Yelly Writes

I finished my AI Workbook!

Yelly

I’ve been quietly working on something on the side for a while now. It’s taken quite a while to get it to where it is (mostly because I kept starting, restarting, editing, red-penning it to hell). But I finally shared it on LinkedIn! 👀 So what did I do?

I created the 28 Day AI Challenge Workbook — a structured, printable workbook that walks you through 28 AI tools across 4 weeks, one tool at a time. No jargon. No coding. No assuming you already know what any of it means. AI kind of intimidated me. Everyone around me seemed to be talking about it like it was the most natural thing in the world and I was just… nodding along. I didn’t want to admit I had no idea where to actually start.

So I decided to do something about it. I wanted it to be an honest, practical guidance and hands-on exercises that help you actually get to grips with AI rather than just reading about it.

It covers everything from ChatGPT and Claude to image generation, video tools, automation and beyond — and it’s written for people like me. People who are curious but have been putting it off. EAs, PAs, admin professionals, anyone in a busy office role who suspects AI could genuinely save them time but doesn’t know where to begin.

I’m really proud of this one. It started as a personal project to stop feeling so daunted by AI and it turned into something I genuinely think could help a lot of people. Also, I had fun using post-its to map out my process and decide what I wanted to include in it!

It’s available now as a digital download.

Please would you help me by buying it? I would really appreciate it! The link to get it is below!👇

yaelmedina.gumroad.com/l/ecobqd

Yelly Writes

Uphill climbs and pivot points

Yelly
by @yellywelly

Sometimes you climb the mountain, and you fall and fail. Maybe there is a different path that will take you up.
— Unknown

I’ve been struggling lately. I’ve been struggling to find the motivation. Mostly, it’s because I feel like I’ve been subjected to repeated, unreasonable behaviour from someone that is intimidating and degrading and is ultimately undermining my confidence in my ability to trust my own judgement. I used to give this person the benefit of the doubt because I thought no one could be that unaware of what they were doing to someone else. One day, though, I received something in writing that made it impossible for me to discount the idea that they knew exactly what they were doing. Now I no longer feel I can give this person grace, space or the benefit of the doubt. The daily threat of experiencing this is harming my psychological stability. 

So now I need to find the pivot for this situation. But it feels like I’m wedged between a rock and a hard place, and the only choice is to extricate myself.

Yelly Writes

Possibility vs desirability

Yelly

Just thinking out loud.

It’s a free country and we’re all allowed the civil liberties that people living in democratic societies have the privilege of enjoying…and taking for granted. We go about our days doing what we want, saying what we want, to a certain extent, acquiring what we want. We live in a society where we can own what we want. 

What we forget is that ownership comes with accountability. We are responsible for what we have. We need to care for what we have. We are responsible for the upkeep and maintenance, and ultimately the survival of the things we have: things, property, machines, responsibilities, relationships, etc.

In the same vein, we own what comes from us: our creations, the work we do, the things we say, our actions, how we affect others, how we treat ourselves. We forget that while it is a free world and we can do what we want, when we want, how we want to do it, the guardrail is that we need to ask ourselves the question: should you do it just because you can? Just because it is possible, does it make it desirable? And as an extension, just because you want it, should you have it? 

In this world of hyper consumerism and hyper consumption, have we lost the ability to determine the difference between want and need?

Yelly Writes

Love is in the small things

Yelly

Love and its expressions are so individual. Some use words. Some use action. It is as individual and unique as the person expressing it. There are different depths, different intensities, different levels, different kinds of love.

I’ve come to realise that love is in the small things. It’s in the way they say I’m thinking of you without saying it out loud. It’s in the small considerations. It’s in the small inconveniences they allow because you matter more to them than the disregulation they’ll feel. It’s in the small, fleeting touches, the side looks, in the involuntary smiles. It’s in the way they let you see them and their vulnerabilities. It’s in the small but dependable, almost habitual consistency. It’s how they are present for you, and not just by being there physically.

I am not, by any means, discounting the showy outpouring expressions of love. Yes, love is also in the grand gestures, in the wonderful, audible proclamations, the generous gift-giving, and the opening-of-the-floodgates intensity of expression. While the out-loud expressions can be performative because of societal expectations, there are the small, telltale signs that there was thought in the actions, and that you were the sole focus of the action.

When you are truly loved, you know. You feel it.

Love begets love. You need to trust that it does. Because it will.

@yellywelly
Yelly Writes

Time and presence

Yelly

“It is admirable for a man to take his son fishing, but there is a special place in heaven for the father who takes his daughter shopping.” – John Sinor

One of my favourite memories of my Abba was when we went on a “date” to SM Cubao when I was six years old. We went there so that he could buy me “big girl shoes”. They were basically shoes without straps and buckles. I think, in hindsight, that started my lifelong love affair with ballet flats — but that’s another story! It was a wonderful day. We got my shoes, my Abba taught me how to fit shoes (and to insist on it) so I could buy the right sized ones, we went to Shakey’s to get pizza, rootbeer and a milkshake (making sure to wash everything down with room temperature water so I wouldn’t get tonsilitis).

