The FBI uncovered more emails Friday related to the investigation of Hillary Clinton's private email server, prompting FBI Director James Comey to write a letter to the leaders of the chairmen of the congressional committee letting them know that the bureau would be reviewing the emails. Despite early reports that this means the FBI is "reopening" Clinton's case, that's not what's going on here. The New York Times reports that the emails were discovered on devices belonging to Clinton's aide Huma Abedin and her husband Anthony Weiner, who's being investigated for sending sexual messages to a 15-year-old girl. The emails were found in the course of that investigation.
The letter read in part: "In connection with an unrelated case, the FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation. I am writing to inform you that the investigative team briefed me on this yesterday, and I agreed that the FBI should take appropriate investigative steps designed to allow investigators to review these emails to determine whether they contain classified information, as well as to assess their importance to our investigation."
At a rally in New Hampshire, Trump gleefully informed a crowd of supporters of the development. "Hillary Clinton's corruption is on a scale we have never seen before, we must not let her take her criminal scheme into the Oval Office," he said. "I have great respect for the fact that the FBI and the Department of Justice are now willing to have the courage to right the horrible mistake that they made."
According to the New York Times, Comey announced in September that the FBI had closed its investigation and determined that no one should be charged. Think Progress reports that they probably won't change their minds because of these new emails, which aren't even from Clinton and don't involve the private email server.
The BBC said that Comey had previously stated that Clinton's mishandling of classified information during her time as Secretary of State was "extremely careless."
Clinton campaign officials have said that more information is needed about the new emails before people rush to judgment.
Making young women around the world jealous takes a lot of work, but Victoria’s Secret has perfected the art in their annual VS Fashion Show. Even though the company sells lingerie, the key to hooking viewers of the show isn’t really the overpriced bras, but the models wearing them, and no envy-inspiring line-up would be complete without the Hadid sisters.
Yup—this year both Gigi and Bella Hadid will be walking in the show in Paris. Gigi is a second-year veteran, but this will be Bella’s first year walking the runway for VS. They’ll be the first sister duo to ever grace the VS stage together. Both girls took to Instagram to announce their casting, with Gigi reminding us of her #flawless performance as a firefighter last year and Bella Hadid giving us a sweet clip of her reaction when she heard she was cast, which was very reminiscent of the video Gigi posted last year when she got the same news.
Besides the Hadid sisters, Victoria’s Secret also recently announced Kendall Jenner and Karlie Kloss would be returning as models for the 2016 show. Jenner and Hadid both made their debut in last year's show. Other famous names include Martha Hunt, Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosia and Lily Aldridge.
Police arrested a group of 141 demonstrators in North Dakota after a standoff that ended early Friday morning, according to Reuters. The group, made up of members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and other environmental activits, were protesting the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
According to the Morton County Sheriff's Department, police wore riot gear and used pepper spray and armored vehicles to disperse the crowd of roughly 330 protesters, who also resorted to violence. The site of the protest is in the path of the $3.8 billion pipeline, Reuters reports.
The Dakota Access Pipeline is being built by a group of companies led by Energy Transfer Partners LP and is set to be 1,172 miles. Reuters reports that its completion would offer the "fastest and most direct route" to bring oil from North Dakota to refineries on the Gulf Coast.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe believe that the pipeline will threaten water supply and sacred tribal sites.
Protests have been going on for several months now, with dozens of people being arrested. Celebrities such as Shailene Woodley and Mark Ruffalo have spoken out against the pipeline, and Woodley was even arrested. Of the 141 arrested on Friday, charges included "conspiracy to endanger by fire or explosion, engaging in a riot and maintaining a public nuisance," according to Reuters.
Since the launch of Kylie Cosmetics, Kylie Jenner's lip kits, eyeshadow palettes and the like have been notoriously difficult to get a hold of. Popular colors sell out quickly, and every time something new is released... well, good luck even accessing the site. With both the high demand and the high prices on her lip kits and the like, some people have been turning elsewhere to find the highly coveted products. Pro tip: Don't.
Lately, hundreds of people have been complaining about receiving fake lip kits which contain nasty junk like glue and ingredients that cause swelling and rashes. Some reports even claim the knock-off formulas contain gasoline. Ew.
