THE AMUSED LIFE BLOG

My name is Anna and I live with and manage anxiety based depression. I have probably dealt with symptoms of it since I was 16 years old or from what I can remember. Sadly my memory is often spotty throughout my life. I find that a lot of that spottiness is around traumatic events that I have experienced. Sometimes it's related to increased symptoms of my illness or a "flare up" of the kind that causes the anxiety or depression or both to get to a level that I can manage. At this time in my life I find myself in a few existential quandries that make me feel like I am a huge ball of yarn completely tangled up so perhaps this year is where I begin trying to unravel the tangled mess that is me.  I've struggled my entire life with never feeling "good enough" and sometimes I'm unsure if that feeling is tied in tightly to my illness or just an additional learned script I have running through my brain. I've tied that feeling frequently to people's...

Today I started one of my few artistic/pop-culture challenges for myself of the new year. I'm calling it the Best Picture A-Z Challenge: watch an Academy Award Best Picture Winner for each letter of the alphabet plus a numerical entry. Oh and add in one catch...it has to be a film that I have NOT yet seen. So I build my list and then if there's more than one choice I offer up a vote to suggest which one to watch.  This first challenge is the letter A and so here were my choices: AND after the votes were in, my "A" challenge became to watch: 1960 ‧ Romance/Comedy ‧ 2h 5m Insurance worker C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon) lends his Upper West Side apartment to company bosses to use for extramarital affairs. When his manager Mr. Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray) begins using Baxter's apartment in exchange for promoting him, Baxter is disappointed to learn that Sheldrake's mistress i s Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine), the elevator girl at work whom Baxter is interested in himsel...

Today's Spiritual Sunday presented me with a childhood friend requesting a card pull...of course, I would do anything from people who are important to me and I'm honored to do so. So I meditated on her and the blessings that we've reconnected through the positive aspects of Facebook and this is her card pull.  PLAYFULNESS The playfulness card reminds us of our childhood, when we were more free from worries about any impending doom. We built sandcastles in the sand without worrying when the next wave would come and destroy our creations. We remember a time when we knew and realized that life was more of a game than we realized and we chose to life it unashamed without thinking of what anyone else thought.  When this card shows up in your world, it's a sign. It symbolizes that you are ready for something refreshing to come into your life and your world. Something is on the horizon and you are prepared to face it with innocence, joy and clarity...when you proceed in that m...

I am excited to announce the November Collection and Holiday Preview which will be released on 10/31/20 to family and friend pricing for only 7 days after which regular pricing will go into effect and the items will be added to my Esty Store. To get in on family and friends pricing you have to be a member of my Facebook Group (Shopping with Anna) , a fan of my Facebook Page (Anna: The Black Pants Girl) or friends with my personal profile on Facebook or on Instagram.  I've attached the beads and gemstones I'm using in this collection which are blend of my favorite colors including black and white, silvertone, blue, green and red. It's a taste of what's to come for my holiday collection which I will release on 11/28/20 for small business Saturday. So look forward to a collection of 7 bracelets, 3 earrings and 2 pendants. In the meantime today features a collection of items that are only $5.00 that I'm working to clear out of my inventory. Check them out at the above ...