Smoke Sesh - 26 things I've learned in 26 years

Episode Date: June 3, 2025

hello and welcome to a very special birthday episode of smoke sesh! so excited to be back with you all to celebrate a very very fun 26th birthday, we chat growing up, adulting, temper tantrums, birthday celebrations, setting your year up for success, my past week of chaos, and much much more, most importantly we go over 26 things i've learned in 26 years, my little tips and tricks to not only surviving but also thriving, what I wish I told my younger self and wisdom I hope to give to you all, we will be back to regularly scheduled content next week where I answer all your questions but if you want your question answered now! join the patreon at patreon.com/smokeseshshawty for exclusive podcast episodes and follow me on insta to see more from me at hannahmarlene to submit your questions every week ! love you and chat soon, MUAH!

Two in five Canadians will hear the words, you have cancer. That's why every step and dollar raised matters. On September 19th, join thousands in Toronto for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation Walk. Challenge yourself, friends, and family to walk 21 kilometers in support of life-saving research. Together, we can carry the fire

and help create a world free from the fear of cancer. Register today at pmcfwalk.ca. Hello, midsize business. We see your big ambitions, but how do you achieve the wins you want when your technology is holding you back? SAP Grow is built to grow with your business, no matter its size. With AI embedded at its core, working across every system, all ready to go from day one, so you can hit the ground running. Bring it with SAP Grow, AI cloud ERP for any size business. Listen, everybody needs a fairy godmother, you know, just somebody to look out for them. Some people call me their fairy smoke mother, others their internet big sister, but you

can call me Hannah, the host of Smoke Sash. So come hang out. Let's light up and talk everything there is to life. The good, the bad, the ugly, the embarrassing. I've got a story for it all. hello hello hello welcome back to the smoke sesh podcast my name is hannah your host and it is my birthday oh my goodness you guys i had honestly i think two fun of a birthday but as i get older my birthdays just keep kind of leveling up leveling up leveling up and in my opinion that's just how life is supposed to be lived you know what i mean if you can't find the party you gotta be the party usually usually i use my birthday as a way to kind of gauge how i want the next year of my life to go if you are ever sitting here and you're like my birthday is coming up i don't know

what to do i'm just not gonna do anything boo you can find something to do whether it's just like a relaxing day hanging out at home around the people you love I really try and you know set up the day how I want the rest of my year to go just as a way of celebrating and bringing in newness bringing in exciting exciting experiences and usually I am out of town usually I just take off somewhere and enjoy a little vacation I have spent most of my birthdays either out of the country or at least out of the state whether i'm in mexico california i did arkansas last year just running away to the woods and this year since i'm going to japan later in the year i was like you know what i'll just stay home i'll stay home we'll do an at home birthday celebration and try and just

make the best out of it little staycation situation and wow i had honestly a little bit a little bit a little bit too much fun my old co-workers used to call me hannah rager and best believe hannah rager made a guest appearance this 26th birthday but i have just had wow a hectic busy busy week we have a lot to catch up on we have a lot to talk about and since this is the birthday episode we will just be doing 26 things that i've learned in 26 years going over some little life lessons tips and tricks for you all so this might be a little bit of a shorter episode we'll see what kind of craziness we get into here but it is the birthday episode i also have to get ready and go to a family dinner after this so you know we're going to cover everything birthday and

enjoy our time and then next week we will be back to regularly scheduled content of everything that's on your mind if you want to see some birthday pics follow me on instagram at hannah marlene you guys sent me so many sweet birthday messages and i really really appreciate all of you guys it truly just makes my heart so happy um you guys show me so much love and appreciation and i cannot believe i have been doing this for like four or five years now that's insane you guys are incredible thank you for always being here for me and just bringing so much light into my life honestly this week i was like maybe maybe since last week was so crazy maybe i'll just take today off maybe i'll just take today off maybe i'll just you know we'll skip a week but no

nope honestly you girls gotta show up your girls gotta clock in lock in because i do really enjoy hanging out with you guys and just spending time together so thank you for being here for me so i can also be here for you but i had to do leading up to my birthday like all of the adult things required and that was just exhausting i hate doing adult things doctor's appointments therapy car registration bitch everything under the sun i had to go do my car registration was crazy i had pay like twelve hundred dollars in sales tax they're like yeah it'll be twelve hundred dollars you can you can tap your card right here girl what what 8 30 a.m with 50 people behind me in line at the dmv i had no choice there was no choice okay one singular tear rolled down my