I am thankful I have memories of dates with my father. Even when I miss him terribly when I recall them, I am thankful for all the memories. It’s not that he bought me things (although I remember loving those shoes!), it was that we spent time together, that he made time for just us. I know both my siblings have solo date memories with our beloved Abbadabbadoo that they hold dear. The gift of time and presence is so precious. I am so very blessed that our Abba gave us that.

I know not everyone celebrates Father’s Day, for a multitude of reasons. But, if you are able to do so, if that is the kind of relationship you have with your father, hug him especially tight today. You don’t know how much time you have left with him to store up those memories.

Father's Day
Yelly Writes

The True Love Test

Yelly

So I watched The Life List on Netflix again, and, of course, I bawled like a baby! I promise no spoilers, especially if you haven’t seen it. It’s the kind of girly romance movie that presents an idealized, pre-packaged view of love and romantic relationships. I’m not a cynic, not by a long shot (I’ve read too many Julia Quinn novels several times over to be jaded), to be cynical about love, even after the implosion of a relationship that I thought would last forever. I do sometimes smirk at the sugar coma sweetness of the Hallmark Channel formula movies. But the “true love test” in the movie had me thinking. In the film, it said that if you could answer yes to each of the 4 questions below, it was TRUE LOVE. 

1  Are they kind?

2 Can you tell them everything that’s in your heart?

3 Do they help you become the best version of yourself? 

4 Can you imagine them as the father/mother of your children? 

The questions make me smile. Because I can hear myself saying to someone at 25, “Love isn’t just a feeling, it’s a decision.” and seeing their look of confusion (in hindsight, that should’ve been a red flag, but I ignored it) and me patiently explaining what I meant.

Love is a decision. It’s a commitment. Because you decide, for better or for worse (whether it involves the permanency of marriage or not), to love this person, in the good and bad days, when tempers flare and patience wanes, when the sickness is disgusting, when the ick is hard to shift and when disagreements happen. It’s a commitment to stay and work things out, even when things get tough, damnedly uncomfortable and when they don’t particularly look rosy. It’s a promise to stay. It’s a vow to work on improving, changing for the better, and growing together. It’s saying “I got you” to this person and really having them, making sure they know you have them. It’s a pledge to stay accountable to this person. It is an unwritten but very binding contract to work through the warts, farts and smarts that come with adult relationships.

Being loved is an intrinsic need because it encapsulates affection, respect, acceptance, protection, and accountability. Every person has a deep-seated need for it, whether they care to admit it. Love isn’t easy but if you have it, wouldn’t you want to hold on to it, nurture it and cultivate it?

@yellywelly

Yelly Writes

Protecting my sense of contentment

Yelly

I know our relationships are meant to be safe spaces where we should be allowed to say anything we want, how we want to say things, when we want to say things. And for the most part, it’s true. Our relationships should offer us a place where we are able to express ourselves, where we can whinge and be brutally honest about how we feel.

I love a good whinge! It’s nice to be able to complain about something to someone and hear the agreement or the quiet chuckle because they get how we feel about something, someone, the state of the world and the lack of common sense in most things in general. There is a sense of validation in knowing that you’re not alone in feeling the way you do.

I am finding, lately, the constant whinge in some friendship circles to be fairly tiresome. I find myself rolling my eyes at yet again another statement about the stupidity of things or people, or gritting my teeth at a negative slant in expressing an opinion about something. I’m not surprised though, because life in general has been difficult and with the general state of things everywhere, it can be difficult to make like the Monty Python boys and look at the bright side of life. I get that completely. It’s just that sometimes, I wonder, is it really THAT bad ALL the time?

I also get that most people aren’t aware of the negativity in how they structure their statements (both written and verbal) and in their communication style. I understand that is a “them” issue and not a me issue. It is a them outlook problem and not a me outlook problem. I have, hopefully, in the past expressed the desire to look at the positive angle in things, hopefully repeatedly, and whether or not that is noticed or acknowledged is again a “them” issue.

I have always tried to be balanced in terms of my view in life – there is a positive and there is a negative. Life can be difficult and unfair sometimes, but I have always had the desire to look on the flipside. Because, while life is difficult, there are small pockets of joy. These moments of light allow us to appreciate what we have and not what is missing. When we focus on what we have, and not what’s missing, then we feel contentment.

Lately, despite adversity, I’ve found contentment to be the best way forward. It’s not denying how bad things are, it’s just appreciating that despite the bad things that have happened, there is still a lot of good.

