A Crucial Life Lesson I Learned from a Chicken

Hey everyone! I’m currently hitting the books, studying for my pre-midterm exams right now and I didn’t have any post scheduled for today. Hopefully, I’ll have a new one next Wednesday but in the meantime, here’s a short post I did… *checks the date* whoa, this was last year??? It’s that old?! Whaaaaaat

Ahem. Anyway. If you don’t know yet, I have an incredibly soft spot for chickens. And birds, in general*. I miss my chicken, Maui**, sooo much. And here’s a life lesson I learned from hanging out with them last year. Enjoy! 🙂

*And cats. And fishies. And bunnies. And dogs (so long as they don’t bark at me or bite me. I still have a bit of trauma from a childhood incident)
**I call her that because she has this tribal-like design on the feathers around her neck and Moana was the jam last year. She’s also a human-attention-seeker, much like Maui the demigod.

You read that right. I learned something from Scrabble before, this isn't unusual already, right? | Life Lesson, Inspiration

The chickens in my grandfather’s backyard all sleep in our neighbor’s fruit tree. It is the tallest tree and the one with the most numerous branches in their vicinity. It’s like their penthouse suite. Overnight security and so high up from the ground.

There was the youngest of all, basically still a chick, that I call Tom Hanks* and he wanted to follow the older chickens up in the tree. But he was still too young and his tiny wings couldn’t take him that far up yet. I watched him go farther and farther up. He perched on our neighbor’s wooden fence and tried to fly towards the tree. But he fell.

Later, he gave up and had to retreat to his old nest. He was sleeping on that nest that night.

Observing Tom Hanks made me think of the goals we set for ourselves and the obstacles we had to face in our lives.

I once mentioned that I don’t agree with people who said that you “only think” that obstacles are big. Like obstacles have some weird deceptive power that make them look big. “It’s all in our heads,” they say.

I think not. I think obstacles are big and they’re supposed to be.

Because maybe, when we were facing those obstacles, we were just like Tom Hanks (the chick above, not the actor); still tiny and our wings can’t take us anywhere far.

Maybe we had to fall several times before we reach that treetop-penthouse.

Maybe we still don’t have the strength to overcome those obstacles.

Maybe we still have to grow.

Because really, isn’t that how life is? No one joins the Game of Life and immediately starts at level 99. And not everyone starts the game of life altogether. You could still be at level 18 and you’re already comparing yourself to someone at level 50. Give yourself a break.

If there was something I’ve learned from Tom Hanks the chick, it’s that when you fall down, you don’t give up. You go back and rest. You get to live another day and grow.

Who knows? Maybe by the next sunset you’ll finally reach that branch.

Happy obstacle-conquering, awesome peeps!

*I call him Tom Hanks because among the five hatchlings, he was the only one to survive from getting eaten by huge field rats and cats. Basically the Castaway/Survivor, amirite??

July 15, 2017 11 Comments

13 Ways to Be Inspired and Pump Up Your Creativity

It is a problem any and every creative experiences at least like ten times* in their life:

Error 404: Inspiration and Creativity Not Found

(Did you mean pizza?)

Frustrating, right???

And so, I share to you 13 ways to be inspired and pump up creativity. These are things I found through the ever-wise Google, most of which has worked for me. Enjoy!

*this didn’t come from any real statistics, just personal experience haha

Are you recently uninspired and are totally frustrated about it? I know no one likes being an uninspired potato so I list 13 ways to be inspired and pump up your creativity. | Inspiration, Creativity

1 | Take a walk

Or if you’re up for it, do regular exercise. Did you know that taking a walk—or, essentially, letting your body move—helps in the improvement of your creative inspiration? Apparently, a casual walk can help you see things in a new perspective and voila! Inspiration!

So fellow non-outdoorsy peeps, y’all have no excuse not to walk, ‘kay? It could just be a walk around your house or pacing in your room or taking the stairs. So long as you give your brain that stimulating effect after a brief exercise, you’re good to go! 😉

2 | Listen to music

And I don’t just mean any music. I mean, listening to music that strikes you and your mind in a positive way.

Image result for metal music monsters university gif

Like has that ever happen to you? You hear a certain song and you’re just struck with this feeling? Like a crack appeared and light went in. The song triggered a gear inside your mind and made it whir into action. Have you ever had that?

Depending on the kind of music that you want when you’re in a particular mood at a particular time, your brain will be able to go into “mind-wandering mode” where most of our creativity happens. It’s like the Pillar of Creation is where stars are born, ya know?*

Here are three musicians that gives me that “struck” feeling:

Owl City – synthpop, experimental pop, beautiful lyrics

AURORA – ethereal music, enchanting voice, amazing lyrics telling stories

In Love with a Ghost – lo-fi indie music, no words but is incredibly soothing

3 | Take a picture of beautiful things

Because of the convenience that comes with owning smartphones, taking pictures of pretty things is something that we all do. But to be inspired, I do something else: I look at ordinary things and try to see the beauty in them. I think it’s a good exercise to have, not only creative-wise but also in my own personal positive mindset practice.