cheek tap that fucking card but you know what i did ask this year for blessings and i was able to get a new car which was such a blessing you know what we'll pay the money we'll tap the car we'll keep it we'll keep it moving adult things I also had I know I talked about this last week but my women's health like annual women's health appointment got rescheduled because my OB had to go in and help deliver a baby hello that's a little bit more important than checking my IUD or whatever the fuck i was going in for so i finally had to like go back and re-get everything checked out and i pull up to you know leg spread pull up to the ob-gyn like yeah no um i've been having a little bit of pain i just want to make sure my iud is in place and i know i am a huge proponent of

the iud you guys hear me talk about the iud all the time because i love her she is amazing i have you know what no babies yet thank god and she lasts forever I don't have to think about anything I just sit back relax and enjoy honestly but I was having some pains and I was like you're I'm really nervous maybe my IUD is piercing my uterine wall that seems to be a huge issue let's go get it checked out so I was like yeah while you're in there doing your usual thing can you just make sure you see my strings or just take a look and make sure my IUD is in place she's like yeah yeah no problem I got you girl absolutely she gets in there she goes so I don't see your IUD what do you what do you mean you don't see my IUD what do you mean what do you what what what

what are we talking about what do you mean you do not see my IUD hello that seems to be a bit of a problem she's like yeah no I need you to come back for an emergency ultrasound either today or sometime this week i'm gonna go talk to my ultrasound tech now and make sure that you know we can get you in either asap or whenever we can but we gotta see you soon girl immediately immediately not me being like yeah my anxiety condition has been out of control talk about a heart stopping moment bitch what the fuck so they were like okay we have an opening in an hour can you just like i mean you can either hang out here for an hour or you can go like run errands whatever it is but we need you to come back in an hour so we can do an emergency ultrasound

okay yeah yeah i'm happy to do that me trying to distract myself by like running errands at target or like home goods trying to get last minute birthday shit while also trying to keep my brain intact from going fucking crazy me on reddit threads like oh my god oh my god my iud is lost my body oh my god my iud has traveled to my kidneys like what's going on what am i gonna have to have surgery like hyping myself up into a panic a panic finally hour passes longest fucking hour of my life i get in there and you know it's like a one of the wands the the women's technology is advancing we aren't where we should be because hello how the fuck can you not see my iud but but we are advancing and they were able to take a 3d ultrasound of my uterus and they were

like nope everything looks great nope iud is in perfect position uh maybe you know your strings are just tucked up during this part of your cycle nope everything looks great but you do have two quite large cysts on both your ovaries oh okay fantastic what do we do about that what's the plan of action here nothing nothing oh you mean i just live with these they're like yeah i mean they look like they're shrinking a little bit so as long as it's not causing you a ton of pain and as long as they're shrinking and not growing growing growing it's fine oh being a woman i literally looked my ultrasound tech in the face and i was like damn why is just why are we you know just naturally in pain all the time what the fuck what kind of curse is this anyways at least

at least no babies here amen hello uh but yeah pro tip if you have an iud make sure you are checking that shit out at least every once in a while if you're a woman in general make sure you are going to your you know annual once a year women's health um appointments it is important we do need to make sure we're taking care of ourselves and our bodies um and just being in the know of what goes on with our bodies does make the process of pain a little bit easier but that was panic attack inducing last week and then my i had to work all weekend so i worked a long ass friday shift got home probably like 1 a.m did not sleep at all my cat has also been on this really really really fun new habit lately shout out to him i love him so much i love him so much

but like oh my god please for the love of god do not wake me up at 7 30 in the morning he has been waking me up meowing loudly straight into my face at 7 30 in the morning i might as well just have a baby at this point like are you kidding me it's very random he's never done this before i think you know i just accidentally woke up really early one day and fed him at 7 30 in the morning and in his little pea-sized brain he's like this is every day from now on i must get fed at 7 30 in the morning every single day so i having fallen asleep probably at like 2 30 after getting home at one was then awoken at 7 30 in the morning by my adorable little cat thank you thank you danger shout out to him um and then i proceeded to go to this animal farmstead with my brother my sister