I have promised myself to protect this sense of contentment – to the extent of allowing myself to cull certain elements of conversation, limit reactions and interactions in certain relationships. I get that these are just speaking out, and letting off steam. I get that. In the same vein, I do not want to be exposed to negativity. In the same way that these people are letting off steam so that they protect their equilibrium, I am also limiting my exposure to the noxious fumes of negativity that endanger my own equilibrium. We all have to do what we can to survive this jungle!

Yelly Writes

Mean girl

Yelly

I am a horrible, horrible person. 

I am still feeling so unsettled about a fleeting interaction I had with a random stranger.  On Sunday, I got woken up at 7:23am by a person barking at me on the phone. It was an Amazon delivery person and they were complaining that my door panel wasn’t working, that it was crap. I got up, and asked if he was at the door of my building – I gave him my building name — “Of course!” he barked again. I gave him instructions on how to use the number panel while I walked to my door phone and waited. No ring. I asked if he could try again to press my flat number and then the call button. Again he barked, “It’s crap! Broken!” So I said I’d come down. In lightning speed, I got decent, wiped the sleep from my eyes, scraped my hair into an awkward ponytail, and reminded myself to wake up and that I shouldn’t trip on the stairs. 

I walked down as quickly and as carefully as my sleepy brain could manage and congratulated myself for getting to my building’s front door without any mishaps. But there was no one at the front door. No angry Amazon delivery driver. In a moment of clarity, I realised the man was probably at the wrong building, it was either that or I was going to be mugged and killed before 8am on a sunny Sunday morning in a quiet area of North London! I was outside my building! Alone! 

Then I saw him rushing. Sorry! Sorry! he shouted. I said I asked you if you were at the right building and pointed at the signage. He barked my flat number and I said yes and he all but shoved my packages at me. Fine, I said and I turned and walked away without looking at the Amazon guy. As soon as I got into the building I double-checked that the packages were indeed mine and I went back up to my flat. 

I feel bad though. I could’ve handled that interaction better. Instead of acting like a petulant, self-entitled person, I could’ve handled that with more grace. Instead, I allowed myself to feed off the stress the man was obviously already feeling. I’m sure he had several deliveries to make and a limited time to complete the deliveries.

Choose positivity, I always say. If you have nothing nice to say, stay silent I usually say. Kindness is as kindness does, I always preach. Was I kind that morning?  No, I wasn’t. 

And that still weighs heavily on me. 

Yelly Writes

Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should…

Yelly

Reading between the lines is a lost art form these days, and to be able to read between the lines you need to hear what isn’t being said. I feel that you can’t hear what’s being said if you’re only listening to find out how to position your response for maximum impact. 

It makes me wonder, if you’re listening to react, is that a trauma response? 

I’ve always been told to think before you speak. To count to 10 before you say something. I know first-hand that expressing opinions or saying the first thing that comes out of your mouth is a slippery slope and once you say the words, you can’t take it back. You can try a retraction, but it never actually really works. It’s like trying to recall an email – it never properly works, especially if the email you’re trying to recall was sent to someone outside your next work. I’ve been guilty of running off at the mouth and I guess this is why it is a pet peeve. Because, don’t they say that what you dislike about yourself, you see in others more microscopically?

Also, just because you have something to say doesn’t mean you have to say it.

Yelly Writes

I NOW know you couldn’t

Yelly

An open letter…to someone who probably won’t ever have the opportunity, or, if I’m honest, the desire, to read anything I write. But I just to say this.

Dear You,

Whatever I expected of you, I expected because I did give you what I could and probably more than I should’ve. Because I hoped that what I gave w0uld be returned, not like a transaction but because it was how relationships should be – there is give and there is take, there is push and there is pull, and we fill the gaps because we’re a team and we help each other. We’re weak when the other is strong.

What I didn’t take into consideration was that it probably wasn’t what you were capable of or willing to give. And that’s okay. What you put me through, I’m taking as a learning experience. And boy, have I learned.

Once, a long time ago, I read the passage below from Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love. I fully believed that you would be the one who loved me enough to be my person this way. Imagine how much my heart broke when I was going through a difficult time and I asked you to be with me and you said you didn’t want to. I learned a lot that day. What I refused to consider at the time was that you didn’t have it in you to provide the support I needed. I know that now. And belatedly, I realise that I probably knew it then. They say hindsight is 20/20. And it is.

I hope you are well. I hope you are whole. I hope you are happy.

I’m here. I love you. I don’t care if you need to stay up crying all night long, I will stay with you. If you need the medication again, go ahead and take it—I will love you through that, as well. If you don’t need the medication, I will love you, too. There’s nothing you can ever do to lose my love. I will protect you until you die, and after your death I will still protect you. I am stronger than Depression and I am braver than Loneliness and nothing will ever exhaust me.
― Elizabeth Gilbert