Peace, Love, and Happiness: how I stay positive at a time of uncertainty

When I saw this installment at the Seaport in NYC, I could immediately relate. There’s probably not a single person in the world right now who can’t use a little bit of these 3 emojis.

So that got me thinking: having gone through a minor 2020 depression that included 1pm morning alarms, countless White Claws and an extra 10 lbs., – what exactly got me over the funk!?

And how would I summarize my experience in a way that may inspire someone who feels down right now to attempt that impossible-seeming leap over to the positive side!? I narrowed it down to a few tips, but before you scroll down to read, here’s a disclaimer: depression is no joke and can heavily impact your daily life. What I’ve gone through was not severe or serious and if you’re feeling deeply depressed, these ideas I share may not work alone: I would highly recommend seeking professional help, calling an appropriate hotline to discuss your feelings or confiding in your loved ones.

How I start my day

This may sound basic, but it’s true: the way you start your day will set the tone for how the next 8-10 hours will go. But instead of following some beauty YouTuber’s or any blogger’s morning routine, I recommend building your own. Close your eyes and imagine: what would you love to do that makes you the absolute happiest (that’s also realistically achievable)? For me, it’s 30 minutes every morning of just sitting on the couch, drinking a giant cup of coffee, playing a YouTube video by some of my favorite Ukrainian fashion bloggers (even if it’s like 5 years old) AND at the same time browsing Pinterest for fashion / interior design inspiration. Sometimes I substitute Pinterest browsing for painting my nails or just scrolling through my own blog and over-analyzing little details. Whichever it may be: fitness, yoga, reading a book, reading a magazine, reading the news, eating your absolute favorite food, talking to someone who makes you happy, hanging out with your pet…narrow it down to those few happy activities and always start your day with this mini routine. From what I noticed, the first half hour always sets the mood for the rest of the day and plays a major role in how you end up feeling weeks and months in advance.

My organization and planning habits

Since this is a post of confessions, here we go: I have a pretty strong OCD. I always need to organize and color coordinate things and if you ever saw my closet, that would be blatantly obvious: I have my clothes season- color- fabric- category- organized and all my shoes are stored in bags and boxes directly under the hanging clothes they would match the most…. Soooo to me, organization and planning is key to feeling put-together in life. I have an actual physical planner with stickers and bookmarks where I map out an editorial calendar for the blog, career goals in marketing, a list of personal goals and education milestones. If you’re like me and staying organized makes you feel less anxious, I recommend trying this old-fashioned pen & paper way of writing everything down. And if you still like organization but don’t want any notebooks laying around, here’re 3 apps I use:

Evernote

I take all my notes here (with photographic evidence), map out itineraries, brainstorm blog topics, including writing this exact post before it gets published.

Airtable

This app / website is incredibly helpful in keeping this blog organized and on-track. I use it to sort my posts by collaborations, languages, featured designers and many more, which helps me see the gaps I may need to fill or plan topics I can expand on. The app can be used as a daily activity planner and organizer as well.

Voice Memos on iPhone

Or any other kind of a voice recording app. I use this app to make quick notes to myself as soon as I think of something and don’t have time to type paragraphs out. Highly recommend adapting this habit of recording random thoughts for anyone who may feel a little scattered and needs personal daily reminders.

Before bed

Things you do before going to sleep are probably equally as important for your mental health and stability as the morning routine, at least for me. I’m an extreme night owl and during that above-mentioned mild depression, I went to sleep at 8am. That’s not a typo, people… Eight… A… M… It would already be light out before I could finally attempt to fall asleep! And that heavily contributed to feeling tired and unproductive, so I started to actively change my sleeping habits. Today my before-bed ritual includes a cup of tea (or a glass of wine on the weekend), a mini beauty routine featuring a face mask, lip balm, a moisturizer, and a face roller, herbal valerian root pills to manage anxiety and a 20 minute meditation audio to fall asleep to. I still manage to stay up past 1am sometimes but having a solidified night-time routine to fall asleep to has been revolutionary for my overall mental health and morning energy. I highly recommend finding those few things you find most relaxing before bed: bubble bath, listening to music, watching a movie or limiting yourself to watching one episode of a favorite show, your own beauty routine or anything else that may help you unwind, clear your mind and prepare you for a fresh new day in the morning. Also, establishing that morning routine of happy activities will definitely help you fellow night owls go to bed earlier and feel excited for the morning.

Philanthropy

Something else that may help keep your daily sanity is donating to or supporting causes you believe in. In this crazy world, sometimes the feeling that gets you down the most is helplessness. Keeping up with news of how our world is changing and progressing or regressing can make anyone feel small and powerless, but the reality is that we all can make a difference. Within my own cause here on the blog, I always talk about consumer influence: we as shoppers have the full power over what the fashion industry does next and your next purchase has a direct influence on whether a fashion brand grows, scales down, shuts down completely or shifts their production to a more ethical process. We, as consumers, people, employees, employers, viewers, followers and influencers hold the key to shaping the world of tomorrow. So I highly encourage you to donate your time, money and energy to organizations you believe in. I personally support the ethical fashion industry by shopping and promoting ethical brands and sustainable habits and also donate to organizations supporting animal welfare. And not to make philanthropy sound selfish, but the fact that you’re making a difference and supporting causes that will make our world a better place, will also make you feel good individually.

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About me

I approach this blog as a diary – taking you on my honest sustainable fashion & lifestyle journey, with sustainability aspects I slowly adopt, struggle with and feel passionate about. I’m building INNABOSE.COM to be an informative, visual & creative resource inspiring even the smallest changes in the world.

GENERAL BLOGGING TOPICS YOU’LL FIND HERE INCLUDE

- Sustainable & slow fashion
- Ethical brands & shopping
- Thrifting inspiration
- Unique brands from all over the world
- How to transition your wardrobe to be sustainable

#sustainablefashion

I’m also a Ukrainian New Yorker – having strong pride and patriotism for both: my homeland and my current home . For years, I’ve been on a side mission to capture my stunning NYC and elevate the depth and beauty of my Ukrainian culture, fashion and language (some of my posts are in Ukrainian!)

February 24, 2022 – my digital space shifted to include information about russia’s war on Ukraine, the devastation and destruction my home country is dealing with and the bravery, strength and inspiring spirit they are facing it with. A large portion of my posts today highlight Ukrainian brands, fashion, culture & the strong, incredible Ukrainians making gorgeous clothes you can buy & support local businesses, economy & people fighting for freedom every day. We are also a community who donates to Ukrainian organizations found in any of my recent posts!

#standwithukraine

Inna Bose