It’s a way to see things in a different, more imaginative perspective. Sharing those pictures to the world and having people appreciate it are all bonuses, to be honest.

4 | Immerse yourself in nature

Related image

It’s something I learned last year: nature can be the most relaxing and best companion you could have. It’s like you could throw anything awful to it, and Mother Nature simply absorbs it and gives you something more positive and beautiful instead.*

If you have a garden or live near a park or mountains or the beach, take a step out of your desk or your room and just bask in the beauty of nature. Take it from me, it’s therapeutic. 😉

*when you think about it, that’s what trees do, isn’t it? Suck all the carbon dioxide and glet out oxygen for us to breathe.

5 | Bring your pet outdoors

And stare at them lovingly until you feel relaxed. No kidding. A relaxed state can help your brain go into that “mind-wandering mode” I mentioned above. And yo, there are reasons why some facilities make use of dogs to help veteran soldiers and patients experiencing post-traumatic stress.

6 | Watch an educational video on YouTube

And yes, I don’t mean vlogs or comedy sketch videos or late night shows. I mean sure, maybe a video of these kinds here and there could spark an idea. But ultimately, these types of videos are usually meant to entertain rather than to educate. And they won’t be able to help you see things in different light and spark an idea and inspire you.

There are plenty of channels out there that aim to educate and share different perspectives. Here are four of my go-tos:

+ TED Talks / TEDx Talks – incredible ideas on almost every topic you can possibly think of.
+ TED-Ed – three- to five-minute videos that aim to educate people in a certain topic with crazy-good animation.
+ School of Life – They’re kinda like TED-Ed and I personally love their videos on psychology and society.
+ Button Poetry – My go-to channel for awesome spoken word poetry.

7 | Listen to interesting podcasts

I’ve had a good amount of blog posts published here that were inspired from a podcast episode. Thing is, whether you’re into business, writing or even the fashion or beauty industry, if you just take the time to search the topics you’re interested in, you’ll be able to find a podcast for it 🙂

Here are some podcasts that I love:

<3 Invisibilia – a podcast about the invisible forces that control human behavior. Narrative storytelling + scientific research = a must-listen podcast.
<3 TED Radio Hour – Because I obviously can’t get enough of TED, each episode is about a certain topic with guests who had a TED Talk related to said topic.
<3 Ctrl Alt Delete – a podcast by Emma Gannon about how the internet and social media has changed our lives.
<3 Radiolab – a show where the boundaries blur between science, philosophy, and human experience.

8 | Take a break

As Eliza sang to Alexander, it doesn’t do you any good if you’re too hard on yourself. You might end up getting burned out or too overwhelmed which is unhealthy. Getting too focused on a task is mentally exhausting so give your brain the break it rightfully needs.

9 | Read blogs

Because, ya gotta admit, reading blogs written by other people can spark an inspiration, don’t you find? Brain Pickings, particularly, is a favorite inspiration hub of mine. And yes, I love all of you awesome peeps’ blogs <3 I’ve discovered so many awesome blog posts and new blogs and I can’t wait to share ’em to y’all in this July’s Fourth Friday Fangirling! 😀

10 | Be mindful of your thoughts

Remember that “mind-wandering mode” I mentioned above? The birthplace of almost all of our creativity? That involves daydreaming and flitting from one thought to another.

Image result for daydreaming gif

So try to take notice of these moments and when a flitting thought inspires you, take note of it immediately. Remember thoughts can be like butterflies; they’re there one moment and gone the next. Daydreaming usually happens to me when I’m commuting or bored. Speaking of boredom…

11 | Try “Eat that Frog”

Remember the productivity technique where you have to start the boring stuff first? You could apply it to creative inspiration too. Yep, boredom can boost your creativity and I talked about how the heck that works. You can check out that post here.

12 | Take a step out of your routine

I’ve talked about how new perspectives can help you be inspired and unleash your creative awesomeness plenty of times above, right? Now, what easier way to see things in a new angle than to step out of your everyday routine. Maybe you can listen to an unfamiliar song or use a different route than your usual or learn something new.

13 | Be deliberate

Now if you really want to be inspired and pump up your creativity, you have to be deliberate about it. And when I say deliberate, I mean: don’t do things half-assed and flush away your glumness in the toilet. Instead of thinking “I can’t do this…” or “But this is how it’s supposed to be,” ask yourself these questions: “What if…” or “What other way is there?” or “How would *insert different person* see this?”

