The Little Things You Can Do to Spread Love This Holiday Season

Yo, we have less than a week left until Christmas! *dances holiday happy dance*

Last Wednesday, I talked about happiness and how to let it into your life every day. Today I want to talk about, well, you’ve read it in the title: spreading love.

As the song goes, “Give love on Christmas Day,” amirite? So I thought this topic’s timely for this month. But like I mentioned with happiness, spreading love isn’t exclusively done during the holidays. And the list below contains things anyone can do any-freakin-time.

So let’s get to it, yeah?

Smile to Strangers

You may be looking at those words funny and you may be thinking, “Whaaaat. Why would I even do that? That’s embarrassing.” Or something similar.

I’m telling you right now: I totally get you. Even I would have cringed at the idea. To me, that borders on creepy and simply doesn’t make any sense. It’s like you’re coming on to a random person. Totally WTH moment, right? So what do I do? I look for context.

It could be something as simple as smiling at a mom whose cute little baby is staring at you in public transport. (I actually do this) Or maybe the dudes in the meat section of the grocery are doing some holiday-related gimmick. (And they look funny) These may be little things but they’re at-the-moment somethings that becomes a shared experience with a stranger.

I watched this TEDx Talk video before where a woman was in the middle of a prank called the no-pants subway ride. She was so uncomfortable with all of it. But the guys in front of her just laughed at it all and, when she made eye contact with them, she smiled. Boom, a shared experience. Weird, sure, but it’s more fun when you share the experience with someone.

Give a Random Compliment

Now unlike the smiling one, this would definitely be weird to do on strangers whether there’s a context or no. I know there are people who would be uncomfortable to speak out to complete strangers. *points at self* So do it to a family or friend or an acquaintance. Someone you’ve at least talked to before.

I find that people are often surprised to be given a random compliment and deep down, it flatters them.

Of course, if you want to, you can give a compliment to a complete stranger. See how they’ll react. And if you’re being completely genuine, they’d be genuinely surprised themselves.

Bond with Your Family

I know some people aren’t really close to their family and would choose their friends over them. I’m guilty of doing this sometimes. But see, one thing I’ve learned recently is that your friends will change and some would go separate ways, pursuing their career. I myself only have a handful of my high school friends that I keep in touch regularly. But my family? They’re always there. They can be an unbearable bunch, sure. But they’re always there.

Participate in Programs or Holiday Events

Although Christmas parties are common examples of a holiday program, there are certain events or projects both in the real and virtual world that mainly aim to spread love, not by some fancy celebratory feasts and exchange gifts, but by giveaways and charities and outreaches.

For instance, the amazing Teenella created the Blogger’s Secret Santa where you get to post something nice about a fellow blogger. I joined in and no, I’m not telling who I got. In an author fan group I’m part of, they will be holding giveaways to readers who can’t afford to buy as much books as they want. All of these are relatively tiny things, really. But the amazing part is how people gather together to contribute and participate in them.

You know these are small stuff. But they can be fun and life-enriching at the same time. 2016 was a bad year for many so I really don’t want to add up into all the negativity. This holiday season, you can give out hope and a little light by doing little things. And I’m telling you, it’ll go a long way.

There’s this certain quote posted in our uni’s guidance office that I think is befitting for this post:

Don’t make it an obligation. Give love willingly and without any expectations. And you’ll feel it: elation and happiness. That feeling of your heart warming up and stretching out. And I promise, it does feel good.

Have a love-filled day, awesome peeps!💞

December 14, 2016 1 Comment

How to Let Happiness in Your Life Every-freakin-Day

A lot people would say that happiness is a choice. Others would say happiness is a state of mind. Some want it super specific and say happiness is a tub of Oreo cookies and cream ice cream.

What I do believe is this: happiness is a bit of everything. And when I say everything, I mean every-freakin-thing.

It is a choice and it is also inherent. Happiness is a state of mind but can also be physically projected. In this post, though, I want to discuss its inject-ability — how you can let happiness in your life. Because you totally can! Here are some ways:

List All the Good Things that Happened Today

You can either write it down or just do it mentally, although I personally like writing it on paper and going through all of them afterwards. It just puts a smile on my face. But you can do what suits your fancy!

