ABOUT THAT LIFE

I'm about that Life (-style & wellness blogs). Lifestyle sites are what evolved as millennials grew from teenage internet junkies into self-centric young adults. I'm not saying we're selfish, I'm just saying we tend to inquire about self-improvement, self-interest, and self-discovery. So I suppose what I believe is that we're self-ish (ha). Anyway.

Something happened as we aged, something that drew us away from video games and school-sponsored, federally-backed forced-fun health programs (remember Jump Rope for Heart? Remember the St. Jude Math-a-thon? Remember The President's Challenge? Remember how little fun that was?).

As time went on, our communities and coaches and PTA's and local government public health initiatives had built for us a foundation that subtly told us in the back of our minds that the lives we led as teenagers, while easy and enjoyable, were not sustainable for successful adulthood. The ice cream sundaes after Little League that became all-you-can-eat self-serve fro-yo (damn, that's a lot of hyphenation) in the University dining hall; the no-sleep sleepovers that became all-night ragers or study sessions; the lack of ability to cook that became the lack of interest in cooking (takeout wings are easier! Can't make my own deep fried onion rings at 3am now, can I?).

The reasons weren't bad influences, they were lack of influences. We were taught to lead successful lifestyles in terms of employment, financial success, and even finding creative and constructive hobbies. Our basis for healthy and whole living, however, was partioned off to a food pyramid which proceeded to become a topic of national dispute for the next decade, a second-hand "meat and potatoes" mentality courtesy of our baby boom'd parental units, and a distaste for and confusion about exercise in the wake of a peak 80's pilates passion followed by a 90's depression plummet and New Millennium "fruit, veggies, fresh air and prescription pills" approach.

Then, as our generation and society and the internet all evolved as those things do, we realized that we had manufactured a lifestyle that was non-sustainable atop a lush bed of total sustainability that we were not at all tapping into. Just beneath the floorboards of what we had built lay rich knowledge about mindfulness, healthy living, exercise, all of those great things.

We soon realized that microplanning and honing in on an issue was not the answer. The true answer was zooming out. The approach became treating the sickness at the root, not at the symptom. The mentality of dieticians, nutritionists, and scientists became "it's not the beta carotene, it's the carrot." Now this, this I love.

So blogs began cropping up amongst the weeds of blogs and lightly shrouded brand-sponsored content telling us that sugar flakes were "whole grain" and part of a good breakfast, that chemical chocolate shakes were "muscle building," that sugar coated acid was bottled "happiness." I'm not naming names here, but I am 100% positive that something came to mind for you while you read that.

These real blogs began sponsoring content, but it was content that aligned with their healthy and wholistic lifestyle identities. This meant that even if their content was brand sponsored, they were brands we could believe in, even if just a little. Article subjects and tags started to include "mindfulness," "organic," and "happiness."

I love these sites because they remind me about what inspires me to live a good life. Not always a happy life, because happiness is more complicated than that. Just...good. To cook with good ingredients and end up with a good meal, to feel good eating it and sharing it with friends, to do good work and have good experiences. To feel grateful and to give in return for this feeling. All of this I get from a place I once scorned for being oversaturated with cat videos and fashion models.

Here are some of my favorite wellness and lifestyle blogs:

1. Thrive Market Blog

It's the blog that coincides with Thrive Market, an online grocer that offers an outstanding selection of organic and trustworthy food, wellness, home and pet products for prices 25-50% lower than a traditional grocery store. With every membership sign up, Thrive donates a free membership to a family in need so they can feed fresh, organic, healthy products to their families. There's nothing better than that, except their blog which includes everything from personal trainer grocery recommendations to sugar cookie recipes and ways to incorporate anti-inflammatory spices into your routine, or superfood berries into your diet.

2. Well+Good

This site covers everything from fashion and style to spiritual wellness, diet and exercise. Well+Good is one of those sites that somehow balances everything about a wholistic lifestyle perfectly with its content, voice, and image. The Well+Good identity exudes a feeling that living a great life is possible while still being fun, young, and, well, normal. Topics like meditation, turmeric smoothies, and Bikram yoga suddenly seem much more approachable.

3. PureWow

Fitness-focused and fun, PureWow makes muscle toning and smoothie drinking inspiring, easy, and doable. That's just the beginning for the lifestyle site though. Other topics include entertainment, financial tips, and recipes that equally incorporate health, food trends, and amazing taste. The site is fun, interesting, and unafraid to incorporate pop culture and celebrity crushing into a good, whole life. They're not above the whimsy of youth, they keep it fun.

4. Purple Buddha Project

This AMAZING company, capital letters, was founded by a young college grad who traveled to Cambodia during a period of self-discovery and curiosity. He founded Purple Buddha Project as a way to help residents of Cambodia sustain their families while working for fair wages and turning something ugly into something beautiful. The company takes the litter left as remnants of war from areas of Cambodia that have been heavily war-striken and melt down the materials to make beads. The beads are made into jewelry that includes meaningful quote engravings or messages, and sold for a large profit which goes to benefit poor children and pay the wages of the artisans. The PBP social media presence is strong and inspiring, and weekly email blasts contain amazing quotes and information about the Project. I love knowing that something purely good is out there succeeding somewhere in our world.

On top of all of these great qualities, each of these blogs has a likeable voice, and a clean, readable, graphically beautiful aesthetic. Check them out and you might end up feeling as inspired as I do when I read a copy of O Magazine cover to cover. (That magazine is like a retreat for the mind body and soul, I swear.) So take a look, have some fun, and quit trying to hyperfocus on a specific muscle group or organ health or vitamin intake. Just live.