In other words, keep an open mind. Because an open mind would attract inspiration and creativity more than a closed one.

And remember, awesome peeps: inspiration and creativity are not infinite.

At one point, you’ll use up and exhaust them. So when that happens, frustrating as it may be, know that it’s not the end of the world and it doesn’t mean that you’ll never see them again. The world is large enough to offer us many platforms for inspiration and creativity; you just have to find them. 🙂

Other awesome articles on finding inspiration you can check out:

50 Ways to Find Inspiration – Tiny Buddha
How to Unleash Your Creativity and Find Inspiration Today – Psychology Today
6 Places I Go Online to Be Inspired – yours truly

Your turn: How do you get inspired? Where do you find inspiration? I’m sure there are still more ways out there, so are there any that works on you that I haven’t mentioned? Do share them all! I’d love to hear about them!

Have an inspired day, awesome peeps! <3

July 12, 2017 7 Comments

Knowing the Creativity-Boosting Importance of Boredom This Summer

Are you the kind of person who’s super excited for summer because you’ve planned on doing absolutely nothing at all? Because, pssh, summertime = recharging time, amirite???

Hey! High five! That’s me too! 😀

Well let me guess: halfway into the break and you’re already letting out undignified wails and gradually melting into a pathetic puddle who has declared yourself Extremely Bored™.

Hey high five me too.

Knowing the Creativity-Boosting Importance of Boredom This Summer | I share what I learn about boredom. Apparently, it boosts creativity. *cue theatrical gasps*

I mean let’s face it, summer boredom is the work of a jealous evil workaholic sorcerer. Some lucky ones avoid it altogether by signing up to summer camps or applying for summer jobs. While the rest of us poor unfortunate souls are left to deal with it in the most ungracious ways possible. You know, like rolling around the bed moaning like a llama.

But you gotta admit, we all avoid it. We avoid summer boredom like the contemporary plague that it is. We keep ourselves busy and we run to the other direction whenever we see it coming our way.

Actually, when you think about it, we avoid boredom, period. Whatever the kind.

But have you ever tried being like the ever-philosophical Hammond* and stopped for a minute and thought: why do we hate boredom?

“Oh pssh, that’s easy, Kate. It’s awful, it makes you feel anxious, you feel like a bum, and you feel awful for being an unproductive puddle of uselessness. Did I mention IT’S AWFUL??”

*Mistborn Series, anyone?

**But what if I tell you that boredom is actually important?**

And no, I’m not just being a Sunnyside Sunshine Sarah here. I’m not trying to see the good thing in even something as glum as boredom, okay? It’s true! Boredom apparently boosts your creativity. You want proof?

Okay, let me enumerate them in pretty purple diamond bullet-points:

♦ University of Louisville researcher Andreas Elpidorou pointed out that boredom is a “regulatory state that keeps one in line with one’s projects.” Basically, boredom is your brain’s way of warning you that you are not doing anything productive and you have to come up with something more stimulating to do.

♦ In two separate studies, researchers have found the connection between feeling bored and getting creative. Each study had a group of participants do uber-boring tasks such as reading phone books and watching an incredibly boring video clip. And these bored groups outperformed groups who were relaxed or elated on creativity tests.

♦ Oh, and in case you’d think this is some modern finding we’ve only realized recently, you’re dead wrong. Philosophers from way back to a century ago had already mused about the importance of boredom in our everyday lives.

British psychoanalyst Adam Phillips pointed out the adults’ way of making children grow out of boredom by providing them young ‘uns with interesting things. And this is hindering that child’s opportunity to find, on his own, what interests him.

What these pretty purple bullet-points tell us is that boredom exists for a reason. It is that push that motivates us to engage in more creative and fun activities.

Seeing as we’re gradually turning into a creativity-seeking world, it’s no question really that we are also looking for more interesting and highly creative things to do.

Of course, you need to know the difference of a good type of boredom from a bad one

Because much like how there’s a good type of stress and a bad type of stress, according to British philosopher Bertrand Russell, there are two kinds of boredom: a fructifying one (the motivating kind of boredom) and a stultifying one (the boredom that turns you into an undignified wailing llama).

Being able to differentiate between the two can be useful in dealing with boredom in your everyday life.

So here’s what you can do with the good kind of boredom.

Instead of running for the hills or containing it in a glass jar, treat it like… well, treat it like Sadness*. Allow yourself to go along with it. Let your brain experience boredom. Doodle random weird-looking creatures, make an improvised origami, spin a pen. Make something out of being bored.

I swear, the moral of Inside Out* is super applicable to life

And how exactly do we make use of being bored, Kate?

Great question.

You know that famous productivity technique, “Eat The Frog”? Where you do your worst and most tedious task first thing? Same concept.