@KylieJenner I smell the Kylie lip kit and it smell like paint. So I bought from the Internet so I wasted my money for no reason.
This article breaks down how to tell if your kit is fake.
Kylie's personal twitter account has been flooded with stories about receiving POS lip kits and other sketchy versions of her cosmetics. Kylie responded to a lot of the complaints, assuring people her lip kits aren't harmful and also reminds them that authentic products are only sold on kyliecosmetics.com and other websites and services can't be trusted. On Snapchat Kylie said "I don't sell to anybody else. The only way that you can get my products is through my website."
Alexander Hamilton may have been a Founding Father, but that doesn't mean he can't relate to the eternal struggle all young people face trying to make it through life. Here are a few lyrics from the musical Hamilton that describe being in college way too well.
1. "I am not throwing away my shot."
You every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night.
2. "I hate to admit it, but he doesn’t get enough credit for all the credit he gave us."
What your classmates write on your group evaluation after you do all the work and get them an A+.
3. "You punched the bursar."
Seeing what your loans will be after you graduate and being filled with rage.
4. "I noticed a comma in the middle of a phrase it changed the meaning. Did you intend this? One stroke and you’ve consumed my waking days."
Angelica Schuyler would totally relate to overanalyzing texts from bae…
5. "Unimportant. There’s a million things I haven’t done but just you wait, just you wait…"
Every sunday night around roughly 5 p.m.
6. "Raise a glass to freedom, something they can never take away."
John Laurens, Alexander Hamilton and Lafayette definitely understood the joy of pregaming in a dorm when your RA is out of town.
7. "Dying is easy, young man. Living is harder."
Keep this line in your back pocket for any philosophy classes you may take. You'll seem profound and deep and smart as all hell. You're welcome.
8. "Oceans rise, empires fall, we have seen each other through it all. And when push comes to shove I will send a fully armed battalion to remind you of my love!"
Hey, at least your ultimatums to your longtime hookup seem reasonable and grounded compared to King George's.
9. "I hadn’t slept in a week, I was weak, I was awake. You never seen a bastard orphan more in need of a break."
Crawling home from the library after four consecutive all-nighters, crashing from your caffeine high.
10. "Grind to the rhythm as we wine and dine. Grab my sister, and whisper, 'Yo, this One’s mine.'”
Regardless of if it's your biological sister or sorority sister, homegirl NEEDS to respect dibs. (Side note: Can we start wining and dining instead of grinding? Who's with me?)
11. "And when my prayers to God were met with indifference I picked up a pen, I wrote my own deliverance."
After your proessor ignores your countless emails and you still manage to nail that essay.
12. "You and your words flooded my senses. Your sentences left me defenseless, you built me palaces out of paragraphs. You built cathedrals."
Texting a boy who can actually maintain a conversation and doesn't just write back "lol" or "haha same."
13. "Oh, you get love for it. You get hate for it, you get nothing if you…Wait for it, wait for it, wait!"
Biting the bullet and sharing your political beliefs during an in-class discussion because participation is 25-percent of your grade. Bring it on haters.
14. "Talk less. Smile more."
When you're talking to a hot tamale but your conversation is the verbal equivalent of when two magnets repel each other.
15. "Why do you assume you’re the smartest in the room? Soon that attitude may be your doom!"
JUST BECAUSE YOU LIKE THE SOUND OF YOUR OWN VOICE DOESN'T MEAN THE REST OF US DO, AND IF I TOOK A SURVEY I THINK OUR PROFESSOR WOULD AGREE WITH ME.
16. "Only nineteen but my mind is older."
After seeing your first truly horrifying frat house bathroom. No one should have to see that, especially at that age. I WAS TOO YOUNG.
Once you're in college, the one night event of trick-or-treating turns into four or more days (a.k.a. Halloweekend) of costume parties and free booze. It takes months of preparation to make this the best weekend of the year. Halloween is no longer a day but a season, and it goes a little something like this.
The night starts off with everyone going out in costume to Chipotle for boo-ritos.
Or boo-wls. Nah, that just doesn't have the same ring to it.
Then you and your roommates go and get ready hours before the party just so you can take a million pictures.
Even though you'll only Instagram one.
