Work Life Balance

Jennifer Garner made some news this week by bringing up sexism in Hollywood.

This article goes in to detail about the circumstances and such. 

source

Here is the main point: women get asked about balancing work and family while men do not. I think it's really important that the expectation here change. Men are also a part of families. If the question gets asked, it should be to both parties. If we choose to stop asking the question, then that's okay too. 

Work-life balance is important. Work-family balance is also important. Because I do not have children of my own, I focus on the work-life portion. I think it's important to work and then leave work at work. Parts of my life outside of work that I enjoy are exercising on a regular schedule, spending time with friends and watching all of my TV shows.

Y'all know how important those TV shows are to me. They are essentially my children that require 3-4 hours of attention a night. :) Just kidding. That's excessive. 

In my early twenties, I struggled with finding a balance between work and life. I can home from work, I ate, I zombiafied and I went to sleep. Stress and anxiety about work consumed me and prevented me from having a life. I think most people go through something similar (maybe not as dramatic) when you transition from a student to a full-time employee. 

I urge you to make a list of things that you like doing. Make this list holy. Make time for the list. 

xoxo,

Liz

#HeForShe

I'm just going to put this here. 

And look at that, I posted about feminism. In a post a couple weeks ago, I responded to an article about inadequacy and how I do not feel like taking on more serious topics.

Times are a changing. It's a lot easier to talk about serious topics when someone, Emma Watson, so eloquently speaks about serious topics and defines things and makes me proud to be a human.

If you would like to support equality between the sexes, check out the new campaign, #HeForShe. 

http://www.heforshe.org/

I support it. 

xoxo,

Liz

Giving Friends Advice

Apparently, I'm a person who gives people advice. Whether those people are people I love or just acquaintances, I'm am often sought out in order to listen and then report back on my findings.

What does it mean to give advice to someone?

Does advice come from personal experience or something you read or from being able to read the person and tell them exactly what they want/need to hear?

I'm guilty of all three. Or I've used all three. I prefer to listen. When someone approaches me, I gladly sit back and listen to everything they have to say. I internalize. I analyze. And depending on the person, I speak.

Whether I'm educated or not, I will tell you something or give you a link to an article I read or a YouTube video I watched or tell you someone you also know that has personally struggled with similar issues. Resourcefulness is one of my strengths. Like a sponge, I soak up as much knowledge and then I spew it out at an appropriate moment, hopefully.

Recently, my friends have either intentionally or not, sought out my listening ears for some advice. I hope that I have delivered helpful, inspiring words. I'm constantly in need for comfort and affirmation, I totally understand the need to have someone empathize with you on a situation or a relationship or a career choice or parents, etc. Often, I don't feel qualified for giving advice because I feel like my life if not where I wanted it to be 10 years ago. Is your life where you wanted it to be 10 years ago? I guess I should be comforted by the fact that life happens regardless of my plans and I am thankful for people that can guide me along the way. I guess I'll keep trying to help where I can but don't hold it against me.

I'm still trying to figure all of this crap out.

So are Grace & Mamrie... from two years ago...

xoxo,
Liz

Women with Wisdom

Earlier this week, Twitter had a Q&A with Madame Secretary Hillary Clinton. She fielded questions about women and girls as well as international diplomacy. Did you know this happened? I stumbled upon it because I follow Amy Poehler's Smart Girls on tumblr. So today, I feature a different kind of #wcw because instead of a bae, I'm featuring some women that are advocates for women and girls and seek to empower the female population of not just the US but of the world. I hope you have time to watch Hillary Clinton. I learned some things...

Also here is the questions asked by the Smart Girls,

And a pretty awesome quote from Madame Secretary,

And how did I stumble on Amy Poehler and her Smart Girls? YouTube, of course! 

