I hope you guys enjoy this printable I made for annotation! ☺️
YouTube Video that pairs with post:
I hope you guys enjoy this printable I made for annotation! ☺️
YouTube Video that pairs with post:
I realized that after so many blog post I’ve YET to post one on my media page! So, here is my current summer read.
Book: Wings of Starlight ❄️
Summary: This story focuses on Queen Clarion, a young fairy on the verge of becoming a Queen, and her relationship with Lord Milori!
Setting: Pixie Hollow
Plot: In Clarions journey into proving her worthiness of leading Pixie Hollow, she comes across the truth of the division of the seasons. Overtime, a forbidden relationship begins to bubble up, which leads to a heartbreaking story. ( or does it🤭)
Note: This book for Tinkerbell fans is the prequel of the movie ‘ Secret of the Wings. Which told the story of two sisters, Tinkerbll and Periwinkle trying to rekindle after being separated at birth. In the movie, we learn a bit about why their rekindling is hard by the story of Queen Clarion and Lord Milori.
My current thoughts before reading the book: honestly, I think I’m going to love it!! I love the Tinkerbell series and it seems like an overall easy read!❄️🌞

Amazon Link: https://amzn.to/4kqS07v
Barnes and Noble Link: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wings-of-starlight-allison-saft/1145552828
Amazon link is affiliated so I can possibly earn commission from purchase, thank you for supporting my blog!!
Some days just feel heavy. Today is one of those days for me. I feel sad, not for one specific reason, just life in general.
But even in the sadness, I’ve been learning how to care for myself in small, gentle ways. I’m not trying to fix my mood or force myself to be okay. Instead, I focus on reconnecting with myself through things that feel peaceful, comforting, or creatively fulfilling.
Here are some of the things that help me connect back to myself when life feels rough:
Baking helps me get out of my head and into something simple. Mixing ingredients, putting something in the oven, and waiting for a warm treat to come out brings me comfort.
When I’m feeling a little more creative, like today, I’ll try developing a new recipe. I’ll set up my phone to film the process and jot notes in a notebook. It doesn’t take much out of me, but it makes me feel present and peaceful.
What I baked Today: Cinnamon Rolls

Meditation didn’t always come naturally to me. In the beginning, it felt a little awkward, and I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be doing.
But once I found what works for me—headphones, a neck pillow, and frequency music—it became a way to slow down and hear my thoughts without judgment.
As someone who overthinks a lot, I’ve realized how important meditation is, especially for creatives. We carry so much in our minds and bodies. Meditation helps us sort through that and actually connect with our vision.
In person, I tend to trip over my words or blank out. I leave things unsaid without meaning to.
But when I write, I can finally express what I’m trying to say. Writing is how I process things and how I find clarity.
It’s the reason I started this blog. I needed a space to speak freely in my own way. Writing is also where I get most of my video ideas from, especially when I’m stuck in a creative block.
I love anything that lets me get my hands messy. Clay, painting, drawing, anything creative.
On sad days, I don’t force myself to make anything perfect. I just let myself explore. Sometimes I go for something super chill and simple, other days I try something new. Either way, I always feel a little more energized afterward.


