a girl named jillian

explore-blog: Ten Things I Wish I Knew Sooner Rather Than Later...

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 08:45:18 -0800

Ten Things I Wish I Knew Sooner Rather Than Later — timeless life-wisdom from the brilliant Debbie Millman, who is wise.

Lyft Blog: Defending Lyft

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 23:55:07 -0800

Lyft Blog: Defending Lyft:

lyftapp:

We launched Lyft in June 2012, and over the past five months it has captured the imagination of the city by demonstrating the power of peer-to-peer ridesharing. More than anything, we believe in the power of community to solve the biggest problems that our generation faces from the economy, to the…

stophatingyourbody: Hi, my name is Stella and I’m here to tell...

Sun, 04 Nov 2012 02:42:12 -0800

stophatingyourbody:

Hi, my name is Stella and I’m here to tell you there is nothing wrong with your body. Every roll, crease, crevice, bone, part, wrinkle, dimple, or so-called “imperfection” is absolutely okay as it is. In fact, it’s fucking wonderful.

We hear this said a lot - “She/he has a great body.” Well, shit. That must mean that something called a bad body exists out there. But here’s the good news - it’s a lie.

There is no such thing as a good or bad body. Our bodies are all beautiful because they are vessels for our souls. They allow us to feel, express, hurt, love, laugh, cry, and most importantly create change in the world. So why are we all so fixated with our boney knees, our chubby cheeks, our short legs, or thick thighs?

My body happens to be curvaceous. I have never been small, and never will be. And that’s just fucking fine. I am a happy, healthy, size 10/12 who has been blessed with an able body that tries it’s best to work with me, not against me. My body allows me to go to college. My body lets me walk my dogs. My body lets me hug my mom and dad. And most importantly, my body enables me to help others in need.

And yet, I used to hate every inch of it.

My fucked up head told me many things as a little girl. It told me I was too fat, too tall, had weird teeth, was too manly, too curvy, and all together too ugly to be worthy of love. Whether this was implanted in my brain my society or I was born with a self-destructive vendetta, I don’t know. And it doesn’t matter. What matters is how I treated myself.

I hurt my body in ways I wish upon nobody. I won’t get into specifics here, but there are a variety of actions one can take in order not to feel. Because that was the ultimate goal for me. If I could just shut my brain off, I wouldn’t feel so goddamn fat all the time. After years of trying to change myself, to be skinny, to be “desirable”, to be pretty, or popular, or any of the other BULLSHIT things I thought I needed to be happy,

I made peace with my vessel.

How do we make peace with our bodies? It starts with gratitude.

Start by thanking your body for what it can do. Are you a runner? A singer? An excellent cuddler? You can thank your body for enabling you to do that. Do you have a really interesting birthmark? Engaging eyes? Arched eyebrows? You can thank your body for being so goddamn fascinating to look at.

Most importantly, put a little love for your body into your daily routine.

For me (and this is JUST my experience, everyone has different experiences), I exercise, eat things of nutritional value, and when I want some fucking ice cream, I EAT SOME FUCKING ICE CREAM.

I stopped letting the chatter in my head about what it means to be beautiful dictate my life. Every day is not easy. Sometimes I wake up and wish I looked like someone else. But mostly, I’m grateful and proud of what I have. I make it a goal to treat myself and others with loving kindness, because it is not my business what size anyone is. It’s not even my business what size I AM.

WHY focus on all the things I think are wrong with me, when I can focus on what’s right?

I am a good friend. I’m a talented singer. I go a great college, which I got into because I’m a capable student, not because my stomach was the right size. I love my big, sexy hair, my curvy hips, and my shapely calves. I even respect by stomach rolls, because they are a part of me.

If you get anything out of this post, I hope it’s a little more appreciation for your body. Remember that whatever made you, whether you believe it was God, evolution, the Force of the Universe, Yahweh, Buddha, Allah, or simply, um - your parents - THEY DIDN’T MAKE NO JUNK.

You are a fucking remarkable person in your own right. If you let others or your own messed-up head tell you what it means to be beautiful, acceptance of yourself will be difficult.

I encourage you to speak out. To feel. To struggle. To stop a conversation when it turns to body-shaming. To not put down other body types to feel better about your own. There is no need to be perfect - the road to loving your body is a long and difficult one.