When you think you need creativity to finish a certain project, try to start your day accomplishing the boring tasks first. In a way, it’s like your brain saving up your creative energy so you could use them at the right time 🙂

Your turn: Do you get bored often? Have you taken the Boredom Proneness Scale Test? What do you do when you’re bored? Share your thoughts!

♦♦ Have a creative day, awesome peeps! ♦♦

June 28, 2017 4 Comments

My Two Cents on Failure (+ How to Deal With It)

Note: This post was something I first wrote and published nearly a year ago. Having read it now, I realized how much it still resonates to me to this day. I’ve edited a bit of the post and added some things but the point still remains the same. Enjoy! 🙂

In this success-driven world that we live in, failure is something we’d rather not experience. (Like at all, please??)

It’s something embedded into our minds as early as when we were kids. We don’t like seeing the red marks on our paper because our parents don’t, right? We spray away failure like we spray away mosquitoes.

But something surprised me when I Googled ‘failure’ for this post. I was immediately bombarded by links with the same theme:

It’s amazing how the idea had spread over every industry like a wildfire. But it had the most tremendous impact in the competitive fields of business and arts. You’ve seen and read the success stories. And they all have that same format.

“I’ve had 10 failed projects in my career… BEFORE BUILDING MY MILLION-DOLLAR ONE!”

“My 499^th audition gave me my big break!”

“After 18 years of searching, I’ve finally proven the existence of unicorns!*”

This tells us that persistence will pay off. And that’s great! It motivates people not to be disheartened when you fail. Besides, failure is needed for us to thrive. It’s a core ingredient in trial-and-error. And it lets us know what not to do to be successful.

However, this “failure is the secret to success” bit can also further feed that success-driven mentality, deliberately deceiving yourself that failing will actually bring you nearer to success.

And that’s not at all good yo.

My Two Cents on Failure (+ How to Deal with It) | I share what I think about how "failure leads to success".

Romanticizing failure does not necessarily make you any closer to success.

I mean, I totally agree that it’s a great way to not get discouraged and not go total Eeyore mode, giving up on life. But there’s a fine line between encouragement and false hope.

The thing is: not everybody will succeed. And failing? Sucks.

When I graduated in high school, I subconsciously brought with me this reassurance and certainty that college will be the same. I was like, “College? Pssh, cake.”

Dear past self: They’re. Not. The. Same.

If high school was Super Mario Level 7**, college is Flappy Bird. No levels. Just pure agony.

And that cold water of reality didn’t splash onto my arrogant face until my second year in college. I didn’t reach the cut-off for a major subject and I was bummed. No, scratch that, I was more than bummed. I was devastated.

It was like a super-confident bump car driver who likes to constantly flip his hair tried driving a ten-wheeler truck for the first time. And he ends up clutching tight at the wheels and crying for his mommy.

So I’m not gonna argue with you. Failure hurts like Gordon Ramsey telling you that sunny-side egg you cooked isn’t even worthy to be served to dogs.

It hits your self-confidence and shatters your spirit. And to someone currently experiencing failure, being told “everything will be okay” may not be the best mood-lifter. And neither is the rhetoric of failure leading to success.

See, success may come later. But failure needs to be dealt now.

So sure, you may reach success afterwards. May. Meaning there’s a possibility that you won’t. And I’m not trying to be Jenny Rain Cloud here. It’s a fact.

For most of our lives, success is something that we will accomplish in the future. But failure can happen any minute and it’s experienced at present, so you deal with it now. If you don’t, failure doesn’t lead to anything good at all.

So then, Kate, how do we deal with failure?

Great that you ask. Here are three things you could do:

<3 Don’t think that the entire universe is ganging up against you. Believe me, I’ve been there. I’ve had my fair share of years being an angsty kid and thinking everybody hates me. They don’t–or… not all of them do. Every person you’ve met has faced failure to a certain degree.*** And the universe is just being the huge thing that it is. In fact, leave the stars alone; they’re minding their own beautiful twinkly business yo.

<3 Think, instead, of what lessons you could take away from failing. Remember that 4-step cure I shared for missed opportunities? Missed opportunities are kinda like failures too. And it always helps to see that even the most awful things have a positive takeaway you can carry your whole life. Lastly…

<3 Give yourself the time to feel all the awful. If there was one thing I’ve learned in Pixar’s Inside Out, it’s that there is nothing wrong with feeling the negative things. It’s okay to feel bad.

There will be happy, colorful moments (like when you’ve proven unicorns are real) and there will be sucky ones (like when you realize you were just dreaming).

So really, it’s okay to feel bummed out or even devastated that you failed at something you’ve worked so hard for 🙂 Use up an entire box of tissues, if you must! But when you’re done, get up and start moving.

**Because at the end of the day, success won’t come to you. You run towards it.**

After having my pity party for like a day or two, I had to get back on my study desk and hit the books again because I had that comprehensive exam to face.

