What I've Been Reading: 8/5/2013

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First off, in case you missed it, my last RL update is here in case you're curious as to how I'm doing. ^_^;

Also, one of my cousins recently opened up a jewelry shop on Etsy! I think some of you on my f-list would be interested, so if you'd like to support her (which would be awesome! :D) or just see the kind of work she's doing, feel free to

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I have trouble speaking up about things, but when I gather the gumption, I genuinely surprise people.

And this is definitely a good thing! Speaking up about things that are important to you (or are just important in general) is something I wish was encouraged more; it ties into the whole "not caring about what other people think of you" thing and makes it attractive, but focusing just on that aspect of the idea would be more beneficial. People who just say whatever they want and defend themselves by taking back labels like "asshole" and "jerk" just seem to me like they care only about unloading their emotional baggage onto others with no regard to how they'd feel if someone else did that to them, and that they're too lazy to put in the necessary work to be more empathetic.

I guess it's really just having options that makes me really happy, and not just the item itself, you know?

I guess I'm kinda the opposite -- I'm happier when I don't have as many options, because lots of options means me having to spend more time weighing the pros and cons of each one. Eventually it becomes so mentally taxing that I just don't want to bother anymore. :/ (Though what the article was talking about has more to do with the fact that the objects we buy can never bring us happiness -- unless we actively use them on a regular basis -- but that experiences do, including the experience of shopping. And money helps facilitate those kinds of experiences more often.)