Sometimes I forget that women aren't equal with men from a global point of view. Heck, even from a corporate point of view. And even more in legislation over a woman's ability to make her own health choices. Why aren't women equal? I must become more active in empowering women and girls. Yes, I would consider myself a feminist. Am I good at verbalizing my points of view? Not yet. This is something I continue to work on as a I define my beliefs and values as a human. But today, I started with this. I'm behind ya, Hillary, in whatever way you decide to impact the world. I think you're beautiful and smart and powerful. 

I guess this was a Woman Crush Wednesday post about a bae...

xoxo,

Liz

Thinking Things on Thursdays

Because I am currently in a "slow time" at work, I have been catching up on blogs. Blogs like my own and of course, blogs / magazines like The Everygirl. I stumbled upon this article and figured it would be nice to analyze my own friendships. It was easy for me to drop each of my girlfriends in to the category and it also made me think about what role I fill for them. For the full description of the role, please look at the before mentioned article because I don't want to plagiarize. :)

Photo: Found on Tumblr, Seemed fitting for summer

The Hustler
I like to think that Megan is my hustler. She has goals and talks the talk and seems to know things before they actually occur. This woman is encouraging while being fierce in her own career. I believe her when ever she speaks and I'm always honored when she asks my opinion on things. I appreciate her continued support and know that she will accomplish grand things in the future, if she hasn't already.

The No BS-er
Melissa lets me know what is up. She has lived life and she will not put up with any crap I spit out. I love it. I know that I can rely upon her to react. Hopefully, it's a good reaction but either way, I know instantly if I did a good thing or a crappy thing. Her eyes and her silence let me know when I've crossed a line. I think it takes a really trusting person to let you see them angry. Hopefully, I am this to her but I know I'm more like the social butterfly or perhaps the bad influence in some cases to her.

The Nurturer
No question about this one. Kendall is my nurturer, my cheerleader and often I feel like I can do no wrong. Her empathy is all consuming. I love her for this but I know that I cannot return the favor. My fatal flaw is my ability to look at situations in the most logical sense without thinking emotionally. I've been accused of having resting b*tch face due to this fact. I just like to think my way through things first...

The Bad Influence
Younger lady friends tend to have slightly different agendas than I do when it comes to Friday night or more importantly, Tuesday night. And men. Although I haven't had the opportunity to hang out with them recently, I think my bad influences are Beth and Kelsey. Each has a flair for mischief but has an incredible time while doing it. I envy their spirit and turns out, I'm a bad influence to most of my friends. Why make smart decisions when you can make fun decisions?!?

The Opposite Life Stage-r
She has been married since we graduated college and is planning a family. Shelby is definitely my opposite life stage-r friend. I am single. So. Very. Single. Shelby has the husband, the house, the dog and soon to be, the baby. I appreciate the advice and the patience she has for me and my antics. I have the benefit of learning from her mistakes and also from her ability to plan. There are so many things that I would never have considered without Shelby bringing it up and making me think about it. For example, an adult woman should always negotiate for more money at work and more vacation instead of being complacent. Never settle.

The Social Butterfly
This is Bich Van. She never says no to an activity where there are people to meet or just people to hang out. The woman double books herself all of the time. She has the most loyal friends, too because everyone enjoys being around her. I always check her calendar in order to make sure I have not been overlooked for a social activity. Bich keeps me from having a very unhealthy relationship with Netflix and for that I am grateful.

The Historian
Girl, this is my sister. Without question. We are close. There was a rough patch while I was at college "figuring myself out" and she was still in high school having "already figured it out." Other than that, we are up in each other's grill and know everything and participate in everything. She is my rock and my baby sister at the same time. I look to her in order to be reminded about choices made in the past and how I should have already learned that lesson. Grace keeps me grounded and in return, I help de-clutter her closets.

The moral of this post is to seek purpose in the company you keep. There is a reason I want to hang out with all of these women and hopefully, a reason for them to continue hanging out with me. I love each and every one of them. Friends make each day better and sillier and full of dance parties.

Now, let's turn on some Foreigner and sing our hearts out.

xoxo,
Liz