There’s something about slow, peaceful movies that helps calm my mind.
Studio Ghibli movies are my go-to. They’re soft, immersive, and beautifully animated. They don’t feel like background noise. I actually have to sit and watch. When I do, I leave feeling inspired and re-centered.
Sometimes the best thing I can do is just move.
Whether it’s dancing around my room( which I can do for hours), stretching for five minutes, or doing a super light workout, movement helps me release tension.
I don’t push myself too hard. I just let my body move the way it wants to. The goal is to shake off the stress and feel more grounded.
Taking care of my body helps me feel safe and supported.
That could mean doing my skincare routine, breathing deeply, or gently parenting myself through a tough emotion. These little acts of care remind me that I’m allowed to slow down. I don’t have to push through everything.
So much of life is spent doing things out of survival. Jobs we don’t like, routines we never chose.
But when I let myself create the way I want to, live how I want to, and follow what feels aligned for me, I start to feel like I’m actually living intentionally.
The day-to-day doesn’t feel as draining when I give myself permission to build a life that reflects who I am. Not someone else’s version. Not society’s idea. Just mine. Currently, doing what I want is me creating on Youtube and my blog. No hassle no expectation just creation.
Yes, it really is the phone sometimes.
But instead of forcing a full disconnect, I’ve learned to reprogram the way I use it.
I unfollow people who drain me. I follow accounts that make me feel inspired and uplifted. I delete apps that flood my mind with negativity. For me, that’s TikTok.
One app I’ve been loving lately is Substack. It gives me something nourishing to read each morning, which is helping me get back into long-form content.
Here are a couple of Substack Post that i have been loving:
Even if I can’t take a month off social media, I try to unplug for just one week out of the month. During that time, I only use my phone to talk to the people I care about. That small change makes a big difference in how I feel.
Sleep is the reset button I forget to press.
Sometimes I feel guilty for resting, like I should be doing something more productive first. But I’m learning that without rest, my body has no fuel. And without fuel, I can’t build the life I want.
You don’t have to earn your rest. You don’t have to stay up one more hour to check something off your list. Just sleep. Let your body recharge so you can wake up with new energy and a clear mind.
Lately, I’ve been trying to take the moment to sleep slightly longer or just take power naps. Honestly, It’s something I have to grow used to, just giving myself the space to sit and do nothing for a bit.
You don’t need to be perfect to deserve peace. You don’t need to always be happy to care for yourself.
On hard days, you’re allowed to move slowly. You’re allowed to pause and tend to your spirit.
These rituals are what help me reconnect with myself. Gently, honestly, and without pressure. I hope they remind you that you’re allowed to return home to yourself too.
Questions: How do you make yourself feel better when you are in a slump? What methods works for you that you would love to share?
Some days just feel heavy. Today is one of those days for me. I feel sad, not for one specific reason, just life in general.
But even in the sadness, I’ve been learning how to care for myself in small, gentle ways. I’m not trying to fix my mood or force myself to be okay. Instead, I focus on reconnecting with myself through things that feel peaceful, comforting, or creatively fulfilling.
Here are some of the things that help me connect back to myself when life feels rough:
Baking helps me get out of my head and into something simple. Mixing ingredients, putting something in the oven, and waiting for a warm treat to come out brings me comfort.
When I’m feeling a little more creative, like today, I’ll try developing a new recipe. I’ll set up my phone to film the process and jot notes in a notebook. It doesn’t take much out of me, but it makes me feel present and peaceful.
What I baked Today: Cinnamon Rolls

Meditation didn’t always come naturally to me. In the beginning, it felt a little awkward, and I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be doing.
But once I found what works for me—headphones, a neck pillow, and frequency music—it became a way to slow down and hear my thoughts without judgment.
As someone who overthinks a lot, I’ve realized how important meditation is, especially for creatives. We carry so much in our minds and bodies. Meditation helps us sort through that and actually connect with our vision.
In person, I tend to trip over my words or blank out. I leave things unsaid without meaning to.
But when I write, I can finally express what I’m trying to say. Writing is how I process things and how I find clarity.
It’s the reason I started this blog. I needed a space to speak freely in my own way. Writing is also where I get most of my video ideas from, especially when I’m stuck in a creative block.
I love anything that lets me get my hands messy. Clay, painting, drawing, anything creative.
On sad days, I don’t force myself to make anything perfect. I just let myself explore. Sometimes I go for something super chill and simple, other days I try something new. Either way, I always feel a little more energized afterward.