I passed said exam and I’m contented now. I even have this newfound determination to put in more effort into my studies 🙂 And I realized, I probably won’t have such a huge character development if it weren’t for failure.

And here’s the catch.

Yes, failure may lead to success. But for that to happen, you don’t just give yourself encouragements and confidence-boosters. You have to put in some hard work and effort, too 🙂

That’s how the bump car driver learns how to drive ten-wheelers. That’s how you cook a sunny-side egg that will have Gordon Ramsey on foodgasm.

That’s how you will grow.

Your turn! What is your biggest failure in life so far? How did you cope and rise out of it? Share what you learned!

Have an inspired day, awesome peeps! <3

Other awesome articles to read about this topic:

Challenging Success-via-Failure | Psychology Today

How Fear of Failure Destroys Success | Lifehack.org

Who do you think was the pathetic potato who said that? (raises hand)
Is this the underground lava level with that dragon???
Unless, you know, that person is a newborn infant. Then protect that precious lump of baby fats from failure until he’s all grown up to handle them!

June 17, 2017 14 Comments

How to Heal Your Discouraged Heart After a Missed Opportunity

You know how they say you need to grab an opportunity once you see it? Well bugger, sometimes it’s easier said than done.

Summer last year, I was on the ProBlogger Job Board searching for potential work as a freelance writer. I saw this job for a positivity blog and I’m like

this is my moment anna kendrick gif

So I wrote an email to the owner of the website and… completely forgot about it.

At that time, my grandfather was having consecutive nose bleeding and we were all worried. Anything beyond what was happening was shoved to the back of my mind. It was two days later when I got to check my email again. The positivity blogger had replied, interested (like “I think you’d be a great addition to our writing team” interested) but I didn’t respond so he found a different one.

A missed opportunity, among many things, is both discouraging disheartening.

I mean, off the top of your head, what missed opportunity can you think of?

That job promotion you’ve been working on for months was postponed.
A classmate already submitted a project idea similar to the amazingly brilliant one you’ve formulated just minutes earlier.
The only book you still don’t have in a series was on a big sale. AND THE LAST COPY IS IN THE HANDS OF SOMEONE ELSE ALREADY IN THE COUNTER.*
And like 96000** other examples that I’m too lazy to enumerate.

How do you feel about them? Discouraged? Heartbroken? Heartbreakingly discouraged? Like you’ve gone total Eeyore mode and thought there’s no use working hard because the opportunity is gone already?

Image result for eeyore there's no use gif

Yeah, that’s how I felt.

In. Every. Freakin. Missed Opportunities.

But I decided to change my way of responding to missed opportunities. I guess you could say it was one of the positive mindset exercises that I did while on a heckuva long break last year. And here are the things I did.

Just so y’all know, these are the things I did for myself. I never guarantee they work the same way for other people. Because as I always say, we are all unique individuals. 🙂 I hope you’ll take something away from this, still 🙂 Enjoy!

And you just know* that person doesn’t need it as much as you do, right?
**Please tell me someone actually knew that?

How to Heal Your Discouraged Heart After a Missed Opportunity | Missed opportunity means a discouraged heart. I share my 4-step cure to heal that heart.

Step 1 | Suck it up and absorb the blow

Let that discouraged feeling settle onto you. Run through it on every angle. Let yourself feel every awful thing that you can possibly think of feeling at times like these. Break down if you must, especially when it’s a huge opportunity. Use up an entire box of tissues or four. Just… let it all out.

I have this mantra, “Absorb everything now, squeeze them out later.” And I do squeeze them all out.

See, there’s nothing good about bottling things up. Bottling up can make you feel physically heavier. I should know: I was once the Queen of Bottling Up*. So if you feel awful or you’re upset, find a channel to let all that out. It’s better to do it now. Kinda like when you’re cleaning fresh wound, you know?

*It was part of my Puberty Angst Package apparently

Step 2 | Accept the loss

After sucking it up and letting the possible waterworks run its course, accept the loss.

It’s called ‘missed’ for a reason. Being glum about it won’t help you in any way. It’s kinda like bottling things up. And hoarding those negative emotions is never good for your health. In fact, it may just affect you badly. One thing that may come out of not being able to move on from a missed opportunity is cynicism.

And I get it, acceptance can be hard to accomplish. Especially when you’re trying to accept something awful like a missed opportunity. This is why I drain out all the awful feeling firsthand. It makes the accepting part easier.

Step 3 | List the bright side

Yes, I know. That is such a cliché phrase. But when I say bright side, I don’t just mean to look at the good things that happened when you missed an opportunity. I really mean list them down. Often, it’s the experience and the lessons that I’ve learned that are the good things. And I’d either mentally list them down or write them.

