A fresh outlook on the day-to-day routines

(Pixabay)

The newest page that talks about the positives and negatives to life’s every-changing trends

Welcome to the newest addition to The Anchor – the Lifestyle page. The word “lifestyle” is a rather all-encompassing term. However, this page seeks to hone in on some of the most central parts of our lives that we care to improve and learn more about. My name is Isabel Bustamante. I am a junior here at Hope, majoring in English with minors in both Spanish and exercise science. Additionally, I am the so-called “creator” of this page. As someone who is always seeking new ways to better my life, I wanted to create a space in this paper where this concept is discussed.

My greatest passion when it comes to the idea of “lifestyle” is probably health and wellness, so I will likely spend a decent amount of time focusing on this. However, travel, fashion, technology, house and apartment, food, safety and so much more will be making their way onto this page throughout the semester and, hopefully, years to come.

So what are some of the biggest trends in lifestyle right now? For starters, many people have received wearable tech this holiday season or for recent birthdays. This includes things like Fitbits, Garmin watches and Apple watches. I have person- ally been a part of this trend for the past few years, when it first started showing up on people’s radars. There are mixed feelings about the idea of wearing technology around your wrist.

On one side of the conversation, people feel motivated to get in their steps, and it makes communication even simpler. However, some critics believe that, just like phones give off some bad frequencies, the watch does the same. Additionally, there is a huge culture of using the watch obsessively for the first few weeks and then people drop off and so does the fitness goals that were once motivated by the new gift. There’s much more to be said about the trend: what watches are the best? Are there actual scientifically proven benefits? Should I get one? More on that another time.

Another trend that has been popping up revolves around going off the grid and things like tiny homes and living out of repurposed vans or buses. There are a lot of other things that correlate with this trend, many of which include things revolving around being earth-conscious like composting and zero-waste lifestyles. You could probably even group in things like kombucha into things that are trending. A lot of this has to do with minimalist style lives and decreasing our “footprint” here. Sure kombucha might be a little faretched, but this is all about using stuff the earth has to offer, but not misusing or over using.

Other things surfacing are low-sugar diets among other diets that seem to have a brand name to them now, like Whole30. Is it actually good for you? What are the benefits? What are the possible negatives (besides not eating your favorite fattening foods)? Other trends in technology, fashion and travel are also constantly changing and evolving. This is lifestyle. It’s our day-to-day and so much more. It’s how we all choose to live our lives and try to get the best out of what we’re given. Hopefully, you’ll learn something new, maybe hop on a trend, or try out some weird new thing that’s surfacing.

Likewise, we will be taking submissions from those around campus with any general interest in writing about lifestyle. If you have questions or are interested in submitting your work or being a regular writer, please feel free to contact me via email at isabel.bustamante@hope.edu.