And when I said list, I don’t want you to be a picky-lister. Maybe you wouldn’t list this morning when a random dude smiled at you. But non non. Include it! Include every little good thing that happened.

Whether it was picking a penny or getting a candy from your friend. The point of this is so you’ll acknowledge the fact that even on bad days, there are things that made you happy or feel good.

Acknowledge the Universal Coexistence

See the last sentence on the previous paragraph? Now read it again. I said fact, because—well, obviously—it’s the truth. Good and bad coexist with each other. One definitely can’t exist without the other.

And yes, I know how deeply philosophical but again, truth.

That being said I hardly believe the entire twenty-four hours of a day could go by without any good thing happening. Because I know the good and bad always come together.

Acknowledging this, especially the thought that the bad things will come as often as the good ones, may make you feel more acceptable of the sucky moments. At least I do, anyway.

Make Time for Your Hobbies

Hear me out for a second, your hobbies are important. I know you must have met people who would scoff at you and tell you these are “just hobbies” and they will do nothing for your career. But I’m telling you, they are important.

Think about it: if all you’ll be working on for the entire year is school or your job, then it won’t be surprising when you’ll get burned out sooner or later.

It doesn’t have to be an entire month either. If you like to draw (like moi) maybe you could doodle during lunch break. If you’re into poetry, you could try writing a draft or even reading a piece by your favorite poet.

And when I said hobbies I don’t exactly mean scrolling through social media, especially Facebook. Because for one, you might just waste time looking through your friend’s vacation pictures or something. And for another, social media envy is as real as a unicorn.

(Seriously. Look up African unicorns.)

You want to find time doing something that, while it’s not part of your regular routine, it is fulfilling in some way and makes you feel looser and more relaxed.

Related: Check out my guest post on La Ivana where I discussed the importance of having a creative hobby.

Get a Good Night’s Sleep (at least on weekends)

Friend, repeat after me:

I’m not a machine.

Because you aren’t. Heck, even computers need to either shut down or sleep, depending on what kind of rest it needs.

We all have our limitations. And while our brain is probably even more astounding than any machine invented, it will eventually get tired. Why do you think the concept of a good night’s sleep is created?

And I’m not one to shy away from burning the midnight oil, I tell you. Especially when I need to finish a huge project or study for something. But I do make it a habit to at least sleep early on less busy nights or the weekends.

Less stress, you know?

Listen to Awesome Music (and dance to it!)

Not to brag but our house always has a stock of great lively music. Not to mention my very own growing *ahem* awesome playlist, my sister is also the kind of person who does not gravitate towards a particular genre. And her jazz and 80s rock songs are so dance-worthy.

That said, whatever kind of music you like, so long as you freakin’ love it, play it on speakers and dance the sadness away with it! Or embrace the sadness! Here’s a confession: I actually have several mellow songs and I even dance to those. I do a weird hybrid of frustrated ballet and contemporary. Sometimes with an added dramatic expression. And hey, it still uplifts me!

Basically, just listen to something good and move your body while you’re at it.

Onto you: How do you inject happiness into your life? Do you do one or more above? Something else? Share them in the comments!

Kate xx

December 7, 2016 17 Comments

5 Blogging Lessons I Learned In Two Years

I’ve been blogging for about two years already. *blows party trumpets* And while that felt like dog years to some others, I’ve learned a few things in blogging that I take with me to this day.

I’m not gonna say I’m an expert already because I sure feel way opposite of that. But these are blogging lessons I’ve personally learned in my two years of running (ooh! That sounded professional) this blog. And I thought I could share them with you today.

1| The People are Awesome

You know that saying about surrounding yourself with awesome people? That goes the same online. The blogosphere people–readers and bloggers alike–really are nice. I always feel happy when I think about this online community I’ve joined in, specifically WordPress. Everyone’s supportive and encouraging.