In the case of the positivity blogging opportunity, here were the lessons and mental-notes I made:

+ Make gmail app notify you of new mails every 15 minutes
+ Create a habit of checking email at least once a day
+ But don’t be too addicted to it, mkay? 🙂
+ Lesson 1: Always know that there are other fishes in the sea, and you’re not the only qualified person for a job. Which is why…
+ Lesson 2: You work harder to be indispensible

Listing down the lessons and the mental-notes you’ve learned also helps you to see the light in an awful situation as missing an opportunity. PLUS! This can also help you move on from said opportunity. #Win

Step 4 | Remind yourself that it’s not the end of the world

The thing is: when we think of opportunities, we instantly assume they are hard to come by. Like one is an extremely rare purple jackalope that you must chase to the ends of the earth to catch. And if you don’t catch them you go:

Image result for sad gif

Yes, opportunities aren’t common. But they aren’t so rare that missing one meant you’ll never see another again. Opportunities are like (hold on, let me think of an analogy—okay I got it!) blue whales.

They’re huge and precious and not something you’ll see every day. Know where to find one and work your butt off to achieve and see them. And even when you’re already there working very hard and you still got zilch, stay patient.

You might just get gloriously splashed.

Your turn! How do you heal your discouraged heart after missing an opportunity? Share your story below!

Have an awesome day, awesome peeps! <3

June 14, 2017 10 Comments

What I Tell Myself When I’m Hesitant on Moving Forward

What I Do When I Hesitate on Moving Forward | We all have been in that "pause" moment just as you're about to step forward. I share what I do when it happens.

It could be as trivial as taking a shower at four in the morning when the water’s ice cold. Or maybe a step forward to personal development like making the first move at befriending someone (if you’re shy like I am that’s a huge leap).

OR, it could be something monumentally life-changing like changing career paths or being honest with myself.

There are–and will be–moments in your life when you’re standing at a pause. Maybe you’re standing at the edge of a cliff, or facing a forked path. The gist is: once you take a step, there’s no going back. You won’t be the same person as you were before. Because even the slightest change in you makes a different you.

Believe me, I know. I’ve been there. I’ve been in an edge or a fork several times now; I expect I will be several times more in the future. And I tell myself something when I’m at that “pause” phase. So what’s that?

“You can do this, Kate.”

Just that one line. Really.

I only noticed this recently, like several weeks ago. But I know I’ve been saying it too myself a lot. (Especially at four in the morning :D) For some reason, giving myself a mini cheer is, oftentimes, all the motivation I need. There’s something utterly wonderful at being your own best cheerleader.

I am the one pushing me forward.

Do you have a mantra that helps you move forward?

Happy Saturday, awesome peeps!

March 18, 2017 2 Comments

3 Self-Love and Inspiring Quotes by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Heyy! How are you? Like seriously, how are you? Is school or work or life itself treating you well?

Honestly, I had nothing planned out for today. But then I opened my Pinterest and came across a lovely quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

It moved me.

And with a little search on Goodreads (which is a great source for quotes, by the way) I found two more. I also made some quick graphics below for those of you who may need any of the quotes and want to post it on their wall.

I plan on creating my own quotes print someday too but I don’t have the time right now. Hopefully, next month during our summer break 🙂 Anyway, here they are!

“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”

“Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true.”

Have a nice day, awesome peeps! <3

March 8, 2017 4 Comments

10+ Really Fun Things You Can Do Alone

So, hey. At the time of writing this, next week would be Valentine’s Day.

I’m sure some of you would be spending it with a special someone or with friends or the fam. But I’m also sure some of you will be like me, spending it alone. In my case, it’s just a typical day in the college life of Kate the Stressed Out College Girl. And I couldn’t care less about Valentine’s Day passing by uneventful.

I’m a 100% introvert. Seriously. I’ve taken the Myers-Brigg Test three times and my Introvert-ness is consistently 100%. Which is probably why it’s not shocking to me that I love my alone time.

But I realized not everyone is comfortable in their own company. I know a handful of people who feel so awkward being on their own, they seek refuge in social media.

I guess the problem is some people think of alone and lonely as the same thing.

Friends, they’re not.

10+ Really Fun Things You Can Do Alone

And to prove it, I have a list of things you can do alone and not feel lonely. Because 1) it’s been soooo long since I made a really simple list post and 2) I know plenty so explaining them one-by-one would give you a 583209-word post. That’s more or less trilogy-length. And you wouldn’t want to read something that long, now would you?