in law my mom and my niece and my nephew they were in town so of course we had to go do a little bit of celebration together if they're in town i don't care how sleep deprived i am i am a good aunt i will clock in and hang out with the kiddos we went fishing we fed goats we were running around they had llamas they had donkeys they had sheep they had birds they had everything you could ever think of and you know what had a blast great time shout out to them but i am understanding when children like mid-afternoon start falling into like a spiral of just like crying and emotional instability and rolling around on the floor because i was also feeling that way after getting like five hours of sleep i get it i understand you and you know what kid have that

tantrum do your thing sometimes you just got to get the energy out of your body and then take a fast nap i get it i understand did i take a nap no i went into work again on saturday leading into my birthday and you know what shout out to my co-workers they were so sweet i was like listen listen i cannot be here till midnight i cannot ring in my birthday in this in this environment at my place of work i do need to be first cut i do need to be set free sometime soon like i am practically begging you guys you know what they were chill as fuck about it they're like yes we'll get you out of here girl we'll make sure you're not here till midnight i bought pizzas for everybody just to kind of you know you know earn their good graces be on their good side and they got me out

of there thank god i came home i came home literally opened the front door rainbow streamers streamers everywhere i told my boyfriend i was like listen i have no time i have no time i'm tired all i want like waking up my birthday is like a spotless house i had caused a disaster the prior week but i'm like please can you just make sure that this house is deep cleaned for me love you thank you not only did he do that he also decorated the entire apartment for me oh my god it was the best thing to come home to ever and it was so incredibly sweet he is the best I do not deserve him he is so incredibly kind and oh it truly just made my night because I was coming home to pass out but I saw that and I got an extra burst of energy I was like oh my

god my birthday's tomorrow I'm turning 26 it's beautiful in here streamers everywhere balloons fantastic wow what a lucky life I live you know so for my birthday all I really wanted to do was be underwater and like do a little bit of shopping and I wanted a fish I wanted a fish I grew up with fish tanks I don't know I always grew up with like beta fish and for some reason I was like that's what I want for my birthday very simple I just want to do a little bit of like aquascaping I want to get a bunch of plants and I want to get a cute little fish so wake up in the morning we went we got coffee I packed some picnic stuff up early because me and the girls were going to the pool we went out we ran some errands we went thrifting we went to sephora we went to pet smart

we got our beta fish we had had the tank set up like a week prior just to make sure you know the water levels were good and that all the functionality of a fish tank was working and that it was like a good environment before just like dumping a fucking fish in there like i am not the bitch to just like put a fish into a barely one gallon tank like no this thing has 10 gallons he seems so happy we spent like a hundred dollars on plants like he is living his best little life in there and it just brings me so so much joy i love having just little animals around me they remind me how precious life is so we adopted a fish we have a new member of our family and then i found this app which pro tip if you have like no like private pools around you

or pools in general or just want like a pool day to yourself not sponsored although i need to be there's this app that i found called swimply where you can rent people's private pools like in their backyards which sounds a little weird at first but i did do some like researching on who was like like listing the pools and the owners of the pools and this lady seemed like a bad bitch who just happened to have a pool and loves to throw parties like yes come party at my place and it was in the bougie bougie area of kansas city i was like thank you i'll take two hours yes ma'am i got glitter tubes i packed a veggie tray a fruit tray i packed guacamole and chips and sandwiches i made a big ass pitcher of margaritas i pulled up to that place this lady

was bad as fuck she was so sweet she's like listen i know you only booked for two hours but it is such a beautiful day out today and it's your birthday i want to gift you guys like a couple extra hours if you guys want to stay longer like it's on me i appreciate you so much like i just hope you have a fantastic birthday ah so it was like the most perfect pool oasis ever i bought like glitter tattoos we were doing glitter tattoos we were munching we were swimming we were drinking having a fantastic fucking time just laying out in the sunshine listen i'm not against a you know public swimming pool trust i'll go i'll be around 50 screaming children but on my birthday no no no no no no I needed a chill day with my girls so we were there for like three hours and then packed

everything up they were so sweet spent time with me my friend is in really intensive nursing school right now and she took off a couple hours for me so I felt so thankful for that but then my boyfriend was out and about with his friends down at the river I was like I know he's at the river and also like I'm feeling good like I'm not like lit lit but I really enjoyed it like it's a beautiful day out i don't really want to go home yet so i was like let me just pull up to the river on them i have a bunch of food left i have inner tubes i'm still in my bikini like let me just pull up to the river so not only did i get to have like a beautiful pool day but i also got to like go hiking in nature go submerge myself underwater in the river and also hang out with all his friends

