Shadowing Practice: the power of choice // EP 100 - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Hello everybody.

Welcome to this week's episode of Pretty Lonesome.

We are back.

We're home.

We're in our home base.

We're in the car.

I'm back in England.

Fashion week is over and I am home for like a week

and I still don't have a place to live in New York so I'm just chilling here crashing at my mum's place.

I have to go to Copenhagen in a couple of days

so I wasn't going to go back to New York and continue my house hunt there so I'm just home.

I'm chilling.

I took my car to get MOT'd yesterday.

You'll never believe it, but it passed.

I almost don't believe it.

I'm not sure how it's possible, but it passed.

I will be honest.

It has started to develop a mold problem in here, but I'm working on it.

I've got these humidifier consumption bags.

What are they called?

They like suck up the humidity so that it gets less damp.

I don't know why it started getting damp in here.

I'm very confused, very concerned, but regardless, we're back.

We are back, bitches.

And when I say that, I do mean it in a very physical and literal sense.

something has come over me lately now I know

when 2026 started we were all like yeah year of the

horse it's like 2016 all over again it's gonna be a good one

and I felt it and I was in on that

but it keeps getting better and I have done a couple of things

that I will of course tell you all about

which have contributed to my I've had an emotional glow up

you guys have no idea I have tell you all about it

but first and foremost I have to thank Alyssa Liu she said struggling makes me feel alive

and I woke up like a sleeper agent yes I woke up my pupils dilated

when I heard that and then I like that literally like

that guys last year we had that little angler fish bitch

that came up to the surface

and everyone was inspired even though it was most definitely a sign of climate crisis

but she inspired the masses

because she was not meant to be at the top of the ocean

and she just wanted to see the sun before she died

and she followed her little light all the way to the sun

and then she died but we all took inspiration from

that right I feel like that was like a movement like an inspirational week

and then this year we have our savior we have our

savior Alyssa Liu I I don't often like feel super inspired

by people like I mostly the content i consume i consume it

because it makes me giggle like i consume a lot of funny content creators

and i consume a lot of

but i don't often get inspired by anyone she inspired me

she woke me up she actually genuinely woke me up out of a fucking slumber

and ever since then i have been reframing a lot in

my head of like i saw this thing on tiktok

and it was some other girl talking about instead of asking like oh what do you spend your time doing

or like what what's your goals and what do you do for work

and like she reframed it as what do you devote your time to

and i was like oh it is

that simple isn't it i was like it's that simple like

because there's a million ways to ask that question and

when you ask it like that well now it gets me excited

because i want to devote my time in certain ways into certain things

and when i think of it as devotion i get fucking excited

and when I think about feeling alive because I'm struggling yeah yes like

that makes my butthole clench because I'm like yes

and a lot of the time I'm very guilty of like

getting spurts of inspiration I talked about this in last week's episode where I'm like I get spurts of inspiration

and motivation but they don't last I don't know how to sustain them

and then it leads to this like fractured trust in myself

because I go too hard and I burn out

and I know how inconsistent I am with my motivation

and my energy

and like I don't take care of myself in order to

sustain giving the right amount of energy to the things

that I want to accomplish or the projects that I want to nurture

and then it leads to me now like I was saying

last week it leads to a fractured trust of with myself

because I now don't even care when I get motivated

because I know that I'm not really going to see it through in the way

that I want to in the moment because I show myself

that time and time again

and then this gradual like shift of reframing to be like what do I devote my time to

and does struggling make me feel alive

and like it it suddenly something in my head was like hello

and I was like right and I remembered who the fuck I am

or once was and wished to be again

and it has been a marvelous month I've had one of the happiest months

that I've had okay if you guys remember the last time

that I was in Paris for fashion week it was like September

or October of last year I posted a YouTube vlog

and it was really sad I was crying and stuff

so embarrassing but I was indeed crying and stuff

and I usually would obviously not post

that kind of content like I would normally cry in private

but that was a

that was a low point for me personally my life was well my life was great

but internally speaking it was a not good

and I I recently just finished another Paris Fashion Week

and I'm not kidding when I tell you I jumped for joy alone in my room

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because I realized I did like I got out like I

