Free soul pancakes!

Today, I am giving away some free soul pancakes because I'm just nice like that. First of all, I would like to give credit to Keltie Colleen for the term "soul pancake." A soul pancake is basically anything that fills up your soul and makes you feel fulfilled, inspired, less alone, empowered, etc.

I get my soul pancakes from many different sources, but I mostly get them by reading blogs. I'm not a crazed, obsessive blog reader who keeps up with five hundred billion blogs, but I do have a few favorites. Obviously, Tiny Buddha is at the top of the list. If you read my blog on a regular basis, I'm sure you probably already knew that. But today, I want to share three different blogs that I found through Tiny Buddha. I am TELLING you...If you want to find some good blogs to read, browse through some Tiny Buddha contributors'. That's basically where I've found about 98% of the blogs I read.

Plus, I just really love giving shout-outs to deserving peeps. If I admire you, I'm going to let you know. If you mean something to me, I'm going to let you know. If I think you've done a fantastic job on something, I'm going to let you know.

So let's do this. First, I will talk a little bit about each blog and then I am going to share three of my favorite posts from each of those blogs. I really hope you enjoy and find these posts as rad as I do.


The Unlost: Therese Schwenkler is the founder of this blog and she basically writes about the uncertainty of life. Let's be honest here. No one on planet Earth has any freaking idea what they're doing. We're all just walking around searching for purpose, setting goals and hoping they pan out, and trying not to drown in all of the inevitable pain, fear, and struggle that comes with being alive. This is all pretty serious and relevant stuff, but what I love about Therese is that she makes it funny. All of her posts have a very light tone. You can tell that she doesn't take life too seriously or cry "woe is me" from the rooftops. Life is inevitably going to suck for all of us sometimes and we're all going to feel lost and confused, so we might as well just laugh it off and go through it together.

My favorite posts from The Unlost:


Dearest Sweet Honey Child: Do You Know That You're Never Alone?: http://www.theunlost.com/life-in-general/dearest-sweet-honey-child-do-you-know-that-youre-never-alone/ Bursting into tears in the middle of Starbucks actually sounds a lot like something I would do. I have a lot of moments where I look around at other people (OR I could just be sitting in my dark, quiet bedroom all by myself) and start to feel this overwhelming, face-punching feeling of loneliness. This also happens when I'm going through something and I convince myself that no one else in the universe could possibly know how it feels to go through it. But that's really not true. No matter how alone you may feel, the truth is, you're not. If you're feeling alone today, read this post.

Why I'm Getting Naked For 3,737 People: http://www.theunlost.com/life-in-general/why-i%E2%80%99m-getting-naked-for-3737-people/ This post is all about vulnerability---stripping yourself down to the real you and exposing your pain, fears, insecurities, flaws, etc. I think vulnerability is a huge connecting factor. It's a major turnoff to pretend that you know all the answers and that you're just this radiant beam of awesomeness all the time. It's okay to let your walls down. Letting mine down has brought more people into my life that ever came when those walls were up. If you're feeling trapped behind a wall or facade today, read this post.

Confessions of a Freakishly Nerdy Blogger: Why I'm Leaving My Job, My House, and My Life As I Know It: http://www.theunlost.com/work/confessions-of-a-freakishly-nerdy-blogger/ I already had mad respect for Therese before she wrote this, but this post makes me have raging respect for her. I really really really admire people who will risk everything just to follow their gut. Even when everyone else is like, "WTF are you DOING???" I think life is too short to not follow your gut. If you're passionate about something and it feels right to you, then I really think you should trust that instinct. Your instincts are YOURS, not someone else's. No one else can know how something makes you feel deep down in your guts. If you have a gut instinct that you're afraid to listen to today, read this post.


The Last Broken Home: Adam Alvarado is the founder of this blog and he writes about his journey from teen depression to self-esteem and explores his own personal definition of a broken home. We have all gone through something in our lives that has kept us from being the person we want to be---the person we can and should be. We come out of the womb as a perfect, unscathed little human and then we go through a bunch of shit and it makes us scarred, fearful, and insecure. Adam writes about not letting your past dictate your future, basically. The process of letting go of past pain and working on ourselves can feel like the equivalent of climbing up Mount Everest by our fingernails, but if we want change badly enough, we can make it happen. And we all deserve that. As someone who hated myself and felt depressed for a little over a year, I can tell you that learning to feel better about myself was a daily challenge. It still is. But it is a fight worth fighting.

My favorite posts from The Last Broken Home: 

Explaining Teen Depression: The Effect of Broken Homes, pt 1: http://thelastbrokenhome.com/teenage-depression-1/ So there is a part from this one that kind of made me cry. (Yes, I am the one who admitted to bursting into tears in the comment section). This is somewhat of an introductory post where Adam explains his definition of a broken home. It's all very interesting and true. And kind of sad. If you're feeling inadequate today, read this post. (There is also a part two, which is great as well.)

Why Should You Trust Your Instincts? Your Tummy Says So...: http://thelastbrokenhome.com/trust-instinct/ This is an interesting thought. When you're hungry, what do you do? The most common answer would be to find some food, right? (I hope) But when you have an instinct or a gut feeling (which kinda sorta comes from the same place as hunger), what do you do? Do you follow it or do you fight/ignore it? If you're having trouble trusting your instincts today, read this post.

Living at the Edge of Your Comfort Zone, The Tip of Your Fears: http://thelastbrokenhome.com/comfort-zone/ I know what you might be thinking because I thought the same thing at first. "UGGHHH. ANOTHER BLOG POST ABOUT FACING MY FEARS! I DON'T WANT TO FACE MY FEARS. THEY'RE TOO SCARY." But this one is different. This post doesn't make you feel like you SHOULD face your fears or that you HAVE to face your fears (or else). It makes you actually WANT to face them. At least, for me it did. By the time I finished reading this, I almost wanted to leap out of bed and face all of my fears at the exact same time. I love the answer he gave his parents when they asked him why on Earth he wanted to fly to the Middle East all by himself. "Because it scares the shit out of me." I have this theory that if we all do at least one thing that scares the shit out of us, we will come out of it a changed person. If you're feeling ambitious, yet afraid, read this post.


Own Your Life: An Bourmanne is the founder of this blog and she writes about living your own life instead of someone else's. She shares simple, yet extremely powerful/inspiring thoughts and the first time I looked at this website, I completely lost track of time and stayed on for almost an hour just browsing through it. It really makes me feel like (WAIT FOR IT) it's actually OKAY to make my own decisions and do what makes ME happy. Who knew?

My favorite posts from Own Your Life: 

Notes from a recovering comparison junkie: http://ownyourlifecoaching.com/?p=1667 This seriously blew my mind. I am so guilty of comparing myself to other people, no matter how hard I try not to. We all feel the need to compare ourselves to other people sometimes. But we're not them. We're us. If you're feeling less than good enough today, read this post.

How fitting in can make a girl all teary-eyed: http://ownyourlifecoaching.com/?p=1607 I love this so much. I think the contact lense story was a beautiful and creative way to set the tone for the message of this post. We don't always have to do things the "official way" or the way everyone else does them. We have every right to do things our way. We can choose what feels right to each of us as individuals. If you're trying to fit in or live up to certain expectations against your will today, read this post.

Beauty: http://ownyourlifecoaching.com/?p=1896 Honesty is beautiful. Individuality is beautiful. Speaking your mind is beautiful. If you don't feel special or important enough, read this post.


Well, that about wraps it up, guys. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy your soul pancakes, and please show these amazeballs bloggers some love.

Happy first day of February! :-)

<3 Madison