Back With Another Update A Year Later!!! (Where Have I Been?)

First of all, Hi!! I have so many things to update you on!! I can’t believe it’s been a year since my last post on here, wow I have so many things I want to say all at once but I am going to take my time with this one. I honestly didn’t think that I would ever come back to my blog. I’ve gone through so much since the last post and I’m in such a different place now mentally.

No More LLB?

So let’s start out with stating the obvious, the name change. I loved going by the name “Live, Laugh,Blog” for as long as I did. Having that name got me a lot of attention I used to never want. I had an entire online business named after it along with an online audience. I think you should know that I haven’t completely given up on that just yet but in that moment and because of where I was in my life at the time, I just didn’t feel aligned with it anymore. I also wasn’t getting the support I wanted at that time so I decided to take it all down completely. Now if you know me personally, you would know that I usually never give up when it comes to the things I care about or goals I want to achieve but this felt right to me at that time. I just didn’t see the point of it anymore. I thought I had it all figured out and I didn’t. So since then I have decided to put all the focus onto writing my books and keeping imagination flowing. I guess you can say that I just needed a break and during that break I was able to focus on other areas of my life and continue to get things in order. Creating an online business under this name helped me in so many ways and I will be forever grateful for all of the opportunities and lessons it brought me. Many people discovered me with this name as well but now I only want to go by my real name. The name that is permanently on the title pages of my books.

Can we expect anymore books?

After the release of “Room 314”, I was immediately inspired to write a 4th book. I was getting inspirations for it everywhere I was. I remember being in church and as I waited for service to start, I heard the word “Abnormal” and I immediately wrote it down in my phone and I was excited because I had a brand new title. I held onto it for a few weeks before I started writing anything. I will have to write an entire post about my writing process when it comes to putting a book together. I remember sitting at my desk with a pen and an open notebook writing out an entire outline for my new story with the title of “Abnormal Beauty”. The name was pretty and mysterious to me and I knew I wanted to have it as an official book title. I came up with the plot and developed each character and began writing but throughout that short period of time, I went through some tough times which took a toll on me emotionally. Towards the end of last year mid October- Early November, I got the worst news of my life. I got a phone call about one of my great grandmothers and it was completely heartbreaking and devastating. The book that I was so excited about went on hold. I had to take an emergency trip to see her one last time. I’ll never forget that while I was away, I got another devastating message about my other great grandmother back home the night before I got to see the first one for the last time. I was completely heartbroken and I couldn’t even think about writing a book anymore. I took 4 months to process everything and I’m finally okay with talking about it now. So to wrap up this section, the last thing I wanted to do was write or even try to tap into my creative side. I did what I had to do and kept pushing through but I didn’t get back to writing this story until the beginning of this year in January. I tried to read the 3 chapters I had already had written but I still had no motivation to continue writing this story. I really hated the thought of just giving up on something I was once excited about but I knew I was probably never going to feel inspired again with this story so I recently trashed it. Yes, you read that correctly. Abnormal Beauty is still saved under my drafts but it probably will never be released due to what happened during that time. I bet you’re wondering what I’m going to do now. Get excited because I have a brand new story by the name of “NIGHTMARE AVE.” which is going to be related later this year or maybe even early 2023.

What does the future hold?

I know that was a lot to read and probably heartbreaking but just know I’m in a much better place now. God is good and I am more inspired than ever now! I also love what I do aside from writing which is working as a full time caregiver/resident assistant. My great-grandmother inspired me to continue working in that field and the funny thing is, I used to say I would never work in health care or the medical field. We all have heard of the saying “Never say never”. Anyways stay tuned for more posts I am going to try to carve out some time to update4 you more on here as I go but in the meantime keep up with me on my only IG for my books which is @idesireesbraxton and check out my current books that are available on Amazon right now.