Anyhoo, enjoy! 🙂

Read your favorite book
Take a short hike
Photograph things – You don’t have to be an expert and you don’t even have to use a professional camera. Just take a picture of something with your phone or a point-and-shoot camera. Remember that the point here is to enjoy, okay?
Watch your favorite movie
Draw something – Again, don’t stress over how unrealistic your drawing may look. Just enjoy the creative process 🙂 Better yet…
Create something – Any small creative projects are healthy! Not only do they keep your creative juices active, but they’re also quite relaxing. Take your pick!
Do some stretching
Blast on some good vibe music – And might I suggest to my fellow millennials, Disney songs? 😉
DANCE – Whether you want to do it in public or in the comfort of your home is up to you hehe
Cook or bake something for yourself – And to my fellow culinary newbies, try something you’re confident you won’t burn
Start a journal
Go jogging
Play an instrument – And if like me, you don’t know any instrument, just belch out some notes with your very own vocal chords
Clean your room
Play a word puzzle or even try the Rubik’s Cube
Go to a (safe) public place like the park or mall or the beach and people watch – I’m telling you this is way more fun than it sounds.
Star gaze – Look for a place near you that’s perfect for it, I’m sure there is
Stay at home when everyone else is out – Enjoy the quiet. This is my favorite thing to do alone and I’m seldom alone at home so I savor every chance I get.

These are gathered from years of personal experience and I’m someone who’s comfortable in my own company. Still, what works for me may not work for you. But try out a few of these things. Or even think outside the box and do something else entirely! As long as you are enjoying yourself; that is the purpose of this post, anyway.

And also, you never know what you’ll enjoy doing alone unless you do try, yeah? 😉

How do you make time for yourself? What do you best like to do alone?

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PS: You might like to check out 13 ways to be inspired or learn how boredom boosts your creativity.

February 11, 2017 35 Comments

You Don’t Need to Understand

Story time.

As a kid, I was the scrawny, quiet one lurking in the corner. And I was often misunderstood. I guess even now, I still am hehe but I accept that now. Back then, it bothered me so much.

No one, not even my family, could ever get me and that was what made me upset most of the time. That they didn’t understand. At one point, the whining turned into a self-pitying excuse. “They don’t understand me. Why?” became “They don’t understand me. Why bother?”

I isolated myself from a lot of people. Not physically. But for a long time, in my mind, I was alone in the world. Only I understand me, that’s what I always thought. It all comes back to the whole “I don’t rely on others a lot” that I told you a few posts back.

Now I ache for the younger me. I feel sorry she had to see the world in such miserable lenses. But I also don’t want to be like her anymore.

Recently, I see so many people who are similar to younger Kate. Misunderstood and suffering alone and living in fear that nobody will understand them.

And I also see a lot of people who are too preoccupied with what they believe in, what they think are right and how things should be, that they don’t have space in their hearts or minds to see things in any other angle. Seeing these people clash against each other in a confusing mess, that familiar thought from my childhood resurfaces, if only they understood each other…

I had to stop myself. Because I realized now that the idea of people perfectly understanding each other? Sadly, that’s not possible.

See, there’s something I learned not too long ago.

Our experiences are our own. And so are our thoughts.

Okay, make that everything in our mind.

Everything in our mind is our own.

No matter how many people claimed to have similar experiences or ideas or thoughts that you have, these will never be exactly the same as yours. Kinda like how we have our own unique set of fingerprints, you know?

And that’s just how it is.

The reason why younger Kate’s grand ambition of Everyone Perfectly Understanding Each Other won’t ever come true is because we inherently can’t. We understand things in our own ways. And so we see and comprehend seemingly similar things differently.

So if completely understanding everyone is not possible, what will happen to us? Is a compassion to many people not possible, then?

Are we forever cursed to chaos and messes brought by misunderstanding and, ultimately, hatred? (That sounded like a line from a blurb of a YA fantasy lol)

The answer came to me in a form of a photo shared on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/camphalfblood/status/826197313278328832

Of course. Respect!

(Side note: I swear, I was tearing up when I read that letter. I had to stop myself because I was in the middle of a class at the time.)

I particularly love that line: “…they did not need to understand, but they did need to show respect.” Because in that one line, this anonymous teacher from Massachusetts, who wrote this letter to the amazing Uncle Rick, gave me the answer. And it’s so simple.

You don’t need to understand everyone. You don’t even need people to understand you. You just need to respect others, whoever they are and whatever circumstances they’re in.

Because that, my awesome and beautiful friends, is the best way to show compassion to people you don’t understand.

How will you show respect and compassion to a person today? 🙂

Have a passion-filled day, awesome peeps! <3

February 8, 2017 1 Comment

Choosing the Right Color Palette for Your Blog

Have you ever looked at your blog’s free theme and thought of the other dozens of people using it who all have basically the same look as yours? Maybe you want your blog to look at least a wee bit different than others?

Yo I did, too. And I like how mine looks now. Though, there are still some things I’m currently improving.

“But how can you do it on a free platform, Kate?” I hear you ask.