You leave for the party, and you start to notice the stares.
Your costume must be even better than you imagined. People can't stop looking at you.
Oh, wait. They're trying to figure out what your costume is.
You tried to be original with your costume, but you must have tried a little too hard. No one knows what or who you are.
Once you get to the party, you start comparing your costume to everyone else's.
Surprisingly, you've already seen four other girls with the same costume. At least they get it.
You're probably doing this...
*clinks, appears to be having fun*
But secretly wish you could be doing this...
*checks Twitter to see which movie is coming on Freeform next*
Halfway through the night, you realize that most of your costume's accessories are missing.
It doesn't matter, though, because no one seems to notice, and the party is still bumping.
You and your roommates decide to leave early because free booze just doesn't compare to free candy.
Can't we just go back to a simpler time?
You attempt to pass as trick-or-treating youths, but parents assume you're trying to lure their children away Hocus Pocus-style.
You just want candy, and everybody knows what's leftover in those Target bins tomorrow is the equivalent of pure garbage.
You go back to your dorm all like, "I'm never doing this again."
Until you realize this was only the first night of Halloweekend.
So you proclaim that tomorrow night will be better and get ready to take on the next costume party.
According to reports from Teen Vogue and TMZ, Swift was spotted at Drake's 30th birthday party, and the two were allegedly acting flirtly and friendly toward each other. Drake also introduced Swift to his mother, which is reportedly an indicator the two singers might be more than friends.
Rumors are rumors though, and only time will tell if Swift and Drake really are a thing. One thing is for certain though—if they ever broke up, we'd be in store for some really great music.
"The next scream you hear may be your own," the Halloween-themed video says, with screams audible in the background.
Viall, a 36-year-old software salesman from Milwaukee, was a contestant in two past seasons of The Bachelorette. He was the runner up in both seasons, ultimately being sent home by Andi Dorfman (Season 10) and Kaitlyn Bristowe (Season 11). He also appeared on the latest season of Bachelor In Paradise, where he also did not find love.
Perhaps the... fourth time will be the charm for Viall when the new season premieres in January 2017.
Cultural appropriation is unfortunately extremely commonplace and a lot of people aren’t even aware that they’re being offensive. Thankfully, more and more people have begun to educate and call others out for cultural appropriation—and you'd be surprised how many people are guilty of it. Chris Hemsworth, who wore a culturally appropriative Native American costume last year, has recently taken responsibility and apologized for his actions.
The incident took place a year ago when Hemsworth, his wife Elsa Pataky, and his brother Luke dressed in stereotypical Native American garb for a Lone Ranger-themed New Year's Eve party. Pataky briefly shared a photo of them and a few other friends in their costumes, but soon deleted the post from Instagram after receiving an influx of backlash from her followers and the media. Unfortunately, Hemsworth stayed quiet and didn’t apologize at the time.
It seems like Hemsworth has learned why the costumes were so offensive, however, seeing that he recently posted a heartfelt apology on Instagram.
A photo posted by Chris Hemsworth (@chrishemsworth) on
Hemsworth is pictured with his Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi, both of whom are holding a sign in support of the Dakota Access Pipeline, a government-supported oil pipeline that could have severely harmful effects of a major source of water for many Native Americans.
Hemsworth also took the time to pen a heartfelt apology to his fans. "I would also like to take this opportunity to raise something that has been bothering me for some time," he wrote. "Last New Year's Eve I was at a 'Lone Ranger' themed party where some of us, myself included, wore the traditional dress of First Nations people. I was stupidly unaware of the [offense] this may have caused and the sensitivity around this issue." He continued, "I sincerely and unreservedly [apologize] to all First Nations people for this thoughtless action. I now appreciate that there is a great need for a deeper understanding of the complex and extensive issues facing indigenous communities. I hope that in highlighting my own ignorance I can help in some small way.”
Hemsworth has received praise on social media for his ability to learn from his mistakes and to take full responsibility for his actions. While we're still shaking our heads at the fact that this even happened in the first place, what's important is that Hemsworth has not only acknowledged his wrongdoing, but is educating others on it as well.