A Much Needed Update :)

I first want to start off by saying I hope you all are doing well and staying safe. I know I’ve been gone for a while and I’m finally back with an update. If you’ve been keeping up with me on Instagram (@_livelaughblog) then you’ve probably noticed that I haven’t really been as active as I usually am. To be completely honest, I’ve been in a weird funk/headspace for a while now. I’ve been wanting to give you guys an update for a while but I haven’t been able to bring myself to do it lately. As you may know towards the end of last year I spent a lot of time focusing on finishing my 3rd book “Room 314” and if you’ve been keeping up with my other blog posts then you know that I had writers block during the writing process. I had no motivation or inspiration at all. I was scared that I wouldn’t finish writing it and at one point I thought about just giving up on it all together but I didn’t give up because it is something I’m super passionate about. Over the past few months I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting and taking each day one at a time. This is something that’s always been hard for me to do because I’m always thinking ahead anyways. So the reason I haven’t been as active like I normally am is because I never took a break and gave myself time to not work all the time. This is why it is super important to take breaks when you need to and not feel bad about it. I definitely struggled internally with this for a while because I’m naturally a productive person and if I go too long without being productive, I start to feel bad when I shouldn’t. There’s no reason for you to feel bad for taking a break. Your mental health and well-being is more important, don’t ever forget that. I’ve been posting stories here and there lately because of this but I promise I will be back. I know I probably should’ve gave you guys an update earlier but that’s why I am writing this now. I want to let you know that it is okay to take days off and mental breaks whenever you need to. It’s also important to take some time for self care which is something I talk about quite often on IG. I went through several periods were I had no creative ideas or motivation but it’s all because I needed to take a much needed break. I feel that I’ve been gone long enough haha. 🙂 As you know, 2020 was such a rough year for all of us and as an empath myself I took it really hard especially around New Years. I wasn’t expecting anything this year because I knew that some of what happened last year was not over. A lot of the things that happened last year really did effect me but I just wasn’t as vocal about it like some others were. I say all of this to say take breaks when you need too and don’t feel like you always have to be doing something to feel sane. Be sure to follow me on Instagram (@_livelaughblog) for updates and of course on here as well. I will be back with more blog posts soon and if you ever want to talk or need advice, feel free to DM me. Have a great day/evening 🙂 – Desiree

Hello 2021 ✨♥️

I first want to start by saying Happy New Year to all of you!! I hope that you all are well and safe!! 2020 was tough for most of us but I feel that 2021 will be somewhat better. If you’ve been keeping up with me on Instagram, (@_livelaughblog) then you probably saw that I shared something on my story about writing down your wins for the year. Writing down all of the things you accomplished throughout the year really puts things into perspective and makes you become more aware of the good things that happened. I know for me personally that has really come in handy because I know that if you ask someone how their year went they’d say it was negative. This year I want to see a change because we need it badly. We all need to do our part. Overall I feel that this year will be better than last year. I feel like 2020 was supposed to teach us all a lesson and I believe we just have to stop taking things for granted and really live our lives to the fullest because in a split second, everything can change. I’m excited for what this year is going to bring besides the obvious. I want to challenge you if you don’t already, to start writing down your wins either throughout the year or at the end of the year whichever works best for you and see how that makes you feel. I promise it makes a difference. I will be back with more blog posts very soon so stay tuned for that and in the meantime be sure to keep up with me on IG and I hope you have an amazing year despite what you see or hear in the media 🙏🏾💙

Take The First Step Even If You’re Afraid ✨💚

I know it’s been a minute since I last posted but this blog post will be related to one a wrote 2 years ago about doing what scares you the most. So I am super excited to announce that my 3rd book in my first ever book series is out now!! I wanted to give you some background at how this process was for me this time. Writing this book took me almost a year. Just like you I’ve had a tough year as well and that definitely took a toll on me creative wise. I’m naturally a really productive person and I tend to feel better when I’m doing something and I feel bad sometimes when I take breaks but there’s nothing wrong with that. Believe it or not I actually was scared that I wouldn’t finish writing this book. I went through periods where I wasn’t inspired and I would try to force myself to come up with something when there was just nothing there. This is what we like to call writers block. I knew it was a real thing but I’ve never actually gone through it myself up until now. This effected me in so many ways and there was nothing I could do. This is why it’s important to take some time off and give yourself a mental break. I have to work on that as well because I was forcing myself to come up with at least one story line or the next part of a chapter. Overall I’m glad that I did take a much needed break and when I came back to writing, I had the best ideas and new story lines that I wanted to add in. What you may not know is that this wasn’t supposed to be a book series starting out and I didn’t plan on writing a 3rd book but I knew there was another part of this story that needed to be told and many of you guys requested it which I’m so thankful for. I say all this to say that if you don’t take the first step in something you really want, it’ll never happen. Even if you’re afraid you have to do it anyway because you will thank yourself later for it. If there is something you’re passionate about you should do whatever it takes to achieve it. That’s what I did when I started writing the first book in the series so it all starts with you taking the first step. There were many times that I wasn’t inspired throughout this entire process and I hated it. I would literally sit at my computer staring at my manuscript with nothing to write and that’s when I knew I needed to take a break. I was also really stressed out at this time and because I thrive off of energy and vibrations if I was feeling down one day I couldn’t write because I didn’t want any bad energy going into my work. Once you take the first step no matter what you choose to do in life, you’ll be more thankful that you did in the first place. 💙 Be sure to check out HER IDENTITY: THE SERIES on Amazon right now and follow me on ig: @_livelaughblog