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I saved my own life like I did I did it like I did it

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and there's a lot that goes into like getting past something

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or getting over something and there's a lot of like thinking

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and labor and there's a lot of like getting over things mentally

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and emotionally there's a lot of like getting past something like

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a bad experience in your head before it really resonates in

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your body before you can really start to feel free of it

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and I think that all that work needs to be done

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but then one day you do wake up on a random fucking tuesday morning

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and you're like oh my god oh my god i'm over

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it like it just happens like you just wake up one morning

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and all the work has to happen before

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but then you do get to just wake up one morning

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and you're like wait what the fuck i'm i don't care i'm over

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that thing now and it was a bit overdue for me it took a

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while but i got there and that's not to say i'm fucking bulletproof now

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but I realized how far I've come since September to then go to this fashion month

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and be living in the way that I was living

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and feeling the way that I was feeling

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and just like being the person I was in my own like inside of my bedroom

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and inside of my brain and I was like

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I was so gassed guys I was literally like oh my fucking god like I couldn't believe it

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and I was like like i'm like i don't even i

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don't actually have the words to describe how happy i have been feeling

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and it's partly because i've been i think mostly it's

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because i got off adhd meds

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that shit was killing me i was killing me with that

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that shit loki but

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but i feel like i've just it's rare like for the

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first time in a long time i've been feeling like i'm excited to devote time to myself

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if that makes sense

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because there's a lot of instances in life where devoting time to yourself is hard

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because if you're getting past something bad

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or getting through a bad whatever that's difficult you don't want

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to think about it you don't want to dwell in it you don't necessarily always want to do the work

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and maybe go to therapy or do the journaling

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or feel the feelings like you just kind of want to

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like not maybe you want to drink maybe you want to

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have meaningless sex maybe you want to party maybe you want to die

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and rot in bed for weeks on end

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and then you get to another point where it's like you get yourself back just enough

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that you're like wait I remember how this feels

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and now I'm excited to do more of this

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and I actively take joy in devoting time to myself

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and thinking about whatever I want to think about like it just changes it just changes

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and Alyssa Liu did something to me like literally she like changed something about the way

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that I was thinking and then that

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that other person who said like devote what do you devote

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your time to I was like yeah what do I devote my fucking time to like I don't know

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but I want to devote it to something

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and I want to feel I want to think

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and feel like a person who devotes time and energy

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and passion into whatever into myself into my work whatever it

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might be fuck work hard fuck fuck lock in like fuck

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all of this no what do I devote myself to

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and then I was excited

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because I wanted to devote myself i want to be a

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devoted person i don't want to lock in i don't want to grind i don't want to

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sacrifice no i want to devote

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and then i was like oh my god i get to

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devote myself to my work i get to devote myself to myself

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and i'm not gonna lie a big part of me getting

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to this point has been celibacy can't lie can't lie it's

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not really something i want to like overly indulge you guys in information of

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because like loki yuck but i made a very conscious decision around the start of the year

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that i didn't want to be like dating or having casual sex

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or having any talking stages i think i spoke about this

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in a podcast i honestly forget what the fuck i end up saying on these

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but like i made a very conscious decision of like i

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this is something i need to cut out my life

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because it's a fucking time suck for me for me in my life

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that is it's true it's a time suck not for everyone

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but for me and i was like i need to get rid of this

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and it was actually a big part of the reason i wanted to move to new york from la

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because well i just wanted to be alone the idea of

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moving to a new city where I didn't really know anyone

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or have a friend group

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or like you know like I know the odd person in New York

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but like not really that many people I definitely don't have like a group

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or anything I don't really have like that many mutuals for example

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but like that was like number one the scariest part of it

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and the most attractive part of it I was like that's

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what I need I don't like the thought of doing it

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but that is what I need

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and since then I have just been I mean I have still not found an apartment obviously to live in

