NF Blog

What are your secret survival strategies?  There’s a philosophy I live by, that goes “fake it till you make it.” It’s generic and clichéd, but works, in large part. I have many fears and insecurities that people don’t see. I act in a confident, assured manner and work quietly through my failures until I’ve reached success. But even when I achieve my goals, it sometimes still doesn’t feel enough. I don’t feel enough. So there remains a thin film of fakery in my motions, to cover up my doubts inside. I don’t say things to inflate myself or go out of my way to feed an ego, but in a quiet, nonverbal way I can’t resist, I pull that film close to me, distorting what’s inside to everyone and myself. The result is that my motivations become perverted; my fears become empowered, and I reach for success to keep my insecurities locked away and my thin cover, hiding my weaknesses, from being torn away. I see the reflection of how others see me sometimes. I see the con...

What could you live without? I think I could live without my phone. My smartphone, to be clear. I wouldn’t want to give up my basic functions of communication. I’ve thought a lot about how my daily life would be different if I traded my Samsung for a flip phone. I think I could do it. I’m not sure, and I have yet to test it, but I think that it might have an overall positive effect on my life. I rely on my phone a lot. From texting and calling to social media, from video games to news and other media, my phone is a constant in my life. It’s under my pillow when I sleep, and almost always in my pocket or around me during the day. It provides a lot of benefits to my life; access to the internet, connection with people, entertainment. I must also say, however, that it has negatives too. Such constant access to technology, the internet, and endless entertainment is incredibly distracting. I waste a lot of time on my phone. Playing games, scrolling through my insta...