Well really, it has a lot to do with being creative and resourceful, which I love to do so hey! In the next couple of Saturdays, I’ll be sharing the things I did. And we’ll start with your blog’s color palette!

Before that, though, I have to tell you that these are tiny changes you can do to give your blog that “you” feeling. There aren’t any crazy CSS customization or coding here since it’s not available in WordPress’s free platform.

Now! Color palettes.

How do you know if it’s The Right One? From my experience (and it isn’t much, mind you) it’s somewhere between something you like and something that will tell your readers what exactly your blog is about.

I’ll explain that further below. For now, here are three actionable steps you can take to choose a color palette for your blog.

1 | Get to Know Your Theme

The free themes in WordPress usually have two or three available color palettes that you can choose from. And I can bet ya my favorite watercolor brush they are neutral or versatile colors, colors you can pair up with different other colors.

I mean, I should know. I’ve probably used 5 different themes in the span of two years. #Guilty

The thing is, most blogs I see only use the default colors and then have their own header images. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, mind you. But for me, a custom header isn’t enough.

And if you’re like me, then heed this advice: Get to know your theme.

Learn the specs and features available in your theme. Go to Appearance>Customize in your Dashboard and head over to Colors and Backgrounds. There, you’ll see the different color palettes you can use. Tweak them.

2 | Think of Your Blog’s Ambiance

You know how when you enter a cafe with lots of dark and earthy tones, you get this grounded feeling like you could settle there and be reassured? Or maybe you entered a gift shop with lots of light shades and pastel hues. It has this cheerful and happy atmosphere, right?

That, my friends, is the power of color.

(*whispers excitedly* Amazing, right? Riiiiight?)

You can use color psychology to create a certain atmosphere you want your blog to have just like a physical shop. Do you want your blog to feel friendly and light-hearted? Maybe your sassy personality oozes out of your blog?

Here’s an example of pink along with earthy colors giving an ohmigosh-it’s-so-beautiful! combination of femininity and stability. Gorsh, Pantone should hire me XD (from Design Seeds; image via @closetteblog)

Also, consider your blog’s voice. This is the “personality” that comes out of the words you write. Take a good look at how you write your posts and take note of the kind of voice that it has. Does it sound sarcastic? Adorably awkward? Kind and positive?

You could even reach out to a friend or family and ask them to read a couple of your posts. This way, your blog’s colors will align to your blog’s voice.

3 | Use Color Palette Resources

There are sooo many ways and resources available for you to create your own color palette but I’ll mention the three I used:

Adobe Color CC

I freakin love this app! You can use it on a mobile device or a computer. And, the best part, it’s free! You can enter a certain color and the app will show you the different color palettes you can create based on different color rules (analogous, complementary, etc.) or a custom color palette if you wanna DIY.

You can also upload a picture and the app will pick the different colors from the photo. And you can change the color mood!

Bless Adobe!

Mood Board

You can also look for pictures that invoke those feelings you want your blog to have.

Enter mood board.

Last Wednesday, we talked about how mood boards can help in inspiration-needed times and hey! Here’s one! You can head on to the post to know how to create a mood board and I even have 3 free .psd templates you can use 😉

I used a mood board when I was looking for other colors I can maybe add into my palette. Because, you know, creative blog = colorful-ish. But I don’t plan on using them all the time; they’re just minor colors.

Design Seeds

I’ve heard about this site for so long but I’ve only visited the site last October and oh my gosh! If you love colors, I’m sure you’ll love this site. Its tagline is literally “For all who love color”! There are tons of color palettes based on spectacular photographs in Design Seeds and you will leave the site feeling super inspired 😀

The Blog Market has also posted other color palette tools and resources that you can use. Check out their post and their blog! I am such a huge fan of it!

4 | Keep What You Like in Mind

In the previous three steps, I’ve given you tips on choosing a color palette with your readers in mind. I’ve read it plenty of times from different bloggers that a successful blog caters not only to the blogger but most especially to its readers. And this is true most of the time.

With your readers in mind, you can create a color palette that:

+ Creates the atmosphere you want your blog to have

+ Successfully let people know what your blog is all about (e.g., a fun and open blog with lots of good vibes and inspiration, in my blog’s case)

But this doesn’t mean you won’t put what you like into consideration. Remember that this is your space in the vast Interwebs. For one thing, it would be more fun to create posts in a space you actually like to see them in. And at the same time, it would feel more “you”, doesn’t it? Which is why we started this post in the first place.

To make your humble virtual space more yours. 🙂

If you reached the end of this reeaaally long post, thank you so much for reading! 😀 How did you come up with the color palette for your blog? Is there a certain topic you like me to discuss regarding blog improvements? Tell me your thoughts!

Happy blogging, awesome peeps! 🎨

January 14, 2017 10 Comments