It Doesn’t Have To Be Big

My whole life, I had set myself up for something big (brace yourselves, this is a long one).

Looking for the great wide somewhere

“I’m going to be a writer.”

When I was 12, I decided I wanted to be a novelist (still do, frankly). I turned 12 in 2009, so you have to remember this was the time where the shining, sparkling dawn of Stephenie Meyer and her army of equally shining, sparkling vampires blew up on all the bookshelves and movie posters so writing a novel didn’t seem like too big of a task for the me who had yet to figure out the difference between you’re, your, it’s and its. I mean, how hard could it be to write a cheesy story about beautiful, supernatural creatures? I’m not even trying to be sarcastic, I was genuinely obsessed (House of Night, anybody?).

I had it all planned out. I had the fancy title, the main character’s name – the works. It was going to be about beautiful bloodsuckers training together in an epic elite school and falling into forbidden love (sound familiar?). I could already see its acclaim – New York Times, Washington Post – it was going to hit #1 on all the bestseller lists!

Then my mom discovered my drafts and laughed – and I stopped.

God bless satire

“I’m going to be a star.”

Right after the writer phase, I somehow got it into my head (for quite some time) that I was an extremely talented singer and songwriter. I had no stomach to do it all on my own so over the course of several years, I got together with and disbanded several of my friends and I. The only productive thing we got out of it was a YouTube channel that one of us currently uses as a personal method of perusal.

When my band/duet dreams died in the plenty of afternoons we spent starting a cover and not finishing it, I got a new idea into my head. Why couldn’t I go solo? I could sing and play the piano and I had a phone with decent recording quality – what else do you need to get big on YouTube? Furthermore, the K-Pop craze was peaking. What could be a more perfect musical assemble/marketing strategy than emailing all the contacts of recording companies I could find online about my brilliant idea of a “fusion” group and getting picked up for it (I got no replies, obviously)?

I had all the concepts for our albums ready, including how many we would release. I posted a total of TWO videos on YouTube, waiting for them to explode.

But when I got only 40 views in a couple of weeks – I stopped.

How could you not want to be part of this ensemble? 

Conclusively

At 18, I looked back and felt just a little bitter, and not to mention disappointed at how I hadn’t been given the things I promised myself in my stage mom frenzy. Now at 19, I look back and I laugh, but I also learn.

It goes without saying that nothing comes without hard work and dedication, but there are also things you should continue to pursue whether or not you have the validation.

Just like this blog – WordPress just congratulated me on hitting 10 likes. A few years ago I would have deleted this entire blog out of the shame, “I’m not viral enough!”, or consoled myself blogging wasn’t what I was meant to do. But I’m not about to do that right now. Sometimes, it doesn’t have to be a big thing. Sometimes, it’s just for you.

Suggestions?

Surprise, surprise, I am again late and overdue with a bunch of posts. How do people blog everyday when I’m struggling to blog every week?

I swear I had a schedule. I was going to draft out everything at work (in food service off peak hours are simply a luxury, I can’t help but give the customers who come in after the BF even though they totally don’t deserve it),  come home where I would write out everything proper, and post it the same night. Voila, sounds easy, right?

Apparently, the old habit of procrastination is an extremely hard one to kill. That, along with waking up early when you have no hard obligation to after a year and a half of sleeping an average of six hours a night while toiling away for my A-Levels (thank goodness those days are over).

Another challenge I’ve encountered while trying to come up with new material is the fact that it seems that every thought and opinion that could possibly be has already been said!

These couple of factors along with the fact that I would just love to get to know more of those of you here in the WordPress community have finally got me to sit my ass down and properly write this plea for help. I’ve kept this blog post a short one since I’ve said my part for the most of it and didn’t want to jabber on meaninglessly for what is a very simple plea for help:

Please do drop a comment if you have any suggestions for me on how to improve my tendency for blog tardiness as well as how to improve the content of the blog itself and fill it up with more originality; or even if you want to say a simple hello (I love being able to read new content and be introduced to more blogs, I promise I’ll read them)! 

 

 

 

Resolutions Aren’t For January Only

So far, I have already lost track of four of my 2017 resolutions: jogging (lasted the first two weeks and was actually doing pretty well), meditating (didn’t even get a chance to start), and the two blog posts that I was supposed to have written and posted for the last two weeks (I would blame Chinese New Year but really I have no excuse).

Here I am, the first of the three blog posts that I will be (hopefully) posting in the next few days to make up for my absence because if there’s anything I’ve learned from January 2017: resolutions are extremely difficult.

It’s no wonder that so many posts on social media every December consist of poking fun at and mocking the unswerving tradition of New Year resolutions that only go into effect either for a very brief period of time or as a guilty conscience at the back of your mind when you put off dieting or put off starting an exciting new project that you thought of one insomnia-like night and had waited until New Year’s to begin because, you know, it’s not like we’re capable of changing any of the other 364/363 days in a year.

(via Google Images)

 

“New Year New Me”

Any somewhat adult would know that the above heading is a complete deception. To go through with your New Year’s resolutions requires more resolve than the resolve required to come up with them or to daydream about how magically and fantastically they will work out in order to initiate a more magical and fantastic you.

I once read a quote by Aristotle that has stuck with me until today: “You are what you repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.”. And that’s the point of New Year’s Resolutions aren’t they ?  To become a better person. To eat healthier and live healthier. To lead a life that we’re proud of. To live an existence that is fulfilling. To become a more excellent version of ourselves. To achieve excellence. The fact is, excellence is the best possible destination in our education of self improvement and, just as a beautiful destination has a difficult path, a worthwhile state is achieved only through a worthy journey.

A simple search on Google will define  “resolution” as “a firm decision to do or not do something.”. So what if January’s over? That doesn’t mean you’ve failed. One of the biggest lies of our generation is that resolutions cease to be tried and cease to be trying when the first month, or the “trial month”, is up.

You can peruse through a hundred websites titled “Why Your Resolutions Aren’t Working” and you will find the same conclusion laced between the different graphics and stitched using the various voices: persistence. If you really, truly, sincerely, deeply want to increase your #gainz, improve your relationships, pick up the harp, get involved more, do more, learn more, live more; then you will absolutely find a way to do it because you are the most absolute factor in the success equation of a New Year’s resolution.

Here’s to a more productive February!

(If anyone is looking for a second chance/excuse to overlook your resolution failures by the Western calendar: Chinese New Year isn’t officially over just yet.)