which was so so so sweet they were all so kind and i was like i literally have too much food i don't know what to do with this it's gonna go home and sit in my fridge i need somebody to eat it so thank god they just devoured all of it for me appreciate that endlessly and yeah we just kicked it outside in nature it was such a relaxing chill birthday i my poor boyfriend is so so so so incredibly patient with me because when i was talking about like toddler breakdowns yeah i did cry on my birthday I did cry on my birthday but I think it's because like we were so busy running errands from like 8 a.m. I woke up at 7 30 that day too hello on my birthday please for the love of god I couldn't I couldn't have slept on my birthday no dangerous I get your ass up now now

so we were running errands all morning like I had no time in between running errands and then like going to the pool literally I had 15 minutes I packed everything in my car went immediately to the pool from the pool i went immediately to the river we left the river at like 6 40 p.m by then your bitch was tired your bitch was tired it was time for a toddler level tantrum and out of nowhere i just started crying he's so sweet he's like what's going on what's wrong like are you okay what did i do something i'm like no i'm just so exhausted i'm just so tired literally i just needed a nap honestly I just really needed a good night's sleep after all of the birthday festivities birthday fun and so we were gonna go out to dinner that night I was gonna go home

the plan was I was gonna go home get all dressed up we'll go out to dinner we'll go sit in a restaurant eat out hell no after all of that running around I was not about to like curl my hair and put on a dress I showered put on a comfy outfit we went and bought we got a crab boils for dinner devoured that on my living room floor and knocked out early as fuck probably like 10 p.m and then thank god this morning danger was trying me and i was like no no not today not today kicked him out of the room actually got a full eight hours of sleep i'm feeling a little bit more level-headed and just rested today which is so nice but my birthday was so incredibly fun a little hectic but i spent my entire day practically outside what more could a girl

ask for good food good friends good environment truly what is better than that and then today we're continuing on with the celebration i'm going out to dinner with my family we're gonna go get some pasta i will be able to throw on a little dress and curl my hair you know get that fix in and yeah hopefully also probably go to bed a little bit early but wow what a hectic week what a busy week i could not ask for a more you know fulfilling and grateful life genuinely every birthday just kind of outdoes the next and i cannot wait to see where i am you know even next year i can only imagine but cheers to 26 oh my gosh now with being 26 and doing our celebratory birthday episode I wanted to get on here and talk 26 things I've learned in 26 years I gave a lot

of advice on this podcast but I kind of wanted to just take a moment to look back and think of all the things that truly have impacted me all the things that truly have you know made a difference in my life and share those with you guys for my little birthday gift to you so 26 things i've learned in 26 years one which this might be hard for some of you learning to love your hometown is healing when i was younger i wanted nothing more than to like get the fuck out of here get the fuck out of here i thought where i lived was so lame boo boring i hate this town please set me free sure you know what valid and I'm not gonna say you know what you need to stay in your hometown and um you know never leave ever I don't think that is the point of this I think it is just kind

of like when you learn to love your hometown you learn to love where you from you also learn to love this part of yourself that you are probably running away from you know your environment really shapes who you are whether we want to or not and even if you're from like the country or the middle of nowhere learning to kind of give into the nostalgia factor of it all and appreciate what it did give you and the environment it did give you is so important and also I do think it really heals a part of yourself that you may be neglecting. It took me a long time to really appreciate where I'm from or learn to see the beauty in it and now that I have I do feel like that little you know side of myself that young Hannah who was just yearning to be seen has been so number two you

don't always have to be moving sometimes it's nice to just enjoy the now I have been on my grind set in my early 20s just hustling working always like four to five jobs sometimes six like making money wherever I can traveling on the move and now that I'm 26 bitch I'm tired I I'm exhausted and honestly I am kind of just ready to sit back and enjoy the fruits of my labor and to just pause and appreciate how far I have come we get in this mindset of like I need to do more I'm not doing enough blah blah blah blah blah and that is just so tiring and taxing sometimes you just gotta sit back and be like, damn, I did that. Let me enjoy all the hard work I have put in. Three, you'll never figure it all out. Life is one big game of Clue, but solving it one step at a time is part

