Have you ever tried to write, but ended up just staring at a blank page for what seems like forever? You might be suffering from a case of Writer’s Block. Writers all over the world face the same challenge: Writer’s block. It takes away from your day as you frantically try to overcome it, but to no avail. However, here are a few tips for overcoming that big obstacle that sneaks up on every writer.

1. Take a break.
   Explanation: Taking a break, such as going on a walk or watching a video, can help clear your mind so you can re-approach it with fresh eyes.

2. Read other books
   Explanation: Doing this can help give you more ideas and techniques that you can use in your story, for example, you like one thing an author did, so you try it out on your own story.

3. Have people ask you questions about the story (or just talk it out)
   Explanation: Doing this helps you think over the story and different aspects you might have to change or add.

4. Take a nap
   Explanation: Your brain helps look at everything while you’re sleeping and it can make connections to different things. It never sleeps.

5. Talk to a friend and ask for help
   Explanation: An extra pair of eyes can help catch mistakes that you didn’t see, and help you change things that need changing.

6. Move to a new environment
   Explanation: A change in scenery could be exactly what your brain needs to process information and trigger the next words for your story, so if you were inside, go outside, and vise versa.

7. Give yourself permission to write badly
   Explanation: You need to stop being a critic about yourself and just accept that the first draft is going to be messy, so stop being a perfectionist. Be sloppy and fix it later. (later meaning in your 5th draft)

8. Try writing differently, such as going from pencil to pen, or just changing the font.
   Explanation: This helps you see things differently and helps you make connections between different events and scenes from your story..

9. Make a writing board (a board with all the key events of the story on it)
   Explanation: This also helps you make connections when you have everything in front of you.

10. Set smaller goals
    Explanation: Doing this can help ease anxiety, therefore clearing your mind a little more so you can think of more things for your story.

     Use these tips to help you when you are creating a story. They might not all work for you, but that’s okay. Remember this: Writing will always change, so if your story doesn’t move the way you planned, it is probably for the better.

The Darwin Award is an award celebrating the dumb way you died, no, seriously. Darwin Awards are handed out to the people who died the stupidest way. Dumb ways to die!

1.  "UFO?" 

An 84-year-old man named Shivdayal Sharma died from a flying cow? While stopping for a minute on the train tracks, "The man was hit by a cow that landed after a 30-meter flight caused by the impact with an express train of the Vande Bharata line." (agenzianova.com) This was a pretty bizarre death!

2. "Water Bottle Waterfall."

A 46-year-old man in Cattolica, Italy, broke into a supermarket, not for money, just for a drink. "He paused to enjoy a drink of water, pulling a bottle from a towering mountain of water, and the whole darned stack collapsed on top of him like a tidal wave! Employees returned to the shop the next day and were confronted by a collapsed mess of crates." (darwinawards.com) If you're going to steal water, grab a bottle from the top of the stack instead.

3. "Pretty Fly for a Dead Guy"☘

A 23-year-old student pilot in Houston, Texas, finished his first solo flight. The exhilarated man bought a new plane that he wasn't trained to fly solo in. "His West Houston flight instructor pointedly told this 23-year-old: "DO NOT FLY that new aircraft until you are given some training in it." But that did not deter the man from taking his new toy out for exercise on a winter night. He had to fly a plane he had not been trained in. He had to fly at night. And he had to fly with an overcast ceiling of 900 feet. Three strikes... The flight began at 7:30 pm and lasted maybe 4 minutes."(darwinawards.com) There are speculations that the man flew with a friend in the plane, but that is not confirmed. 

After reading these, I hope you know the expectations for how dumb a death has to be for a Darwin Award. Remember, have common sense.

Can music help you in life? Will it change how you think? What can music really do to affect you?

     Playing music is one of the only activities that gets almost 100% of your brain working. Music gets so much of your brain active because you have to use math, reading, writing, and many other things. You may be surprised to learn this and not believe me, but give me a chance to explain. You use math in a band because you have to count per measure, every measure is 1,2,3, or 4 beats. It changes depending on how the song is written. You have to count per measure and pay attention to see if it changes. It may seem simple, but when you are trying to play an instrument, read the notes, remember how to play the note, and count beats per measure all at once. Getting so much of your brain working is good for you because it serves as a mental workout and reduces stress levels. Playing music is very good for you.

     Secondly, playing music/an instrument daily can affect your day-to-day in many ways. It affects your life because when you play an instrument, it brings down your cortisol levels, which helps to reduce stress. It can make you feel better emotionally, too. When you play music, it releases hormones like dopamine and serotonin, which can make you happier and bring feelings of joy. Playing music is also calming, which can help lower your heart rate, which is very helpful because it can help you remain calm.

      Furthermore, some songs have a dramatic ending, which can add an intense factor and make you feel good inside. This is because (good) dramatic moments help you to feel calm and like you did a good job. If you feel like you’ve done something well, you will feel better about yourself, which is something that everyone should feel.

Finally, playing music can help throughout your life, whether it's calming yourself down, getting your brain active, or making you feel good overall and feel good about yourself.

Research Links

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6368928/#:~:text=Debra%20Shipman%2C%20PhD%2C%20RN&text=Learning%20to%20play%20a%20musical,and%20decreased%20anxiety%20and%20agitation.&text=Musical%20training%20promotes%20cognitive%20function,and%20a%20connection%20to%20others.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6368928/#:~:text=Debra%20Shipman%2C%20PhD%2C%20RN&text=Learning%20to%20play%20a%20musical,and%20decreased%20anxiety%20and%20agitation.&text=Musical%20training%20promotes%20cognitive%20function,and%20a%20connection%20to%20others.