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so I'm low -key just nomad now

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but I've been living out of a suitcase

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and it's actually been really freeing and really fun

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and I've been able to buy more stuff because I'm not paying rent

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so girl math it is literally I'm saving money

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so it's been really fun I've had a really fun month and I think just like the energy of like

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finally coming back to yourself after a long period of being away from yourself

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and like I've ebbed and flowed I've ebbed and flowed

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and like how much love I give to myself

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and how much time and energy I give to myself

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and how much I self -destruct or not like that's ebbed

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and flowed I've not just been like at a complete loss for the last couple of years is

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But I have not been in a headspace where it is something

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that excites me or something that is at the forefront 24 -7 for me of like, no, I'm devoted to myself and these are the things that I do to keep that in check.

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That has not been my reality for years, like since I was, since before TikTok, since before I started doing the internet.

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And that was such a millennial thing of me to say.

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So since before I started doing the internet, since before I started posting online, fuck's sake.

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But now we're so back oh we are

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so fucking back you have no idea it's been really nice

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and it's been more authentic like i've not been doing the things

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that feel right or look right like forcing myself to read a book

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if i don't want to or like forcing myself to meditate

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and it's like it's been less laborsome to love myself lately it's just been like something i've more

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so embodied in everything that i've done

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and i have been excited to be alone again i've been excited to think my own thoughts

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and come home to myself and talk with myself

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and eat breakfast with myself

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and eat dinner with myself i've just been like this is

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it i just feel good i feel good it's also spring so

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that helps i have a celsius with me today my friend

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got this for me i know i said i was going

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to stop drinking these not sponsored by the way they are horrible for you

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so i can i can say that because i'm not sponsored

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but my friend brought me this today

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so i'm drinking it cheers okay i read something my tiktok

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has been inspiring the hell out of me lately my 40

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page has low -key been like i love how in tune it is with me

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when i'm doing well when i'm doing bad it sinks my ship

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so rapidly but but when i'm doing well it it uplifts me

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and i read this thing and i don't think i could word it better myself

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so i'm just gonna read it to you i'm gonna link the creator

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that posted it because i think that they wrote it themselves

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and i don't want to steal their work or anything

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but i just think everyone needs to hear it

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and it it like had an impact on me okay it had an impact let me actually preface it okay

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so in all of this like finally feeling like i am

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putting the the my focus on what do i devote my time to rather than where am i going

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and who am i becoming

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and no no like right now what am i devoting my time to

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and having that bring me fulfillment and joy rather than the perception of a goal

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or like i think where i've gone wrong in the past has always been

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that my excitement my motivation comes from the idea of the destination of like

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if i do this i can get closer to here

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and then reframing it to be like what do i devote my time to

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and feeling like i'm a person who devotes myself to the things

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that i want to do that is a lot more enjoyable a lot more actionable

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and much more consistent and something you can maintain

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and feel joy for rather than this constant idea of something you're going to have one day

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because also once you get through life a bit you realize

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that you do often obtain the things that you want

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and oftentimes it's not enough especially

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if you're a driven person you always are should be looking

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to the next thing to what can i get now like i already got this okay next

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and it's like that's great it's great to be driven

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but the idea of valuing the process

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and of enjoying the process has always been a tricky one for me

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and i read this thing and it it really changed my perspective

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so let me read it to you i'm going to link the creator

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because i don't want to steal their work but i said this okay

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it said

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that there is a quiet exhaustion in living only for a

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future version of yourself a version polished by discipline decorated with

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achievements finally worthy of rest it is beautiful to dream of becoming stronger wiser softer braver but

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when every sunrise becomes a race towards someone you have not

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yet met the present self is left standing in the shadows

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to live only for who you want to be is to

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treat today as a waiting room you measure your worth by

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distance how far you are from her how much closer you

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need to get you wake up chasing improvement chasing healing chasing success

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and while growth is noble it can quietly turn into a condition i will allow myself to breathe

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when i arrive but what if arrival is not the point what