of the fun. This has been something that's a little new to me as I indulge in all the adult things that I have to do, like getting your car titled or going to the OBGYN. And you will never have the answers to everything you will never have everything figured out even when you do think you have it all figured out things will completely 360 on you and you will be forced to you know solve new problems new things but that's kind of the beauty of life put on your detective hat lock in and really honestly it seems so overwhelming but if you just solve everything one step at a time you can kind of indulge in the game of it all number four learning to be alone is important i spent a lot of my time surrounded by people especially when i was younger and when

i was alone it felt so scary because i didn't know who i was or maybe i didn't like who i was or didn't like being alone with myself so learning to kind of be your own best friend to entertain yourself to enjoy time alone is so important i think it directly correlates to positive feelings of self and positive self-image if you can simply have a good time alone just you doesn't have to be anything crazy doesn't have to be anything special you could simply be sitting fucking staring at the wall if you can have fun with yourself doing that that's important number five learning to be together is important it's a balance okay you gotta be you gotta have a good time when you're alone but also you've got to get along with people and i think too much

alone time is never a good thing i think covid probably taught us that more than anything makes you a little bit socially anxious makes you a little bit too in your head and listen i love being alone i love being with myself but also you have to be able to get along with other people with people from different walks of life people with different you know ideas and understandings you got to be able to be approachable and to bring joy wherever you go to the people you meet number six hardships only ever make you stronger but you don't always have to suffer to learn i thought you know maybe when i wasn't learning maybe i wasn't suffering enough or maybe i wasn't going through you know enough hard things but you don't have to suffer to learn sure in hardship

you can learn new lessons but you don't exactly need to go after them i think i caused a lot of fires in my life trying to learn lessons when in reality you can also learn lessons in the good the three keys to life is good food good environment and lots of laughs i think my birthday really kind of emphasizes this i packed you know turkey bacon club sandwiches veggies dips guacamoles fruit and you know what i felt so fulfilled and nourished it was around good people who made me laugh and you know uplifted me and truly i have never felt more fulfilled number eight you should search for beauty in everything and if you can't find it you should create it just makes life so much easier if you see everything as black and white or just a shade

of gray it can be very dull you know it can be a very dull life but there's beauty in everything i mean even in your trash can you can find beauty and you know the mundane you can always find beauty sure you just have to kind of train your eye to see it but you can find it even when you think there's nothing there if you practice you will be able to see the beauty and if it's not there you can always create it yourself you can always bring that with you number nine anyone can create art you know what i kind of clocked my therapist with this because we were talking about art and how i like to create art and she's like oh well what do you like to do and i was like oh you know paintings sometimes you do ceramics sometimes you do pottery like literally anything

i just love creating in any sort of format and she was like oh i can't do art but i do like coloring you know like I love having coloring sheets and coloring and I'm like hello that is art anybody can create art and in fact I encourage everybody to do so it doesn't have to be perfect portraits or you know renaissance style oil paintings it can be something as simple as a coloring sheet that you're coloring in but I do think art gives your brain a really good healthy break from thinking too much and just being overwhelmed with the world so if you can indulge in a little bit of creativity every day or every other day it will transform your life 10 hobbies are where our spirits lay i think a lot of you guys ask me questions like who am i how do

i get to know myself like even how do i decompress from work how do i you know live a life outside of just my nine to five and then you know sleeping how do I kind of develop my spirit how do I get to know myself and I do think we find that in hobbies sure you can find it in your work sure you can find it in you know other things that maybe are more societally pressured but I do think hobbies are important and specifically hobbies that you do not monetize I think hobbies should not be monetized they are too sacred to be monetized and when you monetize certain hobbies they can kind of lose that fun escapism that is what makes it so special um whether it's you know my boyfriend's skateboarding that's where his spirit lays that's where truly he is able to

connect to himself through that whether it's me and doing art creating that's where my spirit lays not in my serving job hello some of my friends it's like i just like crocheting sure i'm like an insanely talented nurse but what i truly enjoy doing what makes me feel more like myself is you know crocheting or going to the gym whatever it is hobbies are important and you should indulge them often. Eleven, surround yourself with as much nature as possible. Honestly, it is the most healing thing in the entire world. Whether it's little potted plants around you, whether it's a weekly walk in the park, whether it's moving to the forest, you know, like try and get as much greenery and nature around you as possible we are not meant to live in cement gray boxes

we are not meant to be in that environment and nature can be so incredibly healing it really can it can bring it can make such a dark day bright just by being around trees hearing birds sing seeing little ducks in a pond honestly making time to surround yourself with nature will make your life brighter. Two in five Canadians will hear the words, you have cancer. That's why every step and dollar raised matters. On September 19th, join thousands in Toronto for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation Walk. Challenge yourself, friends, and family to walk 21 kilometers in support of life-saving research. Together, we can carry the fire and help create a world free from the fear of cancer.

