June 2023 Favorites

This was a stressful month. I feel like I'm always saying this. 😅 Anxiety is rough. It's difficult to not get swept up in the hardships of life. But some good things happened, as well! The Super Mario RPG remake was announced. My creative drought had a temporary cloudburst. And I had these other favorites to see me through...

Doctor Strange: Another Marvel favorite! I loved this trippy, magical movie. Reminiscent of Inception, an all-time favorite of mine. I've been in desperate need of inspiration lately. And in all honesty, the inside of my mind while inspired looks a great deal like the flashes of light and color in some of the brilliant shots in this movie.

NANA Anime: Technically, I started my rewatch of this last year. But I didn't get far before life just took over. Now I'm indulging in one of my very favorite stories. NANA is full of heartbreak, pain, and deep connections built between people. Found families. Soul-Friendships. This manga and anime influenced the way I write. The way I visualize things in my brain. And how I feel about my connections with other people.

Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me: Heartbreaking and relatable. There's no happy ending to the documentary, because dealing with anxiety and depression can be a lifelong journey. There are hopeful moments. There are things we can do to help ourselves and others. To give our lives more purpose. To feel more connected. But there are still dark days of barely being able to get out of bed, let alone do something meaningful. I could see where someone might call this documentary bleak, but for me it's so real.

YouTube Favs: I stumbled onto Daryl Talks Games this month. I've only watched a few of his videos so far, but he talks about the psychology behind games and other media. I've also been watching various reactions to the newest Nintendo announcements and enjoying the hype. And Safiya Nygaard's chocolate factory video was delicious! 🍫

Music Favs: Ceilings (Lizzy McAlpine), Figure 8 (Johanna Warren), Same as You (The Fray), Dust (BROODS), Fire (Ingrid Michaelson), Slide (Dido), YOYOK (Taylor Swift), Stay (Lisa Loeb).