Every Halloween, more and more people decide to ditch the classic costumes and choose a costume relevant to what’s going on in the world. This year is no exception, and we totally understand why. 2016 has been a roller coaster year to say the least, and it’s provided us with a lot of potential costume material (think: nasty woman, damn Daniel, and Kylie’s lip kits).
This year, Pinterest reports that pop culture costume searches are up 75 percent. Take a look at the top six ideas that are making waves on the site this year.
Hillary Clinton
This pin is up a whopping 500%. It’s not hard to see why, considering she’s most likely going to be our next president. Get your pant suit on and go take on the world, #GirlBoss style.
Donald Trump
We’re honestly not surprised that Trump is on this list, seeing as he’s simultaneously become one of the most loved and hated people in the world this year. This particular pin is up 179% from last year. This might also be due to the fact that this costume essentially only requires three elements to complete the look: an orange spray tan, a business suit, and a combover.
Snapchat Filters
There’s a 1500% rise in this pin, and we’re not even questioning it for a second. Snapchat is one of the most popular apps around the world, so there was bound to come a time when the adorable filters would be adapted into a costume. Finally, you can become a real-life rainbow-puking version of yourself.
David Bowie
This one kind of makes us sad now that this legendary performer is gone, but a Bowie Halloween costume seems like a pretty awesome way to honor his legacy. Bowie was always changing his look, so you’ll have plenty of inspiration to choose from.
Jon Snow White
Because what’s better than combining a hot guy with a beautiful princess and a wholesome pun? Nothing. The answer is nothing.
Luke From Gilmore Girls
This one is kind of awesome just because of the fact that you’ll not only make people nostalgic, but also excited for the upcoming Netflix reunion. The best part is that you probably already own most of the necessary items in your closet so you won’t have to break the bank putting this one together.
In college, Halloween is a week of fun, partying and getting the chance to be someone besides yourself for a change. The ultimate goal is to dress as something unique that no one else at the party will be. Some people don't exactly get the memo. Keep reading for a list of the 11 Halloween costumes you're guaranteed to see at any and every college party.
1. The Cat
We're convinced that cat costumes are for those who couldn't care less about Halloween. They either don't care enough about the holiday to plan an actual costume, or they procrastinate, and when October 31st comes around, they're so antsy to get drunk that they throw on the nearest scrap of fabric and cat ears and call it a night. This costume is typically worn by those who are, in layman's terms, basic.
2. The Main Character From a Hit TV Series
Whether its the Liars, Khaleesi, Dexter or Leslie Knope, when people like a TV show, they find it necessary to dress up as a main character. Expect at least six people at your party this year to be dressed as the main character of whatever the most popular TV show is around Halloween 2016.
3. The Solo Cup
This dude loves inconvenient costumes and really loves the attention that comes with them. His likes include beer pong (obviously), being shirtless and pushing through the crowded dance floor, making everyone else tumble to the ground and have no choice but to notice him.
4. The Risky BusinessCostume
Similar to the cat costume, the Risky Business costume is generally worn by basics. It requires little to no effort and is almost always worn by those who haven't actually seen the movie. "Wait, there's a movie?"
5. The Sexy [Insert Literally Anything Here]
Want to go as a sexy beer can? Sure. What about sexy Skittles? No problem. Sexy iPod? Yeah, that can be a thing! All it takes is a tight dress, sometimes made out of duct tape if you're into that kind of thing, and a logo on the front. You can be anything your heart desires with a trip to Michaels and a good printer.
6. The Literal Costume
This guy is all about the irony. He's a total goofball, and his goal of the night is to make people laugh. When a literal costume is as elaborate as the picture above, it's a great costume, but literal costumes can often be a failed attempt at wit and will produce many an eye roll. The same guy has also been seen going as a "pothead" by wearing an actual pot on his head at past Halloween parties.
7. The Creeper Costume
The creeper costume is always worn by an equally creepy dude. He just came to the party to get with girls, and, ironically enough, his costume is doing the exact opposite of its intended purpose. Ladies, keep your distance from the "Free Mammograms" guy. He's not a real doctor.
8. The Non-Costume
Costumes like this are for the guys who are too cool to care. Hipster, intellectual, mature—whatever this dude calls himself, he sucks. Yeah, the non-costume can be funny if done like our boy Jim Halpert, but what's the point of Halloween if you're going to be boring and dress normally? Come on—it only happens once a year, everyone dresses up and, as Cady Heron once said, "You'd better be one of them, biotch."