Comparison Kills Your Confidence

Comparing yourself to others will bring your self esteem way down. I know this from experience because social media started growing when I was in my teenage years. The truth is that you’re comparing yourself to someone else’s highlight reel. It’s not real. What you have to understand about comparison is that people only show you the parts of their life that they want you to see. You don’t see their downfalls or failures. You shouldn’t compare yourself to someone on your timeline because you only see the background of your own life. You don’t see what that girl on Instagram is going through offline, you don’t see the 10 different pictures she took before posting her best one. This will definitely kill your confidence because you think you need to be like her, you think that you need to have everything figured out right now and that’s not the case at all. If you find yourself struggling with this on a daily basis, it’s time to take some time off. Instagram isn’t going anywhere. There’s nothing wrong with taking breaks every now and then because your mental health is just so much more important. I will be the first person to remind you that NOBODY has it all figured out. Don’t let social media fool you because that girl or boy that you compare yourself to, isn’t perfect either. Often times we forget that we don’t know what goes on behind the scenes. If you really sit and think about it the person you like to compare yourself to could be going through something offline and making it seem like they’re okay when they probably aren’t. This just goes to show you that you can’t compare yourself to anyone. The next time you catch yourself doing this, keep these tips in mind.

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❇ Let go of competition. The only person you should be competing with is yourself at the end of the day. ⁣
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❇ Focus on yourself. Shift your mindset for the better. ⁣
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❇ Spend LESS TIME ON SOCIAL MEDIA. If you’re a fellow iPhone user, you can now set a time limit for certain apps and once that time comes you can’t use the app anymore until the time passes. ⁣
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❇ Count your blessings and remember what it is that you’re grateful for. Write a gratitude list then read it back, see how that makes you feel. ⁣
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It’s Time To Stop Seeking Validation ✨

If you’ve been keeping up with my recent posts on Instagram, then you’ve probably already seen this. This topic is so important to me because I used to struggle with this during my teenage years. This is when social media had just started growing and I was on it everyday after school. Because I was already advanced in thinking I knew I was different from the others. I just always felt super misunderstood even by the people closest to me. I used to struggle with comparing myself to others but I will say that now I’m glad that I didn’t fit in because I was made to stand out and walk in my own lane.

This helped shape me into the person I am now and I wouldn’t have it any other way. It honestly annoys me when I see people on social media posting things indirectly towards other people because everything is not meant for social media. Some things need to be talked about in person. I’ve definitely dealt with this a few times in my life where certain people would write things indirectly to me and it would hurt me when I saw it because I just didn’t understand why it needed to be on the internet or why we couldn’t talk about it in person. That’s what I mean about posting things just to get people to comment on agreement with you when they don’t have a clue what or who you’re talking about. This is why it’s important to watch your timeline and get rid of people who don’t bring you happiness. It’s also important to take breaks when you find yourself comparing. I guess I’m just super passionate about this because I’ve gone through it as well. Of course people are going to do what they want but you can unfollow people who make you question yourself on a regular basis. So if you struggle with seeking validation, I’ve listed some important reasons why you have to stop this habit right now below to help you with this.

Ask yourself why you need those things to really feel better about yourself. Why can’t you just accept yourself for who you truly are?

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Why do you feel like if you don’t get this many likes on your pictures it’s worth deleting? I could go on and on about this one especially so you will get a new blog post all about it soon. Do you feel me though?

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Constantly seeking validation from others will kill your confidence. You have to know that you are worth it with or without the material things.

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Here are 3 Important Reasons Why You Should Stop Doing This:

❇️ You can’t please everyone and you will drain yourself completely if you continue this.

❇️ Constantly seeking validation from others is more time consuming than you think.

