Updates.

Hello lovely readers,

I'm incredibly sorry that I'm such an inconsistent blogger :( though I do have quite a bit to tell you guys.

It's spring break! FINALLY! Midterms were very stressful, but I'm feeling confident that I did well. The only classes I had actual tests in were in anthropology, organic chemistry, and genomics, and they were all decently spread out during the week, so I feel good about how they all went.

Unfortunately, I got in a car accident on the way home on Friday night. I swerved, panicked and over-corrected, and now my precious Isabella is probably totaled, though I still have to hear back from my insurance agency. I'd just like to shout out to my boyfriend Dylan's WONDERFUL parents for taking me in for the duration of the break now that I can't get home!

I also started seeing a therapist at CNU's free counseling center. We've only had one session together, but so far I feel really hopeful for the outcome, and I'm excited to see her again after the break. Things have been particularly hard this semester, between anxiety and a lot of other issues, and I'm excited to try and work through them.

Another really exciting thing has been happening, specifically regarding my spirituality and worldview. I've been reading an excellent book called Standing in the Light: My Life as a Pantheist Sharman Apt Russell.  I've spent a lot of time reading about Pantheistic worldviews from a detached, explanatory, philosophical perspective, so it's been nice to read something by someone who lives it day-to-day. But, surprisingly, that's not all that's come of it. In fact, it's made me very thoughtful about a label I would NEVER have thought of in a million years: it's made me consider becoming a Quaker.

Now, hear me out: Quakers are NOT Puritans, nor are they exclusively and oppressively Christian. They are not the guy on the oatmeal box. My type of Quakerism is called "unprogrammed" - meaning they deviate from the very structured and church-like Quakers that we commonly think of. They follow the more traditional values system of the earliest Quakers, that see the Light in all. They are very egalitarian, with no church leaders, and believe in pacifism (if the Light is in all, what justification is there in violence?). Quakers were among the first feminists and animal rights/welfare activists, and have Pantheism strongly rooted in their belief system.

It's far from resolute, and knowing me I'll spend the next million years reading about it, but it's an interesting turn of events, and something I'm excited for.

Be looking out for what I'm calling Cruelty-free Beauty 3.5 in the next few days. I'm not calling it part 4 because there's only a few actual purchases and reviews, but there will be a lot of shout-outs to brands I've heard of or products I'm coveting at the moment :)

<3,Ali