9. The Costume Nobody Gets
There's always someone at the party who wants to flaunt her intellectual side and show that she's above the typical and childish costume choices that most college kids are into. And there are always drunk people who straight up don't get it. Most conversations overheard between a person wearing this costume and a drunk partygoer go as follows:
Drunk: "Like, what are you?"
Intellectual:"A Freudian slip."
Drunk: *Stares blankly*
Intellectual: *Stares blankly*
Drunk: *Burps then walks away*
10. The Buzzed LightBeer
This costume is for BROOOOs. If you don't bro out as hard as this bro, then go home. This bro wants everyone around him to know that he drinks alcohol. And he drinks a lot of it, often. He can pound tons of beers. You only drank eight beers? That may as well be like drinking water.
11. The Costume That Ruins Your Childhood Memories
At every party, you're always graced with the girls who choose a beloved childhood character, such as a Disney Princess, a Rugrat (Yes, we've seen "sexy" Chuckie before) or even Mario and Luigi, and wear lingerie in relevant colors to try to pass as said characters. We personally don’t remember Mario or Luigi wearing sparkly bras in Super Smash Bros. That must be in the newer version.
Despite being slammed by style mavens like Tim Gunn, Kanye West’s fashion week show had a positive impact in the fashion world.
Sure, Yeezy season 4 was far from perfect—models were reportedly suffering from dehydration after standing in the hot sun for hours—but there is one positive thing that's come out of Kanye's latest show. For the second year in a row, Kanye has presented the most diverse show we've seen at fashion week, with 97 percent of his models being women of color. (This number is actually down from his season 3 show, which featured 100 percent models of color.)
Many thought that this year, Kanye would strictly showcase minority models after his controversial casting call in September, which was open only to "multiracial" women.
Other designers, such as Kimora Lee Simmons and Brandon Maxwell, seemed to make variety a priority as well, but others fell into the trend of only having “traditional” models. Designer Daniela Gregis’s collection was worn only by white models.
Say what you want about his designs, but at least Kanye is attempting to highlight different versions of beauty. Other designers should follow his lead.
Hillary Clinton has had a few problems in her campaign. She’s had an email server problem, a WikiLeaks problem, Benghazi problems, Bernie or Bust problems, and a huge millennial problem.
Now that the presidential election is down to just Clinton versus Trump, plus Jill Stein and Gary Johnson, Millennial voters are shifting their support to Hillary. Her struggle to connect with the youngest generation of voters could finally be over, especially after Donald Trump’s “Grab her by the pussy” comments and less-than-professional performances at the debates.
A photo posted by Hillary Clinton (@hillaryclinton) on
According to several pre-Democratic National Convention polls, Bernie Sanders was unarguably the favorite candidate of millennials. More than half of Americans aged 20 to 36 viewed him favorably, while only about 35 percent could say the same for Hillary Clinton. By September, Clinton had only secured 31 percent of voters under 35. Trump trailed her by just 5 points with 26 percent of the young American vote, while Libertarian presidential nominee had 29 percent of young voters’ support.
Just one month later, polls are shifting incredibly. A Harvard Institute of Politics survey published on Wednesday showed that Clinton gained the support of almost half of 18 to 29-year-old voters by the end of October. This puts the Democratic nominee at a 28-point lead over Trump, who only secured about 20 percent of millennials’ support. This pattern was supported by several other recent polls, including a study by the Black Youth Project and a Rock the Vote/IPSOS/USA Today poll. The latter two surveys suggested Hillary may actually have up to 60 percent of Millennials who are now #WithHer.
Hillary Clinton’s surge of favorability among the youngest American voters likely has a lot to do with the leaked Access Hollywood tape, in which Donald Trump bragged about sexual assault, and Trump’s three laughably boisterous and unprofessional debate performances, The Independent reports.
In the leaked “hot mic” video from Trump’s stint on Access Hollywood with Billy Bush from 2005, he said several lewd comments. These included, “Grab them [women] by the pussy…you can do anything,” and “When you’re a star they let you do it.” This caused the mass abandoning of support by Republican establishment politicians for the GOP nominee, which was followed by widespread public denouncement by voters.