❇️ Your true freedom will come from depending on yourself and finding your happiness within you. If you agree leave me a comment and make sure to keep up with me on Instagram @

Acknowledge Your Hidden Feelings ✨ / Story times

How often are you acknowledging your hidden feelings? I’m talking about the ones that you hide from yourself. Trust me I have been there and if you follow me on Instagram, (@_livelaughblog) you probably already saw my post on this topic. I’m going to tell you about a time where I didn’t acknowledge my feelings at the time. I didn’t tell this story on Instagram either.

I remember when I was a sophomore in high school and I had to be 16 at the time. I remember it was homecoming game day and I wasn’t happy at all and my friends could tell that something was wrong with me. I didn’t want anyone to know because I didn’t know myself. I just knew that I was sad for a while but I didn’t know why. My friends would constantly ask me if I was ok & I lied and said yes because I didn’t know what to tell them. This was the first time I had ever felt depressed in my entire life and I couldn’t explain why I felt this way. But I learned how to push through it and keep going. Once I realized this I had to acknowledge and accept the fact that I just wasn’t happy . You have to start with accepting your feelings and allowing yourself to feel what you feel in the moment. There’s nothing wrong with not being happy all the time. Of course we’re not always going to be happy all the time and that’s okay.

Let’s take a look into why we hide certain feelings and emotions. Obviously we don’t want to look weak or like we’re not capable of achieving whatever we want.

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We don’t want to get hurt, and most of the time it could be from having a lack of confidence.

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You have to get real with yourself and acknowledge what you feel especially in the moment. If you keep suppressing it, that can have a long term effect on your health as well.

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Start checking in on yourself more often and try to understand why you feel a certain way wether it’s sadness, confusion, or happiness.

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This will help you understand yourself a whole lot more. This is also why I always tell people to accept and acknowledge your feelings all the time. Journaling really helps me and it also is like free therapy in a way.

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I remember there was one time where I was out and about and I had a good time but then on the way home, I just started to get emotional out of the blue and I didn’t know why but that’s when I realized that I’ve been suppressing feelings because I didn’t want to accept the fact that I was just not happy in that moment.

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So with all that being said here are a few ways you can start acknowledge/ accepting your real feelings:

1.) Talk to someone you trust

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2.) Take a break/ do something productive

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3.) Journal / get creative

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4.) Shift your mindset in a new direction

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My Journey With Eczema 💙🌿✨

In honor of it being Eczema Awareness Month, I will be telling you an even more in depth story about my journey with eczema. For the longest time I didn’t know where it came from or why I had it. I just remember itching in certain spots on my skin all the time and if anyone saw it & how bad it was they would ask questions. Having to explain it made me want to hide it in order to avoid being asked what it was. That went on for years. I didn’t know what flare ups were and when I was stressed out I would just scratch until I would bleed 🩸. Throughout my school years I always hid it from everyone because I just hated being asked what it was why I had it. I remember having to go to the doctor & get medicine for it and I was told to always put medicine on my skin in order for it to actually get better. It took me a while to take it seriously and there were even periods were I would let it get bad on purpose because I was stressed out. It took me a long time to accept that I had eczema and that the only way it could get better was if I took the necessary steps to clear it up once and for all. When the summer time came around, that meant that my skin would instantly get super sweaty and I would be itching all the time. Even some of the people close to me would make fun of me for scratching more than usual and of course it hurt me at the time. There would be nights were I’d wake up in the middle of the night and itch like crazy and that happened for a long time. Winter is not a great season for my skin either. My skin would be super dry and usually if I was out and about, there was nothing I could do about it but scratch. I thought there was no way I could clear my skin up for good. It sucks because I still can’t use the scented lotion on my skin anymore because it would irritate it. I will say that now at 23 years old, I’ve finally accepted that my skin is the way it is & that if I take good care of it, it will remain clear.

I remember taking this photo last year when I was on vacation. This happened to be one of those moments where I didn’t care who saw how bad my skin looked. At this time I was so stressed out and scratched my right foot until it was completely covered from a recent flare up. It was even painful to to take showers during that time because my skin was just super inflamed. I wish I had pictures to show how bad it was.