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so you can hit the ground running. Bring it with SAP Grow. AI Cloud ERP for any size business. 12 and this is you know advice but people need to be ready for this adopting an animal can be so healing i love my little danger i love him so so so so so so so much and he is the best most brightest little thing in my entire world i also love my little fishy he's so sweet i love just waking up and checking on him or even just like looking over at him swimming around enjoying his tank right now adopting an animal can it makes you selfless it does you don't have to have a

child to be selfless okay a cat is sometimes enough even a fish is sometimes enough but it does force you to kind of put yourself aside to make sure that another living breathing creature is flourishing and thriving and you know living a joyful life kind of puts checks and balances in place like is this shit really that serious when I'm having a mental breakdown and my cat walks up to me I'm like that shit is really not that serious like thank you for the distraction thank you for brightening my life even when I watch my parents dog they're going to Sicily oh my god they're going to Sicily for two and a half weeks and I'm taking care of their dog literally even though it's like so time consuming like watching their dog and being around their

dog being forced to be outside three times a day just to go walk her or put myself and my worries and my anxieties aside to go play with her to comb her to feed her whatever it is it really is transformative and i think we could all do with a little more selflessness in our lives but once again huge responsibility not for everybody i even knew like i've had my cat since i was 13 we all of the same birthday so everybody say happy birthday danger um june 1st is both of our birthdays i adopted him when i was like 13 so he just turned 13 but when i was like in college and then fresh out of college i knew i wasn't in a place of stability where i could have him live with me or that i i knew mentally i just could not take care of him and although it was hard

not having him around me and having him in my parents house instead i knew that's what was best for him because i knew i couldn't give him the care that was necessary for his life to thrive so it's okay to understand where you are and what place you're in but if you need a if you have the time you have the funds okay and the emotional stability i think adopting an animal can be life-changing 13 being kind and openness to learn will get you further than anything listen brains is one thing but truly showing up with a positive attitude positive energy and openness to receive feedback to understand to learn you will get further than the people who have like the highest IQ in the world honestly genuinely especially when it comes to working with other

people people like that co-worker compatibility where it's like maybe you don't know everything in the world but you're willing to hear it out when you're wrong or to learn a new task to open yourself up in that sort of way you will get 10 times further in this life if you are just kind to the people that approach you bring a positive attitude to every environment that you're in and open yourself up to learn a little bit about the world around you 14 learning to love the mundane is an important life skill i spent a lot of my time chasing the highs of life in many different forms and honestly it did not bring me to the highs of life it did not get me where i wanted to go i thought you know life should be thrilling and adventurous and insane

every single second of the day but my god is that exhausting and my god is that not stable okay sometimes you just have to be in the middle ground you have to be okay with the day-to-day lifestyle with the simpleness of life with the mundane it's important to kind of find peace in that okay it does give you a break from the highs or a break from the lows and learning to be okay not chasing all those highs all the time is important because trust me that is not a stable life to live and that specifically is a note for 21 year old hannah like girl chill have a chill day go to work make dinner go home go to bed that's what you really need 15 it's okay to not like something but that does not make you special i think we have seen a insane increase in people

basing their entire personalities off of things that they dislike things that they hate whether it's just like celebrity gossip celebrity drama dislike for your own life so you hate everything else around you critiquing constantly wow how fucking exhausting what an exhausting way to live life and i don't want any of you guys being that way hating something does not make you special and i also think it makes you a boring person if you base all of your personality traits off of things that you dislike it makes you inherently a negative person and like i said the best way to get far in life is to be kind and to be open hating shit is not gonna get you there it makes you boring also like you don't have to like everything there's there's shit i don't like

there's people i don't like there's vibes i don't like there's food i don't like it is what it is but that doesn't make me special it's just a part of how I feel I'm not gonna base everything going forward on the things I don't like it just makes for such a boring negative life that none of us need to be living 16 which is something I need to work on but dance as much as you can for a happy life you having a bad day girl put on your favorite music dance it out if you feel like your joints are stiff or you're holding energy inside dance it out don't know what to do on your birthday go out dancing with your friends play some good fucking music eat some good food go dance I think moving your body in general is just really important I think we hold on to a lot of