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if waking up does not always have to be fueled by ambition what

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if some mornings you are allowed to exist simply

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because you are here flawed unfinished still becoming the person you

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want to be is built from the person you already are

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if you keep postponing your appreciation you might miss the miracle

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of your current existence there is gentleness in saying i will grow

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but i will also live i will improve

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but i will also rest i will become

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but i will not abandon who i am now maybe the deepest hope is not to stop striving

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but to stop surviving solely for a future self to wake up not just out of obligation to potential

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but out of gratitude for presence bitch they ate like they ate

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and i love when something is put cohesively i've said this before i love

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when i can put this floating around concept in my brain into like one poem

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or one i actually don't like poetry at all

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but like i know that's an illegal thing to say

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but sorry maybe i just don't know how to read it

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but they fucking ate yes like

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and the thing is it's very easy to read something like

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that and be like yeah yeah yeah

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but then to actually figure out how to like embody it

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and to actually enjoy living for the present

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and to enjoy becoming is such a different ballpark

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and such a different thing to accomplish than to just read

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that and have it resonate but then kind of go back to the way

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that you always were

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and I don't really have a clear -cut way of like

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how I've transformed into being someone who says who really feels it

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because I've always agreed with that I would avoid I would have read

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that at any point in my life and said that is right

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and there's only recently been a shift in my life where I'm like no I like

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that is actually how I feel all the time

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and I don't really know what it is

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that changed it I think I gave my I think one of the biggest things

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that has helped me so far this year is something

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that I actually already knew and it's going back to lessons I learned

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when I was 16 because they've low -key ate all of them

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but one of the things I learned through therapy

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when I was 16 was that it's okay to give up

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and I know that that sounds bad but for me it worked

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because essentially I learned that I can either not leave my house

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because I'm anxious and I don't want to and it's scary

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or I can choose to do it and be really uncomfortable anyway

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and there was a point in my life where I could

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not choose to I didn't have the tools to choose to

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and choosing to would have made it worse

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because I did not have support so there are nuances to this obviously

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but for me I was at a place where it was

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like you need to just do this now you're ready like go

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and be uncomfortable and it's gonna it's gonna pay off

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and one of the ways in

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which I enabled myself to start leaving the house after I was housebound was to understand

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that it's okay if I'm in class for example

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and I'm anxious to give myself pre permission to leave class

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because it's kind of like I always use the analogy of

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an elevator an elevator is not scary until you get stuck in it right a small space isn't

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that scary until you don't think that you can get out of the small space and

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so for me a lot of my anxiety is only really

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in situations where I don't feel like I could leave

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so once I understood at 16 that like

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if I needed to leave class there is no one who could stop me like

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if I need to walk out of the school I will find a way I'll fucking climb the fence

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if I have to but I will go I will put

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that need first and once I knew that I would commit to

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that truth like you don't have to stay I stopped needing to leave

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and it is that simple throughout most of my life and

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so I give myself that

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that privilege of like i don't care who it inconvenience is i don't care what i miss

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if i ever need to leave i'm going to leave

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and it's that simple and have i ever needed to leave no i've never needed to

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because i know that i can and

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if the day comes where i do need to leave whatever the fuck it is

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if if i'm front row okay i probably don't know this loki

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but like if i'm front row at a fashion show

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and i need to fucking leave i will find a way out of

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that room i'm gonna do everything i hell not do

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but like to give yourself this permission of like you're not you're not trapped

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enables you to go into many rooms

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that otherwise you would not be able to go into and

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so for me for my anxiety that's kind of how it worked

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and then I applied

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that to my whole life where I was like struggling creatively

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I was struggling with purpose I was struggling with motivation I

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didn't know why I was posting videos on the internet I didn't know why I was being

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so vulnerable to the internet I it was this whole thing for me

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and then I was like okay I can stop

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and I gave myself permission i literally just looked in the mirror i was like you can stop

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but you have a degree you can go back to school

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you can get a job you can go be a barista

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like you could just stop you don't have to do this