There’s something about slow, peaceful movies that helps calm my mind.
Studio Ghibli movies are my go-to. They’re soft, immersive, and beautifully animated. They don’t feel like background noise. I actually have to sit and watch. When I do, I leave feeling inspired and re-centered.
Sometimes the best thing I can do is just move.
Whether it’s dancing around my room( which I can do for hours), stretching for five minutes, or doing a super light workout, movement helps me release tension.
I don’t push myself too hard. I just let my body move the way it wants to. The goal is to shake off the stress and feel more grounded.
Taking care of my body helps me feel safe and supported.
That could mean doing my skincare routine, breathing deeply, or gently parenting myself through a tough emotion. These little acts of care remind me that I’m allowed to slow down. I don’t have to push through everything.
So much of life is spent doing things out of survival. Jobs we don’t like, routines we never chose.
But when I let myself create the way I want to, live how I want to, and follow what feels aligned for me, I start to feel like I’m actually living intentionally.
The day-to-day doesn’t feel as draining when I give myself permission to build a life that reflects who I am. Not someone else’s version. Not society’s idea. Just mine. Currently, doing what I want is me creating on Youtube and my blog. No hassle no expectation just creation.
Yes, it really is the phone sometimes.
But instead of forcing a full disconnect, I’ve learned to reprogram the way I use it.
I unfollow people who drain me. I follow accounts that make me feel inspired and uplifted. I delete apps that flood my mind with negativity. For me, that’s TikTok.
One app I’ve been loving lately is Substack. It gives me something nourishing to read each morning, which is helping me get back into long-form content.
Here are a couple of Substack Post that i have been loving:
Even if I can’t take a month off social media, I try to unplug for just one week out of the month. During that time, I only use my phone to talk to the people I care about. That small change makes a big difference in how I feel.
Sleep is the reset button I forget to press.
Sometimes I feel guilty for resting, like I should be doing something more productive first. But I’m learning that without rest, my body has no fuel. And without fuel, I can’t build the life I want.
You don’t have to earn your rest. You don’t have to stay up one more hour to check something off your list. Just sleep. Let your body recharge so you can wake up with new energy and a clear mind.
Lately, I’ve been trying to take the moment to sleep slightly longer or just take power naps. Honestly, It’s something I have to grow used to, just giving myself the space to sit and do nothing for a bit.
You don’t need to be perfect to deserve peace. You don’t need to always be happy to care for yourself.
On hard days, you’re allowed to move slowly. You’re allowed to pause and tend to your spirit.
These rituals are what help me reconnect with myself. Gently, honestly, and without pressure. I hope they remind you that you’re allowed to return home to yourself too.
Questions: How do you make yourself feel better when you are in a slump? What methods works for you that you would love to share?
YouTube video that pairs with the article:
A personal story
Why is it that for some of us, change feels so hard? Sometimes it even feels harder than suffering in comfort. That strange sense of comfort, even when it’s uncomfortable, can feel safer. Honestly, that’s how I felt for most of 2025. Like I was Simply existing.
There were moments throughout the year when I was jolted out of that feeling, but the fear of change quickly crept back in and consumed me. It felt unnatural to want more for myself, so instead of working through those fears, I sat with them in silence. I ignored them, hoping they would go away. Eventually, the things I once found comfort in began to fall apart. The blissful fruit withered. I came to realize what I was experiencing wasn’t burnout from overworking, but from settling. For a while, I faded into the background, not wanting to be a burden or add more stress. In doing so, I dimmed myself. I tucked away parts of me that deserved light.
A few weeks ago, I wrote an essay for my English class about the path I’m currently on. In my first draft, I noticed something was off. There was a huge disconnect. Rather than acknowledging my fears as internal, I found myself pointing fingers at society, at my family, and everything but me. While those external pressures are real and valid, I realized something important: in the end, only I can decide how I live. Whether I’m liked or not, I’m the one who has to live with me. So why not be the person who creates the life I’m meant to live. I submitted my first draft, even though I felt disconnected. And, as expected, both my peers and professor noticed it too. It wasn’t until I truly reconnected with myself that I wrote the final version… and I loved it.
These days, I often remind myself: “It’s not a matter of if, but when.” Why deny myself something I was born to experience. That mindset is what led me back to my blog (again). It’s this intuitive pull that keeps telling me: I’m meant to be here. I’m meant to write. No matter the circumstances. Creative expression is how I leave my mark.
Change has opened so many small but meaningful doors for me, ones I wouldn’t have seen if I had stayed still. I wouldn’t have discovered my love for school if I hadn’t gone back. I wouldn’t have discovered my love for writing if I hadn’t started my blog. And I wouldn’t have realized I’m actually pretty good at storytelling if I never tried creating for YouTube. Each of these steps felt uncomfortable at first, but right. While these changes may seem small, choosing to make them, rather than staying stuck in a cycle of just existing, is what helped me emerge from burnout. Honestly, it might even be what’s dissolving the fear I’ve held onto for years.
So, here’s what I’ve learned: never be afraid of the vision planted in your mind. No matter how limited things may feel, your dreams wouldn’t exist if they weren’t meant to be lived out by you. Nourish the plant within you. Water it with belief, intention, and movement. Because yes, change is hard, but never changing is harder.
YouTube Video Audio Version:
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What made me write this post:
As a kid, I really loved reading, especially in my English classes. I remember how engaged we’d get with the books: dissecting characters, analyzing storylines, imagining the locations. I loved it all. Somewhere along the way, as I got older, that passion began to fade. I stopped reading regularly, mostly because I didn’t have to anymore. Without the structure of school, I didn’t feel compelled to just pick up a book and read.
Over time, I started noticing changing in myself, especially in my speech. My vocabulary felt limited, and I found myself struggling to recall words or express myself the way I used to. It frustrated me. That is when I decided to try reading again. Something was blocking me. I could not fully immerse myself in the books like I once did. Especially in this age of constant stimulation and scrolling, it was hard to just sit with a story. Everything shifted when I stumbled across a video on book annotation. It opened up a new world!! One that made reading interactive again. I already had highlighters and a pencil, so I grabbed some annotation tabs and a dictionary… and started.
That dictionary by the way is one of my favorite tools and one I rarely see mentioned in annotation content. It’s made such a huge difference. I’ll explain why later in the post, but I wanted to share a quick backstory on how I reconnected with reading. How annotation helped me read books in a more immersive way.
Why I annotate:
One thing people don’t talk about enough when it comes to burnout or stress is memory loss. Over time, things that were once easy to remember became a huge strain. For me, this showed up with words. I started mixing up phrases or forgetting the exact word I wanted to use, and it became frustrating. That all began to heal when I started annotating. I noticed my memory, especially with vocabulary, began improving. I even started having little vocabulary sessions with myself, looking up words I didn’t know, unlinking them, using a dictionary. Over time, I started remembering the little things again. Word and clarity came back to me.
2. Deepens connection with characters and world
Now I love putting myself into storylines, imaging what I’d do in a characters place. If I could live as Elizabeth Darcy for a day? 10/10 would. That’s what annotating gives me, a deeper sense of emotional immersion. I feel like I’m living through the characters. Their experiences become my own. I laugh with them, ache with them, and feel for them. Its refreshing.
3. It feels like journaling, but with a book.
If you enjoy journaling like I do, annotation is going to feel similar. Its like writing your thoughts, reactions, and emotions into the book itself. Instead of using a separate notebook you’re chatting directly with the author, the characters, and the themes.
My annotation tools:
Links Provided

