What does "living a life" even mean?

LIVE YOUR LIFE!

Be free.

Images tend to pop into my head of beaches, wind, running in fields, drinking water and tea, jumping, smiling and all bright scenery.

I keep striving to live my life, when life really isn't like any of those things. Those things are mostly what "life" looks like in yogurt commercials, or just media in general. Happiness fades to white in the movies.

I keep trying to "live my life" without a clue except those put out by the media. While I've been trying to figure out how to "live my life" life is just happening. I have realized this and then I think, "I need to stop pretending to live my life and ACTUALLY live my life". That is when I begin to think about travel, going for walks, eating healthy and writing. It is a bit more realistic, and that is what I want.

But really I should be focusing on everything in life. I tend to think I am not even living when I am at work. I am just acting in a role, which is true. I am just doing whatever at work to get by.

My point is that these dumb images implanted into our minds about "living" are really corrupting our idea of what "living" looks like.

For example: This yogurt  commercial

Really? It shows a mother and daughter walking on a sidewalk, and the mother decides to jump into a puddle in heels because she has strong bones because of yogurt.

After she jumps into the puddle she runs/walks away with her daughter, "living life".

Okay, jumping into a puddle has nothing to do with life as a whole, but at the end of the commercial as the music gets gleeful and louder, arguably, she seems to have a super happy life, ultimately because of yogurt. What? Okay.

Here is another commercial, by Dove chocolate that demonstrates my point with greater strength.

The commercial begins to talk about stresses women go through in terms of beauty, and tells you "We're only human". Sure, this is a positive message. But the commercial still makes one seem like life is suddenly completely at bliss, for just a moment while eating Dove chocolate.

Have you tried to eat chocolate and feel like that? I have. Sure, you can act like you are enjoying the hell out of that piece of chocolate, but it really does not do much. Dove chocolate is not going to give you bliss and allow you to "live your life".

It is commercials and media like this that confuse everyone's idea of "living a life".

I don't like the phrase "Live your life" or anything like that anymore. It has a weird connotation of jumping and running in fields which never really happens.

Living your life is what you are doing right now. All I really get from the phrase "live your life" denotatively is not to die. So really, by saying "live your life", you are denotatively saying "don't die". Connotations have things like field running.

I always had this image in my mind of living on a farm, with a huge house but no barn animals besides a horse or two. Just having a large field to be able to go into, write in, walk through, dare I say to run through. But now I look at this with realistic eyes and although this could happen, it is not what my life is ultimately leading up to. Also, yogurt will not help this. Earning money with hard work will. My life wouldn't even be bliss if this image became reality because I would still have to have money to either buy a lawnmower or hire a lawn mower to mow the huge lawn. I would still have to pay for the house, upkeep, bills. Even that wouldn't be bliss.

Nothing is bliss, really. I suppose that is arguable. The definition of "bliss" is paradise, perfect happiness, etc. Nothing is really perfect, therefore bliss does not exist. There is no such thing as perfection. The mug I am drinking my coffee out of has no chips or stains on it, but it is still not perfect. I am left handed so I don't look at the design on the front of the mug while drinking. It doesn't keep my coffee warm. Where does perfection start and end? It really doesn't. Perfection is an idea that exists but it cannot be experienced. We could perhaps feel a false perfection for brief periods of time, but it isn't permanent and also is not even a true sense of perfection. True perfection is not there. Find any example and prove it to me, maybe I will change my mind.

All I know is that that perfect "life living" that is depicted in these commercials is not there.

Do you have an image of "life living" different from these commercials? I am interested in what men think, since these commercials tend to be focused on women. Do you feel the same way? Is your "life living" different (like throwing a football to your sons)? I feel like I've seen commercials like that. Getting out of your nice car, throwing a football to your son while your labrador follows you. I don't know, you tell me.

Psychological Disorders Exist and People can Function with Them

It's not uncommon knowledge that people think psychological disorders are too common and are over-diagnosed. I fell victim to hearing people say how fake ADD/ADHD was and how doctors are just pushing pills.

My outlook on psychological disorders is that they do exist. The thing is that so many people have them now that they are more normalized. So many people have these disorders that it is just a common everyday thing. They don't even necessarily needed to be stopped.

Let me tell you about the time I thought that ADD/ADHD was fake.

My mom used to talk about how doctors were just pushing pills and ADD/ADHD was over-diagnosed. My mom would also say that ADHD was a result of poor parenting. Nope. I doubt this to high hell, especially now that I am a psych major.
 
Sure, some people have ADHD a lot stronger than others. Okay. Everybody experiences their disorder differently from someone else who has the same disorder.

When did I realized ADHD was really a thing? When I was peer tutoring in high school I helped this one girl in particular. I became aware of her ADHD when the teacher showed me everyone's IEPs (individualized education plans, given to people with special requirements for learning). I was skeptical, which is a good thing. But I really noticed her ADHD when I worked with her one-on-one. When I was working in a group with her I just figured it was her being bubbly and social with the group and the whole group getting off task. I was alone with her while she was writing a test and she literally just stopped writing and stared off into the distance. She started playing with her belly-button ring and just stopped focusing.

I talked to her more about her ADHD and she basically used it as an excuse to not do work. Nope. Just nope. That was not okay with me. I told her that so many people with ADHD and other learning disorders are highly successful. I taught her how to love school. This isn't my point.

My point was I soon learned that ADHD is real. Even pills don't help too much.

I think that the major thing with all disorders is not curing them but ensuring that people get treatment if they want it or require it but also showing them how people are successful in life with that disability.

I am sure the internet is filled with highly successful individuals that have learning and other psychological disabilities.

So many people do have them. I think it is fine to be skeptical about certain diagnoses. There is a high comorbidity of anxiety and depression as a diagnosis. I think this is something to be skeptical of. But maybe not being skeptical of the disorder being diagnosed at a high rate, but being skeptical of the society in which people are being diagnosed. If so many people are being diagnosed with this, maybe we need to look at the environmental factors to see why. I doubt that it is purely biological for most people.

Anxiety and depression, as an example, can be caused by stress, hormones... basically the entire time people are in middle school until university/college graduation.

Why is this on my mind? I have a friend who has a diagnosis and her "friend" was basically disbelieving her. It was just frustrating her more.

It is also on my mind because I was just diagnosed with dysthymia. Don't worry about me though. Dysthymia is a moderate form of depression that is long-lasting, perhaps life-long. I am not being treated for it at all. Why? Well. The psychiatrist and I traced dysthymia back to grade 10. I have had it for 3 years already and the diagnoses is to have had it for 2+ years. I have lived successfully. Certainly, dysthymia definitely gives me a unique perspective on things. I am negative. I am skeptical. I don't see this as a disadvantage though. Besides my university files being marked with having a "permanent disability", I feel the same I was before the diagnosis. I don't know anything different.

The only thing I hate about dysthymia is that I do have pointless crying bouts about stupid things or even absolutely nothing. I don't even personally hate it too much. I just hate how it affects relationships with people around me. I am more depressed. People call me out on it. I cry sometimes and bring down the people around me. I don't like how it does this to other people. It's also not good to keep it in.

Although I am choosing not to start treatments.

This is besides the point. My point of even sharing that I have a disorder is to show you that I am a functioning individual. I have a job, I go to school, I have a boyfriend and an apartment with him. My life is heading in society's dictated direction. Bleh. I hate that it is though.