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and then i realized no

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but that's not what i want i do value this i

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love this i cling to this it like it gives me life i love it i've already poured

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so much blood into it why would i give up now

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and then once i've really like you often do have to hit rock bottom

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and not that i was at rock bottom

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but like you almost have to get to

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that point where it's like you give yourself the ultimatum of like look we don't have to keep doing this

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if you're struggling this fucking much you don't have to do it

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and that's when it really becomes clear to you what you want where you're like no

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but i i do want this and i do want to struggle

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and it's like okay so take pleasure in that struggle

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and commit to that struggle and do it with purpose

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but don't just struggle just don't just like struggle in a

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confused way struggle in a passionate way struggle for a purpose struggle

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because you want to struggle because you love this but don't just struggle and not understand that

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it's you know do you understand what i'm saying it's like i had to almost like learn

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that same lesson that freed me from literal shackles

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when i was 16 and free myself from shackles

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that i was in again where i was just in this slump of my life

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and then i kind of realized like hey i could quit

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hey no one's making me do this do i want to

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do this yeah i want to do this okay cool

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so let's fucking actually do this then

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but let's do it the way like do it knowing

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that you don't have to because then you're going to do it with passion

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and because you've decided to you've decided to do it

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and it changed a lot for me and I think

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that learning to love the process is part

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and parcel of deciding to do what you're doing like doing things half -assed

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or doing things that feel hard or feel sometimes pointless

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or feel confusing or that you don't necessarily always wake up motivated

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or inspired to do become a lot more pleasurable and I hate

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that word Loki my mom always used to say the word pleasurable

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and it grows me out it becomes devotion it becomes no

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but i i'm actively deciding to do this even when it's hard

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because i know i can quit

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and i'm look at me i'm not choosing to quit

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and therefore i have to be doing this

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because i'm devoted to it whatever it is whatever goal i have

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or whether it's just to myself or whatever it is right like it could be

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so many different things but i am choosing not to quit therefore this is devotion

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and therefore.. this is commitment and reframing it in that way is so simple

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because guess what number one the time will pass anyway number

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two you're gonna probably do the thing either way you're either

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gonna do it in one mind frame frame of mind

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or another so why not give yourself kudos where you can

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and say like i'm choosing to do this

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because you are with most things in life you're choosing to do them even

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if it feels like you don't really have another you almost

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always have another choice there are very few things in life where your hands are truly truly truly tied

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and that almost feels controversial to say

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but it's not like you always do almost always have a choice

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and whether that choice is limited it's almost always a choice

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and like sometimes you just have to face the ugly alternative of like it's like kind of like

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when you're at maybe

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if you're super depressed you're like okay well I could just like give up on everything

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or I could do something super rogue it's like

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when you have nothing to lose

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that sometimes is the most freeing thing in the whole world i remember

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when i was really young i would think i was on tumblr

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and i saw this post and it was like

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if you're gonna kill yourself anyway you may as well scoop up all your pennies

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or like i think the actual example is like fucking rob a bank

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and move to the most rogue country in the world like

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delete ever sell your phone sell your trousers sell everything you've got moved to a foreign country

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because the alternative is if you're saying fuck it anyway gather everything you've got try something

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so rogue before you just decide to kill yourself

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because look you've got nothing to lose either way I remember how freeing

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that was to me in my 16 year old brain where I was like yeah

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if I ever hit that point that's what I'm gonna do if I ever think I'm gonna

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off myself I am just gonna do something so crazy

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because I'm gonna be

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so free it's kind of the same way how a lot of people say like

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when I get really old I'm gonna try meh you know

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I mean it's like once I have nothing to lose

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and there's really no consequences to the choices

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that I make like I'm on my deathbed I'm obviously trying heroin like I want to know what that's like

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and there's a lot of miniature instances of that throughout life

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that I think can actually be really inspirational

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and it doesn't even have to be

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that you've hit rock bottom it's just like oh my god I feel

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so lackluster I hate my job I hate my life I hate this

