Teenage Spotlight: 4/1

The scene opens on the dimly lit room of the protagonist,  a careless human being hidden amongst 4 brightly colored blankets like a human heap. You’d not recognize it when you see it at first, at least, not as a living creature, until the curtains are drawn and a sharp beam of light comes in, evoking a groan from the said heap.
It moves. And then, with painful slowness, it reaches out to grab its phone to type whatever you’re reading right now.

Hey guys.  I’m Swati Singh .I’m 17. I blog by the name Darth Elmo at Scatteredsentences.wordpress.com  and try to be cool. And since there is no try, I’m pretty much not cool. At all.

Nod if you got the reference in the last line.

Being 17 means many things in 2017, but probably the most important event to occur for me this year will be the 12th grade centralized Exams . Senior year  stress , in that situation, sounds like something  most people experience. So I’m not unique there.
And even though a lot of people face the pressure pretty well, I kind of … don’t.
I am a fearful  person to say the least,  and I suffer from a crippling fear of failure.  Which is why telling me I’m about to write life’s most important exams… is probably not the best idea …

However, since I hear it even more frequently not that there’s 15 days left for them , I have developed a few things that take my mind off the pressure without distracting me enough to lose focus of my goals…1 ) Writing
Writing down my frustrations often gives me clarity on what causes my problems and how to go about solving them.
I keep a journal solely to keep track of the sometimes distorted thinking and feelings of anxiety that I develop and using that has helped me notice the physical cues that I experience when I lose my composure.

2 ) Spoken Word Poetry
I love watching /listening to spoken word poetry because it’s the perfect amalgam of what I enjoy reading and watching and it’s very soothing to simply listen to stuff that seems to resonate with your very soul. I’m a big fan of Sarah Kay andHarry Baker , and from my own country I really like Mayank Suisgni. Their poems often inspire me to write my own , with their complex rhyme patterns and lovely voices.  Moreover a poem usually takes less than 3 minutes on average so it’s never too time consuming and provides me with the break I need from my own problems.

3) Lists
Having a concrete idea of what I want to do often leads to an increase in productivity. Also , when I make my to do list I kind of stick in the fun stuff first and put studying around all of that , so I never procrastinate studying because I think I’ll chill first and study later, chilling becomes a part of my schedule.
I also don’t schedule the by the minute, I just make blocks of my day and that gives me more flexibility.

4) pets
I had a dog earlier and now I have a cat and having him by my side is my biggest stress buster , because no matter what I do wrong , or how much stuff I have left to do, my cat believes in me and trusts me , or else he wouldn’t be sitting on my lap purring , he’d be hiding from me.

5) carrots and water
Carrots are cool , juicy, crunchy, sweet and healthy and having a carrot and a glass of water just instantly calms me down . I’m not a very healthy eater in general , but I always try to have a carrot everyday. I’ve also read how it reduces stress so there’s that .

I also try to reinforce positive thinking in myself but reassuring myself I CAN do it , but reminding myself about all the things people considered impossible but managed to achieve and by thinking less and acting more.

My list probably seems stupid or silly, but I guess that’s how my life is as a teenager these days , and even though it’s not without its problems , I have only this one to do everything I need to.

I use my blog to share poems and inspiration,  and I hope this post was a helpful one for anyone who read it.