Trump also saw a dip in polls after the first debate, in something that Republican strategist Liesl Hickey described toThe New York Times as soaring unpopularity. Now that millennials are pulling for Hillary, Trump’s low chances of getting into the highest office could be getting even slimmer.
Democratic Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth is about as patriotic as political candidates come. The Illinois senatorial hopeful was an army helicopter pilot, her dad was a marine and she lost both legs in a crash in Iraq. Her family also has a very long history of military service.
“My family has served this nation in uniform, going back to the Revolution,” Duckworth said in a debate on Thursday night. “I’m a daughter of the American Revolution. I’ve bled for this nation. But I still want to be there in the Senate when the drums of war sound because people are quick to sound the drums of war, and I want to be there to say this is what it costs, this is what you’re asking us to do…Families like mine are the ones that bleed first.”
Incumbent Republican Senator Mark Kirk only had one answer to Duckworth’s moving statement of patriotic service. “I’d forgotten that your parents came all the way from Thailand to serve George Washington.”
*cue Awkward Silence before the moderator quickly moved onto the next question*
According to NPR, Kirk’s response was not only rude and pretty racist—it was just plain wrong. Duckworth was indeed born in Thailand to a Thai mother. But her father was an American, a U.S. Marine and a World War II veteran. Mother Jones confirmed back in 2012 that his heritage goes back to the American Revolution, validating Duckworth’s claim to fame as a “daughter of the Revolution.”
Initially, Kirk’s campaign issued an unapologetic, defensive statement. “Senator Kirk has consistently called Rep. Duckworth a war hero and honors her family's service to this country," Kirk spokeswoman Eleni Demertzi said, according to NPR. "But that's not what this debate was about. Rep. Duckworth lied about her legal troubles, was unable to defend her failures at the VA and then falsely attacked Senator Kirk over his record on supporting gay rights."
It wasn’t until Friday afternoon that Kirk finally embraced the classic social media apology.
Sincere apologies to an American hero, Tammy Duckworth, and gratitude for her family's service. #ilsen
In the wake of Donald Trump, many GOP officeholders are realizing that their jobs are in jeopardy. According to the Guardian, Mark Kirk is one of the most vulnerable incumbent Republican senators in the country, alongside Kelly Ayotte in New Hampshire, Richard Burr in North Carolina, Ron Johnson in Wisconsin and Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania.
The GOP senator was already unlikely to win the Illinois senatorial race. The Huffington Post’s poll-tracker shows Duckworth leading Kirk by nearly 10 points, giving her more than a 99 percent chance of winning the election. Kirk’s racially-charged remark to Duckworth likely made reelection even less likely as Democrats jumped on the opportunity to denounce him.
“Senator Mark Kirk’s attack on Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth’s family tonight was offensive, wrong, and racist,” said Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokeswoman Lara Sisselman in a statement.“Senator Kirk has been caught lying about his military record over 10 times, but he was quick to launch false attacks questioning Congresswoman Duckworth’s family’s long history of serving our country.” According to CNN, Kirk inflated his military record on his campaign site by calling himself a “veteran” of the Iraq War. In reality, he was in the Navy Reserves, and never actually left the United States during the war.
My mom is an immigrant and my dad and his family have served this nation in uniform since the Revolution #ILSENpic.twitter.com/ehEBHswFMs
The real world can be intimidating. What the heck is a Roth IRA? Do my coworkers think I’m smart enough for this job? When will I find the one? Why don’t I know what I want to do with my life? With all this weighing upon us, it’s no wonder we’re a little stressed. The good news is that it’s okay to be uncertain. Keep reading to learn how to say goodbye to stress and start focusing on success.
What you should know about stress
Let's start with some quick definitions of the types of stress you may see in your lifetime:
Acute Stress
Acute stress is the common stress we face every day. It can be triggered by specific events or situations. While stress is often viewed as negative, these short-term bursts may actually help us—or hurt us, depending on the activity. Basically, it's the small stuff you might complain about—traffic, long lines for your coffee or an upcoming deadline.
