HOW TO: Not care about what people think of you

I once spent all of my days obsessing over other people's opinions of me. I have so many memories of standing in front of the mirror, wearing something I completely adored and tearing it off me, just because it was not "fashionable". Aka it wasn't exactly identical to everyone else's clothing. Growing up in my neighborhood life was pretty normal and it seemed frightening to do something different from everyone else. I was so scared of getting picked at that I never let myself be myself.
It soon got tiring and just plain boring to hide in the shadows and after years of fitting in I decided to stop pretending to be someone that wasn't interesting at all. I knew that the first step of that process was to stop caring about other people's opinions. If I'm going to be completely honest it took me a whole summer to break out of my shell and that summer did not involve a lot of socializing. I don't know if this is the right way to do this but me spending almost every day by myself for a whole summer really helped with understanding that opinions of strangers don't matter, at all. That summer it dawned on me that I have to spend the rest of my life with me and no one else. I'm stuck in my own head for the rest of my life. My thoughts have to be positive because I don't think I can survive otherwise. Another thing that I realized that summer was that I'm going to leave this city as soon as I'm ready and that means I'll probably never see my schoolmates or neighbors again. When that thought had been planted in my brain I simply stop caring. 
Although, after that epiphany it took me some time to be able to get the confidence to wear the clothes I wanted to. I still found myself trying on tons of outfits before I found the one that I could be seen in public in. 
What I'm trying to say here is that no matter what you're going to live your whole life as you and you can't change that. It is simply not fair to yourself to spend your days, weeks or even years obsessing about what other people think, it's not worth it. You only get one chance on this earth and I know you've all heard that a billion times before but if you let it sink in you'll realize that it shouldn't matter what other people think. It just shouldn't. Once you get enough confidence to do what YOU want and wear what YOU want your life will be totally different. I can tell you from experience that hiding in the crowd is just no fun. That doesn't mean you have to dance like crazy in the spotlight, just don't be like everybody else. Sticking out is so much more fun than being identical to the majority of the universe. 

A Coco Chanel quote and a poem that helped me a lot during my time of shy and shadow life:

Please don't hide who you are because of other people. You'll miss out on so many great characters and friends that will like you for exactly who you are, they are worth a million people that judge you.

Punk hugs,

Maria

Songs that make me feel powerful

Today I'm going to write about music and how music makes me feel. A few special songs can instantly make me feel independent and powerful and in this post I am going to share them with you. 

If I'm being honest I have hardly been around grown-up females who are perfectly independent and don't rely on men to make them happy. I'm not going to go into details but my point is that when I first started to use the internet a whole new world opened up to me. Suddenly tons of incredible women started to pop up and I would read about them and admire them. It took me a couple of years to get independent myself, I constantly relied on other people's opinions, and it didn't happen overnight. I can't say that one song, one person or even one moment was a turning point in my life, it just happened. 

A big part of my progress was of course music. When I was feeling hopeless and lonely I would pick up my ipod and blast some classic rock. I can't even begin to tell you how much that comforted me. 

I want to share these songs with you, so if you ever feel weak, lonely or just plain depressed I hope you can find some comfort in this post and these songs. 

The songs below are all classics and you've probably heard them before but they make me happy so I hope they make you happy too!

Keep Your Head Up - Tupac

"But please don't cry, dry your eyes, never let up

Forgive but don't forget girl, keep your head up."

"Cause I think we can make it, in fact, I'm sure

And if you fall, stand tall and come back for more."

Bad Reputation - Joan Jett

"I don't really care if you think I'm strange,

I aint gonna change"

Flawless - Beyonce

"I took some time to live my life

but don't think I'm just his little wife"

Heroes - David Bowie

"Though nothing, will keep us together

We could steal time, 

just for one day.

We can be Heroes, for ever and ever"

Go Your Own Way - Fleetwood Mac

"Loving you 

Isn't the right thing to do

How can I ever change things that I feel?"

Dancing In The Streets - David Bowie ft. Mick Jagger

"All we need is music, sweet music,

There'll be music everywhere

There'll be swingin' swayin', and records playin,

Dancing in the streets"

Rio - Duran Duran

"Her name is Rio and she dances on the sand

Just like that river twisting through a dusty land

And when she shines she really shows you all she can

Oh Rio, Rio dance across the Rio Grande"

Hooked on a Feeling - Björn Skifs

"I, I'm hooked on a feelin'

I'm high on believin, that you're in love with me"

Hit Me With Your Best Shot - Pat Benatar

"Knock me down, it's all in vain

I'll get right back on my feet again"

Eye of the Tiger - Survivor

"Rising up, back on the street

Did my time, took my chances

Went the distance, now I'm back on my feet

Just a man and his will to survive"

Hope you enjoy this slightly different post!

punk hugs, 

Maria

Angelina Jolie is the queen of red lips

Oh, the art of wearing red lipstick. It can go so right and it can go so wrong.
It's a problem that I've had myself for a few years.I feel like I can only wear lipstick with black clothes. As soon as I put on colored clothes while wearing red lipstick it's gone two minutes later. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's because the red shades I own are all really bright or maybe it's just because I like wearing black.
I know people who don't have the confidence for wearing bright, red lipstick but at the same time I know people who rock it. So, perhaps it's just a formula; perhaps you can learn it all by memorizing a few tips. If so, I want someone to let me know.

Well, the point of this post is to try to get one step closer to my goal: Wearing red lipstick without removing it within 30 seconds. Once again I've turned to the internet for some help. First I found out what my skin tone is and then (like every other stereotype) I googled celebrities with the same skin tone wearing red lipstick. Wow, can this get more cheesier?  The results I got were not so marvelous so I quit making it complicating and googled the obvious: Angelina Jolie Red lips.

If there is one person that can pull off red lipstick it's Angelina Jolie. What I noticed whilst scrolling through endless images of perfection were the clothes she wore with the lipstick. Black, white and red. Hardly anything else. So maybe that's the secret? Wear colors that you know match your lips and you're good.

If you have any tips or tricks up your sleeve feel free to share them with me down in the comments!

Punk hugs,

Maria