Sure, there are jerks lurking in some corners and one can’t really make them go away forever. (Although that’s not stopping me from continuing to report that perv bozo in the Teen tag.) But how I see it, those trolls just lift the value and goodness of everyone else who are being honest and kind. As they say, you can’t make a light go brighter if there’s no darkness. 😉

2 | The Blogosphere is Filled to the Brim with Inspiration

Seriously. Anywhere you go, you will find inspiration. It could be the topic or a certain line the blogger has used or even the blogger him/herself. This is why I try to spend as much time browsing my Reader for new blogs as I can.

Honestly, sometimes it makes me feel like a turnip in a rose garden. And I’m gonna lie if I said I’ve never caught the Blog Envy flu. (I have, once or twice) But then that just makes me feel even more pumped up and determined to make my blog better.

That said, tamping down my competitive streak when blogging was hard but totally worth it. There is no intense competition here so you might as well leave your competitive hat at home. Instead, share the love and spread happy vibes!

One blog, and the awesome blogger friend behind it, that never fails to inspire me is Kiya of Flawed Silence. Her posts always makes me feel motivated. All in all, she is an awesome unicorn, you guys, so go check her blog out!

3 | Your Blog Can Be Anything You Want It to Be

The beauty of blogging, and this is often looked through, is that it can be anything. Your blog is your little space in the Interwebs–whether you’re using a free platform or a paid one. It is yours and you can make it into anything you want it to be. Sure, there are limitations to using a free platform but I think that just sparks up my resourcefulness. And this doesn’t stop me from making my blog look pretty.

A great example of a free-platform blog that’s killing it is The Young Hopeful, it’s a college-related blog and if you’re on Pinterest and search up for college tips, you’ll see this blog at the top. Imagine my giddy surprise when I learned they’re running on free platform.

(P.S.: I have a board in Pinterest specifically for college tips and other secret formulas for surviving college life. 😉 Check it out!)

4 | Acknowledge the Learning Curves

This is something that I think a newbie blogger must know. Specifically those who want to blog as a hobby or for personal development *raises hand excitedly* and have plans on growing their blogs in the future *raises hand again*

If you’re completely new to blogging, you have to acknowledge that there are and will be learning curves to pass through. And I mean in everything! Finding your voice, the perfect blogging schedule, writing process, DIY-ing your blog design, etc.

Unless of course you’re a talented snowflake and you just know you were born to blog, then maybe you won’t have that much of a learning curve to go through.

But for the rest of us mere mortals, suck it up and don’t expect that you’ll have like 100000 pageviews at day one. I’m not trying to be Jenny Raincloud here; it’s realistic and being ready for this will avoid disappointments and unreached expectations.

Personally, I find the learning curves to be amazing experiences. Even now I’m trying to learn the bits and bobs in blogging and I take them all one day at a time.

5 | You Don’t Have to Heed All Advice

Ha, if you’ve been here a long time you’ll know I’ll have this little detail included, especially since we’re talking about blogging: take every advice you get with a grain of salt. In my case, I don’t have to listen to those find-a-niche advice.

Know that while these people are experts and they know what they’re talking about, only you can truly experience working on your blog. Only you can tell what works for you and what doesn’t.

I have many mottos and one of it is, “There is no standard solution for anything in life.” There are a million ways to solve a problem but we often like to take the convenient route because there are proofs of people successfully reaching the other side.

I refuse to believe that having a niche blog is the only way to succeed in blogging. So I say, if you want to travel the road less taken, then by all means do!

One other amazing thing about blogging is how much it can help you grow mentally and emotionally. Over the past two years that I’ve had this blog, I feel like I’ve grown as a person and it’s not just to the credit of the blog itself. Every one of you who read my blog is a consistent encouragement for me to keep on going.

So thank you.

Thank you all so much. 🙂 Here’s to another year of spreading creativity, passion and inspiration!

How long have you been blogging? What are the lessons you’ve learned in blogging so far? Share them in the comments or tweet it!

Happy blogging, awesome peeps! 💃

November 12, 2016 1 Comment