Episodic Acute Stress
If you're constantly rushing around, missing deadlines, and feeling disorganized or chaotic, you may be suffering from episodic acute stress. If you're the type of person that takes on multiple responsibilities or tries to do too much (often a "Type A" personality), you may put yourself in situations that invite episodic acute stress. You're worrying about everything that could go wrong to the point that you can't relax. In short, if you've ever been called a "worry wort," it may be that you experience episodic acute stress.
Chronic Stress
Chronic stress is much more serious. If you struggle to relax or feel stressed all the time, it can lead to chronic stress. It comes from long term, seemingly unending exposure to types of acute stress such as a mindless job, chronic illness or relationship conflicts. Chronic stress grinds you down and wears you away year after year, potentially making you feel that life is miserable. Chronic stress is the most dangerous form because it becomes a way of life and can often lead to depression.
Why we're stressed all the time
It’s uncomfortable to transition from a system with checkpoints, caring professors and free food (thanks, meal plan!) to no system at all. Most college classes don’t prepare you for bosses, deadlines or cubicles; not to mention apartment hunting, budgeting, cooking or dating. You may have had an internship or two, but the stakes are higher now. It’s not just about choosing your major anymore, but choosing your health insurance, your next job, your career path... and that’s scary.
To make matters even worse, it can be easy to feel alone. Our BFFs are no longer down the hall, or even in the same city. Snapchat isn’t the same as hanging out on the quad, and the 30-something friend we made at work can’t quite relate to what we’re going through. In short, we’ve lost our support system.
On top of all of that, expectations are higher than ever before. Tammy Bui, a 20-something professional from Worcester, MA, says, “It’s stressful to be a student and to have to meet deadlines, but it’s even crazier when you are working, because it makes an impact on the business so everything you do has to be on point.”
There’s scientific evidence to back up how stressed we’ve become. “It’s called the ‘great mismatch’ in evolutionary biology,” says psychologist and therapist Dr. Jim Manganiello. “Extreme worry triggers the ‘flight or fight’ response too frequently and for too long.” In other words, when we’re constantly worrying, we don’t get the chance to flush the response out of our system. We stay stressed.
One reason we're feeling this intense amount of stress, especially at this time in life, is that we’ve been conditioned since childhood to build our self-worth around what others think. “We lose our own experience and sense of self because we imagine, wrongly, that others are correct. We then think, feel, and act according to that image,” says Dr. Manganiello. The good news is that it’s absolutely normal to be grappling with issues of self-worth, status, and decision making as a graduette, and provides us the experience to learn and grow.
What to do about it
Repeat after us: “I am enough.” Dr. Manganiello recommends we all become better friends to ourselves and lend ourselves the generosity we lend others. Accept that you don't know all the answers just yet. Spoiler: no one else does either.
Another thing to keep in mind is that it’s ok to “fail.” It doesn’t mean you are a failure. Steve Jobs and Walt Disney are just a couple of success stories who started out struggling. It’s what gave them the drive, resilience and grit to succeed. As vulnerability research professor and author Brené Brown talks about in her new book, Rising Strong, these moments of falling down remind us why it’s worth getting back up. By pretending no challenges exist so we can appear more “normal,” we sacrifice what we can learn from those moments. Successful people accept failure, rather than internalize it. But to do that is uncomfortable and requires you to relax.
Exercising regularly, practicing yoga, listening to music or guided relaxations and meditating can all bring mindfulness back into your life and help flush the stress hormones out of your system. This is an essential part of becoming more relaxed and preventing panic and anxiety.
Taking quick breaks to focus on something you love can help too. “When I’m feeling overwhelmed, I like to walk away and do something that makes me happy, like blogging, before getting back to work,” says Tammy. “It helps me take a step back.”
When it's more than stress
Stressing out is totally normal, but it becomes an issue when you feel like you can never turn it off. What transforms stress into something more is the inability to flush out the fight-or-flight hormones from your system—or in simpler terms, the inability to relax—which puts you in constant overdrive. You’re always dreaming up worst-case scenarios and perhaps worst of all, feel that you can’t control it. If you feel that you’re so anxious that it's getting in the way of your everyday life, it’s time to seek professional help. With the rise in digital options, you can even try "Skype therapy" or use a mobile app like Psych On Demand or TalkSpace if you can't afford (or don't have time to) commit to traditional in-office sessions. No matter what, it's the relationship that makes the difference, so don't feel you have to commit to one therapist right away—take the time to find what's right for you.