But I promise you it is worth it.

If you want to talk, anytime day or night, please email me at stellarose@nyu.edu

I just started a blog called thebodyloveblog.tumblr.com which I hope is going to blossom into a celebration of fashion, shape, and the general sexiness of the human population. Check it out if you’d like.

Oh, one more thing -

I love you, just as you are in this moment. I hope you can one day feel the same about yourself.

Puppies, smiles, and rainbows,

Stella

BE BRAVE! JOIN THE BODY PEACE REVOLUTION!

just thought i’d reblog my original SHYB post :3

treesandrocks: A girl from my hometown killed herself today...

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 22:39:59 -0700

treesandrocks:

A girl from my hometown killed herself today because of bullying. I saw an angry post on my sister’s Facebook feed, and then another and another. The girl was ten years younger than me. I didn’t know her, nor her family, to the best of my knowledge. My condolences go out to them.

Children die because of bullying. My sister survived it. I survived it. We survived separately; I don’t remember really talking to her about it. I noticed what it did to her. She probably saw a few signs in me as well.

I was lucky that my bullying could be easily put in a box. My bully had four or five faces, not a mob. My bully was abused; my bully wore too much makeup; my bully was a confused lesbian; my bully was a group of frustrated cocks; my bully was a liar. I labelled them like a superstition. If I understood, they couldn’t hurt me. They couldn’t hurt me from their box. But I also couldn’t put it down. Bullies are a burden.

I’m a Scorpio. Some say that means I hold a grudge. I saw a few of my bullies just last weekend at my 10-year high school reunion. I was nervous before going, but I was also looking forward to the party.

Sure enough, I made eye contact with two girls who had targeted me in high school (I had gotten apologies from all of the boys years ago). A few others were no shows. But after ten years… eye contact. Then we looked away, and went back to talking to our friends.

That was the extent of their ability to touch me now. A knowing glance. Some might even call that a relationship. And I could dissect it as such - was it an apology, was it a threat, was it degenerative myopia - if I so chose…

So I stood in a ballroom at a golf course having imaginary relationships with some girls who thought they could shift my life story here and there and around at the age of 17, and I had fun. Because I never bullied back, and I never bullied myself. I took it out on my parents though. The things I used to say when I was mad. Must have learned them at school…

My bullies could be easily put in a box. I put them in there, so I wouldn’t forget the nature of things, and have carried that box around with me for ten years. Every once in a while, kind of the way a shock wave radiates out from the epicentre of an earthquake, I would smack someone with that box.

Bam. I wouldn’t tell them what was IN the box. I would just use it as a weapon. I am a saboteur. But thankfully, it’s a skill, much like throwing a curveball, that declines with age. After a while, you aren’t fooling anyone.

Every time I encounter a bully as an adult, in the work place, in a new friend group, I look at that box that I can’t get rid of and think, I don’t want that to get any heavier. And I block the bully out. I have quit once because of a bullying boss. Because I could. That felt good.

There is a small window of life were bullies carve their initials into your psyche. The tree grows, and inspires wonderful change and art and magic, and it gets tougher. But the markings remain. Sitting at the base of the trunk, not as a grudge, but as a reminder of the fragility of youth.

I don’t mind the reminder. I put my friends from highschool in their own box as well. Sometimes, when I feel the initials KH or JM or E-(I-don’t-remember-her-last-name) itching my skin like scrape, about mid-calf, I check the other box for DO and DW and LS and all the blood from the cuts and the wounds reroutes straight to my heart. And it feels full.

And then I forget, and my heart goes back to pumping like an averagely-pumping fist and I reach for the soap (my mind wanders the most in the shower). After all, high school was just a box, in a place, a long time ago.

#RIPAmandaTodd

"HOW NOT BE BORING HAVE PERSONALITY EASY. ANSWER THREE QUESTIONS: 1. HOW YOU CHANGE CUSTOMER’S LIFE?..."

Mon, 01 Oct 2012 20:19:12 -0700

“HOW NOT BE BORING HAVE PERSONALITY EASY. ANSWER THREE QUESTIONS: 1. HOW YOU CHANGE CUSTOMER’S LIFE? 2. WHAT YOU STAND FOR? 3. WHO OR WHAT YOU HATE? NOW HAVE MISSION, VALUES, ENEMY. THAT ENOUGH FOR MINIMUM VIABLE PERSONALITY. KEEP IN BRAIN WHEN WRITE, TALK, BLOG, TWEET. ITERATE. IMPROVE WHAT WORK. DELETE WHAT NOT. PERSONALITY GROW.”

