hellobeautifulcreatures

What is your party personality? Upon entering a social gathering, do you quickly find yourself surrounded by adoring fans as you fall into a story about your hilariously bad work week ? Or do you immediately head toward the drink table, the bathroom, or, if need be, any piece of furniture that can shield you from view? Anything to avoid human contact .  Bangalore- based illustrator Neethi identifies as the latter. “I’ve grown into a 27-year old who looks for benches to crawl under, or curtains to hide behind at events involving more than three people,” she explains on her website. “Every brave new venture with people goes down in the same way ― a cyclical uneasiness resulting in sweat and silent tears rolling down the cheek.” In her series of illustrated GIFs titled “The Socially Awkward Adult ,” Neethi explores the peculiarities of life as a grown woman who still, when confronted with the possibility of group socializing, feels the urge to run ― or at least awkwardly mention that ...

When we were in China, we traveled with several other families. In our travel group, I don’t think I’m exaggerating by saying that we had “the crier.” Unlike the other happy, giggly children in the group who were quick to return their parent’s smile, our sweetie was unhappy much of the time. Despite our efforts, she rarely smiled and often cried. I even had the young daughter of another family come to me and say on more than one occasion, “Your baby cries a lot. What’s wrong with her? Our baby is happy.” Ouch. Rationally, I knew that her grieving meant that the attachment process was in full swing. And that is a really good thing. That made everything else totally bearable. But grieving, no matter what form it takes, still made my heart sad right along with hers. So rather than worry about my daughter’s sadness, I concentrated on capitalizing on her attachment process and doing all I could to reap every ounce of bonding that I could. It was just a change in my mindset. Being proactive ...

Celebrate Earth Day by Planting a Tree" width="300" height="200" />Every April 22, millions of people in nearly 200 countries celebrate Earth Day , and I’m one of them. Originating in 1970, Earth Day is an opportunity for all of us to reflect on how we can make our Earth a better place. It’s a time to be mindful of your impact on the Earth and challenge yourself to adopt new, environmentally friendly habits that conserve resources, save money, and encourage healthy living all-around. In fact, with wonderful benefits like those, doesn’t it make sense to live every day like it’s Earth Day? Well, you can. Over the years, my family and I have used Earth Day as a starting point to implement new and creative changes in our lives. Here are 30 ways we celebrate Earth Day that you and your family can try, too. Some of them may seem small, but small changes add up and if you sustain that change for the rest of your life, it will profoundly lighten your environmen...