It’s okay not to know all the answers. Our twenties are a time to start exploring all of the possible paths we could take and find out what we like, dislike and love. “Find your next door to walk through,” says Dr. Manganiello. “It doesn’t have to be perfect or the final door. Walk through and see what it delivers.”
While many of us find the task of carving triangles into pumpkins to make traditional jack-o'-lanterns enough of a challenge, some impressive artisans around the world have managed to recreate celebrity faces onto some of the most unique jack-o'-lanterns you’ll ever see!
EW PopFest promised us first footage of the highly-anticipated Gilmore Girls revival, but we never could've imagine we'd be getting SIX brand new clips. Creator Amy Sherman-Palladino and executive producer Dan Palladino were on hand to introduce the snippets and offer some behind-the-scenes scoop.
But we know what you're all here for: deets on the clips. Without further ado, here's what we learned.
Lorelai and Rory are still talking about their underwear. This time, it's Rory who isn't wearing any, and Lorelai gets to deliver this winning line.
"I think any outfit you wear without underwear is going to be your lucky outfit." Got big laughs at #EWPopFest#gilmoregirls@EW
We also got a sneak peek of the International Food Festival, where the most appealing item on the menu to Lorelai is the trash heap. Sounds about right.
Michel seemed a lot more pleasant while checking in guests at the Dragonfly, though he made his usual quips as they walked away. There's the Michel we know and love.
Taylor angrily presides over a town meeting, living his best life as he discusses the B-listers who are staying at the Dragonfly while a movie films in nearby Woodbury. So it seems like Lorelai def still owns the Dragonfly and Luke still enjoys heckling Taylor to no end.
Luke has finally found his place at Friday night dinner, being grilled by Emily in Richard's "woody" (as Luke describes it) office. She wants to know whether he's got a will and if everything is in order should he die. So as we already knew, Luke and Lorelai are forever—but so forever that they need to be in each other's wills? *This* is serious.
We will finally see what the Gilmore girls are like in summer, as the revival spends a full 90 minutes on the little-before-seen season. Lorelai and Rory are sunbathing at the Stars Hollow Municipal Pool, critiquing the bods of passersby and debating the cleanliness of public watering holes. Natch.
Needless to say, we are now even more eager to see Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life in its entirety. From what we have peeked so far, it is going to be well worth the wait.
To be fair, we have wanted a Happy Endings reboot ever since the series was canceled three years ago. But this weekend's cast reunion at EW PopFest only reminded us of how much we've missed this crazy gang of friends.
Zachary Knighton, Elisha Cuthbert, Damon Wayans Jr., Eliza Coupe, Casey Wilson and Adam Pally, along with series creator David Caspe and other key members of the show's original staff, reunited to read a "lost episode," written especially for the event. Titled "Happy to Be Here," episode 4x01 picks up exactly three years after we last saw the group, and spoiler alert: they're not doing so hot. In fact, they've all drifted apart, and you couldn't even really classify them as a group anymore.
Penny is in mall jail. Max is living in Washington. Alex is a super successful businesswoman, taking Xela all the way to London. Dave is living like Lin-Manuel Miranda, sporting the facial hair and even working on his own original play, Hamilton. And saddest of all, Jane and Brad have split, with Jane relocating to work at Toyota (which does not make toy Yodas, as Alex would have us believe) in Japan and Brad isolating himself in the woods.
Of course, by the end of the episode, the gang finds themselves back at Rosalita's, and all is right with the world again. Seriously, it is time to bring back Happy Endings. The group has still got it. The writers obvi still have it (if you only could've heard the laughter in the room!). What are you waiting for, networks? #BringBackHappyEndings
As Halloweekend hits it peak, social media has been graced with some of the best celebrity costumes we have ever seen. Whether it's a full on ordeal like Heidi Klum as Jessica Rabbit or something as simple as wearing a onesie, the days leading up to Halloween are always exciting. But so far with all the amazing looks, Kylie Jenner dressed as Christina Aguilera circa "Dirty", definitely takes the cake.