energy that we just don't need to hold on to and it does sit in places that kind of hold us back and if you can work that energy out in a positive way in tandem with good music and a good environment why would you not go dance go enjoy 17 the world isn't as small as you think travel every chance you get to open your mind it's kind of funny because one is you know learn to love your hometown but also i do think you guys need to get out there and experience the world there's been so many trips and places that i have gone that have taught me more than my hometown ever could and i would not have learned those things about myself or learned that i liked those things or seen those sites if i did not say you know what i'm gonna be brave and i'm gonna go do it

think about that a lot with japan i'm going to japan soon and it's like wow that's a lot of planning new culture new environment it's a little stressful but fuck it life is meant to be lived and experienced and you know we're supposed to enjoy other cultures and appreciate them respect them to get out there and broaden our horizons it's important and if you have the chance to travel you should absolutely take it i mean don't go into debt for it that's for fucking sure but like get out there if you can take a study abroad trip go do it if your friend you know even just wants to go to the next town over go do it if they want to go to this new experience maybe even in your same town you've just never been to go do it it is the quickest and fastest

way for you to get excited about life again have that drive for life again and also just grow mentally physically spiritually 18 if you don't know what to do with your thoughts go for a walk i've been doing this since i was younger i guess i've just never really realized how much of a positive impact it really does have but when i was younger and i would just get overwhelmed with the world i mean even late at night the only reason i could do this because i lived in the suburbs and no one was out there and not that i recommend it but when i was younger i would just put my headphones in who cares if it's 12 o'clock at night seven o'clock at night 2 a.m i would just go outside with my headphones in some good music on and i would just go walk

now i mean i'm not walking around at night in the city because hello but even when i'm feeling overwhelmed or i need to work out some thoughts or i need to you know think a little bit but escape the thinking going for a walk is so so helpful a it probably gets you into nature b it'll either get you out of your head or help you work through the thoughts you are going through and thank you therapist for this little tip the bilateral stimulation helps soothe and regulate your nervous system it forces your brain to slow down a little bit because you are moving in tandem with your thoughts also the distractions around you will just help in general but you don't have to live in your head get out there go on a walk 19 whatever you're experiencing you're never alone

we at least have that in our humanness when I was younger I used to think everything that I was going through like mental health wise was something that no one else had ever gone through before and that can be a very very isolating feeling but I just want to let you know no matter what hardship you're going through no matter how tough you have it or I guess no matter how good you have it either way somebody out there has also been through that that same experience that same feeling you truly are never alone although you might feel like maybe there's nobody there for you or you know maybe you don't have anybody to talk to you can find that you can get help and there are people who will understand you and show up for you I promise when you feel like the world

is weighing on you understand that there's at the very least 10 other people out there that probably feel the same exact way I find understanding that and kind of especially when I'm going through a hard time being like you know what I'm not the only person to feel this way it removes the weight of that emotion you know and it is kind of comforting to know that we truly are never alone in our emotions because all humans have the capability of going through these things and they probably have before 20 your persistence will pay off I feel like when you're in your early 20s or even in your teens you're just like what am I doing this for I know I'm doing it I know I'm going through the motions but everything feels so so far away your future self will thank you

if you keep continuing on your persistence your drive for self your drive for betterment your drive for just seeking and searching the world and getting as much out of it as you can that persistence will pay off your schooling will pay off your patience will pay off you will live the life you are dreaming of eventually you just have to keep going you have to stay strong beside yourself your beliefs and what you want to do you will see that dream life approach you literally when I was writing this one I was like wow I've been putting in so much work throughout my entire early 20s and I'm 26 now and truly it feels like finally all of those years and years of hard work I've gotten where I wanted to go and it is I'm just so thankful for those years of you know

sweat and tears and unsureness instability and seeing it through nonetheless because now i'm living a life that i'm just so incredibly thankful for 21 true fashion is found in comfort and personality this took me a long time to learn i've found that you know whenever i was following trends or whenever i was dressing you know a pinterest style trying to copy something it never felt like me you know never felt like hannah and i realized you know when you see those street style photos when you see somebody wearing a good outfit it's because a they feel comfortable in it and b the pieces feel like them that's how you wear a good outfit you don't need to feed into the trends you know don't need to buy that next big best thing ask yourself is that something you