I personally write directly in my books, but it that’s not your style, you can use transparent sticky notes, they’re great if you want to preserve your pages and still take notes.
My color code system:


Why I use a Dictionary: Instead of grabbing my phone, which usually ends up in me doom scrolling, I use a physical dictionary. It keeps me in the reading zone and helps me truly remember the new words I encounter.


How I annotate:
Highlighting: If there’s a quote I want to return to, I highlight it and mark it with a tab.
Example (In Pride and Prejudice)
“Women’s class status is traditionally determined by their father or husband.” I marked this line because it still reflects societal dynamics today. It made me stop and think.


Stars: If something really hits, I’ll draw a little star besides it for emphasis.
Example:
“A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.” This line caught my attention as it highlights that a person can have a strong sense of self respect without needing constant external validation. It made me think of Elizabeth and Darcy’s self-awareness, and Mary’s tendency to over-intellectualize.

My annotation ritual:
To be honest, I can’t annotate unless I’m in a cozy, quiet space, no chaos, no distractions. I need to feel present and aware.
Music: I enjoy nice jazz or very soft music! Song like Polaroid love by Enhypen
Pomodoro Timer: Helps me stay focused without rushing
Link to pomodoro timer I use: https://youtu.be/b47w3f5PQJI?si=J4gOMrOVbYsTh9N-
Reflection: After reading, I enjoy reading a brief summary of what I read! It helps me refresh my mind and close out my reading session in a nice mood.
That’s all for my annotating post!! I hope this post gives you some inspiration to reconnect with reading in a creative and mindful way. Your copy doesn’t have to be perfect or pretty, it just has to reflect you. Let your notes be messy, emotional, and honest.
Question:
Do you annotate? If so, what is your ideal method? If not, would you want to try it this way?
Some links provided are affiliated and I do make a small commission, Thank you!