Also, I don't know if this is an old person habit or just a teenager habit, but I nap all. The. Time. Just the other day I took a nap after I got out of work, ate dinner, took another nap, and then went to bed and went to sleep.

15.) Hey, I've been struggling so much with my anxiety lately, and I was wondering if you have any ways of dealing with it that have been making you less anxious? PLEASE HELP!

Anxiety is such a pain. Honestly. I hate that it's something I have to deal with, but I'm equally sad that other people go through the same thing as me and sometimes even worse because anxiety affects people differently.

What I do a lot of when I'm anxious is sitting down with a hot drink and just putting on some relaxing music in the background while I either blog, or draw, or even just sit. I have a really hard time being around people when I'm anxious too, because having too many people around me feels smothering, especially when people are insensitive about it because they just don't understand that I can't easily just "snap out of it" the way you do with other things.

Another thing I do is focus intentionally on my breathing. Slow, deep, and calming breaths are really helpful for me, because it puts me back in control and that feeling of being completely lost in my anxiety isn't as overwhelming because I have a way to combat it.

The biggest problem is when I feel physically sick because I'm so anxious. I've had panic attacks that have led to me actually throwing up, which is not only awful, but it's scary too. Migraines are common, and I've felt extremely lethargic as well. For those times, what I do is just take some serious me-time. I'll let my body take the reins for a little bit and sleep things off as best I can, and then I'll drink a ton of water (because hydration is so so essential, even when you feel like crap), and I'll also make sure I'm putting good things into my body that aren't extremely processed or sugary or things like that.

Sometimes what also helps me feel better is going for a run, because it again puts me at ease and helps me not only get my mind off of things and into a new frame of thinking, and it also makes me so drained that I just don't have the energy to have so many thoughts flying wildly through my mind.

NOTE: While these things have helped me, they might not help you. I'm not a doctor, and I'm definitely not an expert in anxiety, so of course don't feel scared to seek professional help. (:

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Whoo! That was a long one.

I hope you enjoyed reading, and if you want to send in a question of your own, you know what to do!

That is all.