can wear more than five times is this something you're gonna reach for weekly in your closet and also does it feel like you those are the things worth purchasing 22 getting older is a blessing not a curse i used to think honestly i did not i didn't really honestly think i would ever get here i never envisioned 26 for hannah and that's why i talk about dreaming so much because I think a lot of that existentialism that I had when I was younger could have been solved by allowing myself to dream a little bit allowing myself to have big lofty goals and ideas of who I want to be I just never did that and I never really envisioned myself even hitting my mid-20s let alone 21 22 23 24 25 or 26 so now that I am here and looking back on those past birthdays

where I thought I don't know if it'll get better I don't know if I want to get older trust me you do with every year I am more stable I am more confident I am hotter I am sexier I am richer in both spirit and love and life money too life does get better I promise you me and my girlies were talking about this we're all the same age but we were like honestly I like can't even wait to be 30 30 is going to be so good if 26 feels like this I can't even imagine how 30 is going to be like going to feel with the stability I'll have and with the understanding I'll have in myself and also just like less stress that you have in your 20s it's just going to be so good every year it gets better I promise you so stick around you never know what you'll experience you

never know what blessings life will bring but you have to stay around to find them 23 appeal to your to all five of your senses as often as you can we have senses for a reason and I mean you shouldn't live your life only for your senses but I found that the chicness of life comes from a really good perfume that you enjoy that smells like some something you want to smell like you know that brings a bit of whimsy to your life or indulging in really good food that you've never tried before um listening to a brand new song and being able to feel like you did when you were 16 hearing the newest song that you're obsessed with for like the entire summer wearing comfortable clothes good fabrics like silk and softness i think it's so important to appeal to your senses

looking at beautiful things going out and looking at art we have them for a reason we need to be indulging in them more and not in a surface level way reach for the deeper meaning you know try and heighten those senses as much as you possibly can 24 and this is very important for all my girls out there a man who hates himself will ruin your life okay you need to be bringing in good partners ones that are secure in themselves who love themselves because they will have so much love for you stop wasting your time with these emotional awful men it is just such a waste of time and not a way to live life oh it's just it breaks my heart every time i hear a girl say they're in a situation ship for yourself for yourself please for the love of god but please

a man who hates himself will ruin your life find a lover who loves himself they will love you endlessly 25 the worst they can say is no so you might as well ask truly honestly this has gotten me so far it also really helps my anxiety when i feel like i'm being a burden or maybe asking too much guess what they can always say no they can always say actually i'm good i don't want to do that that's always an option so you might as well ask because most of the time 95 of the time they will say yes you will get what you want it's always worth a shot life's short ask and last but not least 26 you'll never truly know everything always assume there's more to learn don't ever cut your life off early by being like well i've experienced everything i've seen

everything i know everything you never will this world is so broad this life is so vast there's always new people to meet new perspectives to get new food to try new weed to smoke hello do not ever assume you know everything it will close off your life for you always keep your life open always seek out newness always seek out adventure always seek out learning opportunities your life will be so so fulfilling if you do so and assuming you've already done it or assuming you already know or assuming you've already experienced everything cuts your life off early even when you are living it get out there you deserve to live a life that is fulfilling and enjoyable you just have to be brave enough to go experience it and to learn a little bit along the

way but with that being said cheers to 26 thank you all for being here thank you for being so supportive of me for always sticking besides me and just bringing so much light and joy for my birthdays all the birthday wishes truly were so incredible the way you guys show up for me is just amazing and i'm so glad that we were able to have built this community together of just honestly pure positivity and joy i cannot wait to see where next year gets us but with that being said happy birthday to me 26 if you can learn at least one lesson from the 26 i listed here i'm doing my job if you want your question answered this week i will be doing a patreon exclusive episode like i always do where i answer every single one of your questions patreon.com

slash smoke society and if you want to see what i was up to my birthday come check it out on instagram at hannah marlene but we will be back to our usual regularly scheduled content next week love you all stay sane stay sexy and i'll see you all so soon Two in five Canadians will hear the words, you have cancer. That's why every step and dollar raised matters. On September 19th, join thousands in Toronto for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation Walk.

Challenge yourself, friends, and family to walk 21 kilometers in support of life-saving research. Together, we can carry the fire and help create a world free from the fear of cancer. Register today at pmcfwalk.ca.