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that and the other and it's like okay then we can change things radically

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but if you don't want to if there is part of you

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that does still want to do this that can feel like passion again

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if you decide to choose it because you're either going to keep doing the thing

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that you were doing anyway miserably wishing you were somewhere else

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or you could make a crazy choice and go to whatever

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that somewhere else is a new job a new whatever you could run away

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or that last piece of you that's like no

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but i do want this it's just that i feel

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so blah about it that small part of you

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that still chooses to do it anyway acknowledge it like it's like

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that can be passion you just have to see it as

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that and then it's like a self -fulfilling prophecy that is devotion

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that is passion that is commitment that is like all these other things

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that suddenly feel really good to be embodying oh that's what

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i've been thinking about recently for lack of a for lack of a better explanation i don't really know

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if what i'm saying made sense i think for the first time in my life maybe ever i feel quite

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untethered like i left my house in la

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and i moved to new york supposedly still don't have a house still have i'm just at my mom's

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but like i don't have any flat

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that i'm renting i don't i'm not tied to anywhere I'm

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not supposedly to I'm not really tied to anyone either like I left a lot of my friends in LA

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and I feel really good about it I miss them

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but I know that they're still there

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and I think it's been really good for me to just take a step back

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and be like a little bit more detached from everybody

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and a little bit more detached from everyone I'm in one

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of those phases of life I don't know how else to explain it

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but it feels right and it feels really good

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and it's kind of like all of my eggs were everywhere except in my own basket

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and I kind of pinched them back and was like hey oh you want

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that egg I want that egg I put it in my own basket

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and then I scuttled away and I did that from not just friendships

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or people that I knew but just so many I there were

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so many things I was doing that just were out of survival

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and I chose to not be in survival anymore and

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if I'm someone who doesn't want to live in survival

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or doesn't want to live like someone who hates their life then I need to stop doing the things

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that people who fucking hate their life do I need to

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stop drinking three days out of the week I need to stop going on miserable dates

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that I don't want to go on I need to stop looking for fulfillment in other places

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if there is one place I want my fulfillment it is

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with myself not with another person not with a fun night out not with a accomplishment here

482

and there and not whether this

483

and like I just needed to be like okay I'm cutting like everything out I'm detaching from everything

484

and I'm just gonna like put myself in the shoes of someone who loves their life

485

so I don't drink I don't smoke and I don't go out

486

and I don't stay up late on my phone dreading tomorrow like do I still maybe dread tomorrow sometimes Sometimes.

487

Yes.

488

Do I act like someone who dreads tomorrow?

489

No, because I can't stay there anymore.

490

I couldn't.

491

I couldn't.

492

I couldn't.

493

So I just forced myself.

494

And it's been it's been a really good month because of it.

495

I've only been kind of doing this for a second, but oh, my God, I just can't.

496

I can't even verbalize the relief that it is to finally be redirecting some of my fucking energy into myself,

497

because the amount of it that was just about everywhere else like it was it's bad

498

and I feel like I was even not an extreme case

499

of it I don't know I don't know what I'm saying anymore lol

500

I have indigestion tbh I think that's what I've got for you today I know it's not a lot

501

but I'm gonna watch the Louis Theroux doc

502

and I'm gonna get back to you with my thoughts on the Louis through manosphere documentary

503

because i know i'm gonna have them

504

and i can't wait to talk about it especially after seeing

505

hs sticky talkie live in live in the flesh is

506

that the saying live and direct it's hot the fuck in this car

507

and yeah do you know what's so funny is

508

that i had the worst breakout

509

that i've had in like over a month during fashion week

510

and it has since i the second fashion month ended i

511

have not had a new spot arise on my entire face like what is

512

that about i guess it's because people do my makeup

513

and like my skin just gets annoyed but it's just like brother

514

like what why why my face and fashion week they don't go

515

but i actually it was the best fashion month i've had

516

i was happy i was confident i was comfortable i was well rested

517

because i moved to fucking new york

518

and i was on new york time zone

519

so coming to paris wasn't miserable like it is

520

when you come from la to paris

521

and you can't fucking sleep it was a great choice i

522

made a good choice i'm happy what are my plans for

523

the rest of the day it's only 4 p .m right

524

now i think i'm probably gonna oh i have a tiktok vlog to edit actually

525

and then i'm gonna make some dinner and i hope

526

that you guys have a really good day

527

and a good evening i love you thanks for watching

528

if you watched to this point love you

529

so much well that's it for me this week thanks for

530

watching this week's episode of pretty lonesome i'll see you think i'm same place next week i love you