- A VC: Minimum Viable Personality

Phenomenal guest post on AVC today.

(via dshan)

Troubled Times The moons / stars / planets must not be aligned...

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 00:40:20 -0700

Troubled Times

The moons / stars / planets must not be aligned in the right lovey dovey way right now. So many…

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urbannativegirl: Feather necklace + Skull necklace = Win.

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 22:12:27 -0700

urbannativegirl:

Feather necklace + Skull necklace = Win.

tbazz: My head says “yes”, but my heart says...

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 22:12:15 -0700

tbazz:

My head says “yes”, but my heart says “no”.

buzzfeed:

Leather track pants are super in right now and kind of perfect for fall if you think about it:

ELASTIC WAISTBANDS!

The fit is forviging.

They’re probably warm and wind-resistant.

They’re a version of track pants fashion snobs will have a much harder time hating on.

“There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave...

Sun, 16 Sep 2012 07:27:59 -0700

“There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.” - CS Lewis (Taken with Instagram)

Photo

Sun, 16 Sep 2012 07:20:25 -0700

"I hope one day I can figure out how to love the way that you love me."

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 21:42:54 -0700

““I hope one day I can figure out how to love the way that you love me.””

- Paige (Rachel McAdams) in The Vow (via urbannativegirl)

"‘What happens when people open their hearts?’ Cigarette dangling from her lips, Reiko clasped her..."

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 12:05:19 -0700

“‘What happens when people open their hearts?’ Cigarette dangling from her lips, Reiko clasped her hands together on the table. She was enjoying this. ‘They get better,’ she said.”

- Haruki Murakami - Norwegian Wood (via murakamistuff)

Photo

Thu, 21 Jun 2012 21:13:42 -0700

ideafreaksaremusicgeeks: Ellie Goulding - High For This (The...

Fri, 08 Jun 2012 00:31:50 -0700

ideafreaksaremusicgeeks:

Ellie Goulding - High For This (The Weeknd Cover)

Yes! This. If you haven’t heard The Weeknd’s first free release, House of Baloons, grab it here and rest assured it’s beautiful. This highlights that with the unique vocal styling of Ellie Goulding. This is a really delicate, thoughtful cover of the original, which is testament to how much other artists are impressed by The Weeknd.

// http://soundcloud.com/elliegoulding/ellie-goulding-high-for-this

tr-agedy: YEP.

Thu, 17 May 2012 23:47:20 -0700

tr-agedy:

YEP.

mentis-literis: NASA Earth as seen by Apollo 8 astronauts...

Tue, 15 May 2012 23:14:55 -0700

mentis-literis:

NASA

Earth as seen by Apollo 8 astronauts orbiting the moon on December 29, 1968

ofpeaceandlove

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 23:46:35 -0700

ofpeaceandlove

The Lair of the Angry Chinese Man: An HR Professional's Recruiting Rage

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 12:40:20 -0700

The Lair of the Angry Chinese Man: An HR Professional's Recruiting Rage: I don’t know what to say other than I am dying with laughter.

veryangrychineseman:

It’s been a while but I AM BACK!!!!

So Jillian Walker (@jillianwalker), a fabulous HR ~~Dungeon Master~~ Professional I have come to know on twitter posted some awesomely rageful RECRUITING RANTS the other day. Getting into the field myself, I found her rants to be sage advice for what NOT TO DO…

Video

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 00:20:01 -0700

attentionindustry: Human Readable Terms / Policies /...

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 23:09:13 -0700

attentionindustry:

Human Readable Terms / Policies / Guidelines

Tumblr won a piece of my heart with this, probably the first large-scale social network TOS that is organized in a way that indicates it’s designed to be read.

Broken into three sections (TOS, Privacy Policy, and Community Guidelines) and written with a hint of Tumblr’s community tone and manner (Check out the last two images), this is a step beyond most companies, in terms of making a legal document for human beings.

It’s still a lot of text, and could stand some consolidation or guidance, but for now? I’m calling this as a best in class example.

Bravo.