Now, I’ve worked on clearing it up completely and trying my best to not let it get that bad ever again. I’m taking much better care of my skin and it is finally clear like you saw in my last blog post. I’m also much happier currently so my skin is too. I hope that this inspires you in some way and if you have eczema too I hope that you know you’re not alone. In honor of it being Eczema Awareness Month I want to show you one more time how I’ve healed my skin. 💙🌿☺️

This photo is one of the most recent ones I have. At one point I had a huge spot of eczema right here on my hand. All I used was aveeno lotion & Vaseline to keep it moisturized. That’s what helps me keep my skin clear as of now.

Like I mentioned in the last post, there was a time where my arms were completely covered from a flare up a few years ago. This is what they look like right now, completely clear 😊💚

This part of my arm was completely flared up at one point about 2 years ago. The parts that are the darkest is where it was really really bad. Since then I’ve completely cleared it up and got a tattoo in a spot where it was really bad. That is growth and I will forever give myself the credit for doing that till this day.

I really hope you got something from all this. Always remember to take good care of yourself and never let your insecurities define you because you’ll often find that that’s what people love the most about you. Happy Eczema Awareness Month!! ☺️💙💙

You’re Not Your Insecurities 🤍💎 / Eczema Story Time (W/ Pictures)

You’re Not Your Insecurities

Don’t you ever let your insecurities define who you are. When you allow them to really consume you, they have a strong hold over you. Remember this is your life.

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You’re the boss of this. Do what you love everyday & be grateful for everything that comes your way at all times. Remember to watch your words because what you put out in the world, will always find it’s way back to you. Always be aware and alert.

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Remember we won’t be here forever & there is life after. Stay strong and never give anyone your power. Remember you’re in charge of this ship. You don’t have to put up with negative energy. Release that in any way that you can and protect your energy.

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I’m an empath so I feel all the energy there is in this world but I will never let anyone take it away from me. (Short Story Time ✨)

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I have eczema & at times it can look really really bad. The weather & stress plays a huge roll in this. For years I’ve spent some time doing my research & trying to figure out where this came from & why I have it. I would let it get so bad to the point where I’d be covered in it.

You can’t tell in this photo but my foot that is in the front is completely covered from a recent eczema flare up. It’s the darkest part of my leg going all the way up to my ankles. It also got completely dried out from being outside. The hardest part of having eczema is that I can’t take super hot showers because it dries my skin out and I have to moisturize immediately after that or I will start itching. I will do a separate post about all of this soon!!

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But now I’ve worked on myself so much my skin is clearing up. It used to be so bad that I wouldn’t want to wear shorts or show my legs at all. But as I’ve gotten older & a little more wiser, I realized that I don’t want that to define me. I’m going to insert a couple of pictures so that you can see how I’ve worked on myself. The worst season for my skin is definitely winter because it dries it out more.

You can’t even tell that I had it so bad on my arms because I worked on clearing it up but you can still see the dark marks which is something I’m going to work on clearing up next.

• Also I challenged myself to clear up a flare up I had & I told myself that if I cleared this part of my arm up, I would get a tattoo in that spot & I did. 😛

It’s super tiny but in case you can’t see it it says “XO” & I plan on getting more in this spot. This was probably the worst flare ups I had had in a long time. I hope this post inspires you 💚

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To keep this short I’m saying to take care of yourself and don’t let your flaws define you because that’s what people tend to love the most about you.

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•~ Stay Strong 💛🌿

To The Misunderstood Soul..

Dear Misunderstood Soul, I know you feel like nobody gets you. I know you feel like they just don’t get it, like there’s no point in saying anything because the outcome will never turn out the way you had hoped for. Dear Misunderstood Soul, I want you to know that your feelings are valid and you have every right to feel the way you do. Don’t you ever blame yourself. There’s always more room to grow. I know you feel like what you have to say doesn’t matter but it does. You’re allowed to have a say in everything and don’t let them shut you up. Dear Misunderstood Soul, I’m proud of you & the person you’re becoming. I’m happy for you & I’m always rooting for you. Always remember that everything happens for a reason and that everything isn’t a coincidence. You’re a special soul and they don’t see it yet. You have to learn how to be okay with it and trust the process as you go through your journey. Years from now, you will look back at this moment and laugh about it. You’re not alone. There’s many out there like us and together we will overcome this. Let the feelings you feel now come and go. Dear Misunderstood Soul, I see you, I’m here for you and I always got you.

Go be great!! 💗

Sincerely, The misunderstood soul