What therapy also looks like - a list of things from my therapy bucket

1. Scream-singing "Cruel Summer", "Midnight Rain", "Maroon" and many more 

2. Glamming up in the most scandalous dress as a form of teenage revenge. Its annoyingly satisfying isn't it?

3. Tapri ki chai (a cup of tea on the street) 

4. Dancing in the rain

5. Walking on the beach and playing with the waves

6. Strawberry milkshakes 

7. Giving in to my street food cravings and then doing a cooling mask for my face so the skin doesn't burn up from all the spice i just ate 

8. Cold coffees made my bestfriend

9. A videocall with my childhood bestie, one smile from that girl and suddenly life feels a little less problematic and heavy

10. Hugs

11. Tending to plants

12. Talking to the sky 

13. Talking to myself like I'm my own bestie 

(Favourite thing because she's on my side no matter what!)

14. Getting under a hot water shower and letting it hit my back like i deserve it for the shit i let myself go through for other people's sake

15. Painting my nails with the weirdest effing colour that i know doesn't even suit me and then getting all happy that somehow it looks pretty anyways 

16. Getting a hair cut

15. A head massage 

16. Oiling my hair

(Used to be something I HATED when i was a teenager but then i realized just how awesome it is and so we love it now) 

17. Buying flowers for the women in my life, giving them something they never received somehow heals the parts of them that live in me 

18. Walks alone. Sometimes with music in my ears 

19. Sitting quietly on the shore or on the top of a hill or in a temple, silence makes way for all the inner voices that only ever whisper softly 

20. Crying. I used to hate crying as a child but I love it now for the freedom it can grant. Once you cry about it, you've let out the emotions that were holding you back, now you have clarity and clear skin both. 

21. Shopping 

22. Watching romcoms

23. Drawing. I'm not that great of an artist but doodling helps me get rid of overthinking sometimes 

24. Getting my hands painted with henna, it makes me feel beautiful from the inside out somehow, the dark colour makes me happy about how much warmth I carry within

25. Keeping my hair open and flaunting them like they're the best ever thing

26. Pink Alpenliebes

27. Kitkats

28. Little kids, especially when they trust me and look into my eyes. 

29. Flowers, loads and loads of flowers of all varieties. Love them and looking at them make me so happy

30. Writing about things in my journal

31. I talk to God, as if he's my bestfriend and somehow I lead my own self to answers, if not, i atleast feel relieved and my stress is forgotten for the time being. Talking helps, to God, to your partner, to your friends. And if you feel they'll judge you, I hope you sort that out first. 

32. Honesty with yourself. When you sit down and be honest to yourself about the things in life, a lot of perspective shifting occurs. 

33. Grocery stores , I just like shopping for groceries okay! 

34. Purple

So the gist of this was simple. Therapy is simply doing the things you once loved or once liked and finding the joy in them all over again. Life doesn't get better in a day or a month or a year. It gets better when you take small tiny steps towards yourself with sheer determination that you won't give up. Because not giving up on yourself is the only commitment you need from you, the rest of the pieces get set into their places with time. 

And all the things you truly want in life, might be different from all the things you're made for. Maybe you're made for better things than you want but to understand this, you need to be the you that deserves the greatness. Great doesn't have any specific rulebook. Great simply means a better , more human version of yourself. Love comes at very undefined timings, but until then, I want you to not forget the things you love, about life, about people, most of all about yourself.