531

so much bye

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This video has 531 sentences and 6075 words to shadow. The speech runs for 27:04. The speaker talks fast, about 225 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 83% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 less common words from the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

devote /dɪˈvəʊt/ (verb) — to give one's time, focus one's efforts, commit oneself, etc. entirely for, on, or to a certain matter; to consecrate.
passion /ˈpæʃən/ (noun) — A true desire sustained or prolonged.
motivation /ˈmoʊ.tə.veɪ.ʃən/ (noun) — Willingness of action especially in behavior.
consume /kənˈsum/ (verb) — To use up.
devotion /dɪˈvoʊʃən/ (noun) — The act or state of devoting or being devoted; a feeling of being devoted (to something).
chase /t͡ʃeɪs/ (verb) — To follow at speed.
suck /sʌk/ (verb) — To use the mouth and lips to pull in (a liquid, especially milk from the breast).
inspiration /ˌɪn.spɪˈɹeɪ.ʃən/ (noun) — The drawing of air into the lungs, accomplished in mammals by elevation of the chest walls and flattening of the diaphragm, as part of the act of breathing.
lately /ˈleɪt.li/ (adverb) — Recently; not long ago; of late; not long since.
scary /ˈskɛə.ɹi/ (adjective) — Causing fear or anxiety
survival /sɚˈvaɪ.vəl/ (noun) — The fact or act of surviving; continued existence or life.
creator /kɹiːˈeɪ̯təː/ (noun) — Something or someone which creates or makes something.
rogue /ˈɹoʊɡ/ (noun) — A scoundrel, rascal or unprincipled, deceitful, and unreliable person.
necessarily /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/ (adverb) — Inevitably; of necessity.
confused /kənˈfjuːzd/ (adjective) — unable to think clearly or understand

Phrasal verbs you will hear

wake up /ˌweɪk ˈʌp/ (verb) — To stop sleeping; to awake.
live in (verb) — To reside on the premises of one's employer (used especially of domestic staff such as nannies, cooks, maids, etc.)
think about /ˈθɪŋk əˌbaʊt/ (verb) — To ponder.
go back to (verb) — To stem from; to originate in.
get past (verb) — To continue around a blockage; to get around (something); to surpass something that is in the way.
go into (verb) — To get involved in; to investigate or explore.
come from (verb) — To have as one's origin, birthplace or nationality.
get over (verb) — To overcome.

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 247 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, I've. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: worthy /ˈwɝ.ði/, breathe /bɹiːð/, gather /ˈɡæðɚ/, mathematics /mæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪks/, authentic /ɔˈθɛn.tɪk/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: passion /ˈpæʃən/, motivation /ˈmoʊ.tə.veɪ.ʃən/, devotion /dɪˈvoʊʃən/, inspiration /ˌɪn.spɪˈɹeɪ.ʃən/, conscious /ˈkɑn.ʃəs/
Long words — get the stress right: motivation /ˈmoʊ.tə.veɪ.ʃən/, inspiration /ˌɪn.spɪˈɹeɪ.ʃən/, necessarily /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/, anxiety /æŋˈzaɪ.əti/, uncomfortable /ʌnˈkʌm.fɚ.tə.bl̩/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like devote, passion, motivation.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on	have been reframing · I've been living · i've not been doing
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	has started · has come · have done
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	person who said · person who devotes · someone who says
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	was inspired · was not meant · be done

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

Grammar in this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?