Why You Need Mood Boards for Endless Inspiration

Hey there! We’ve already established that this month’s Saturdays and probably even the February’s will have topics that will help you to kickstart your blog this year.

But I don’t want you to get overwhelmed with all the advice and tips like what usually happens to me when I binge-read blogging tips in Pinterest. (I mean seriously, I feel like my head spins afterwards.)

Which is why I will be publishing “side dish posts”, as I like to call them, every Wednesday. These are posts that won’t be entirely blog-related but hopefully they can also help, inspiration- and motivation-wise. 🙂

Because, you know. Wednesdays are for inspiration and motivational posts as I mentioned in my little about section in my sidebar over there >>>

So! Onto the topic: mood boards.

You’ve probably heard about mood boards or maybe you even use them. But if you don’t know what they are, mood boards or (inspiration boards) are basically board collages containing pictures or illustrations that invoke a certain mood on you.

Mood boards can also be used to keep you inspired with so many things. I’ve listed three reasons why you may need mood boards:

+ It makes brainstorming for any creative project easier. Mood boards help in establishing the aesthetic feel of…well, anything. When I started revamping this blog, I made use of a digital mood board. It helped me in thinking of how I want my blog to feel and what colors look great together.

Because you all know how I obsess with colors, right?

And you can do this with whatever creative project you have like rearranging a room or your entire house, or revamping your blog. But you can also use it in other creative projects like writing. Authors can gather pictures that they find is related to their stories and have the mood board in their workspace.

+ It’s pretty to look. Hehe I can’t help it. I’m a visual person; I like colors and textures and anything pleasant-looking. Seeing lots of pretty images in one place inspires me. And I’m sure this inspires others too.

+ It gives never-ending inspiration. This is the main purpose of mood boards, before it became an important part in the design process. I mean, it’s literally called inspiration board.

There will come a point when you are totally burned out and you have neither determination nor inspiration to move you forward. And we all know burn outs of any kind are just exhausting.

That’s where a mood board can help.

Personally I like making mood boards with specific colors in mind. (See: color obsession) And so far I have a couple of digital mood boards but I’m planning on buying a cork board I can put on my wall to put inspiring images and colors.

You can put anything in your board, that’s the best part! Anything at all that gives off a certain mood can be placed there. That said, there are three ways to create a mood board. So I’ll go through each of them below and how to create them.

Physical board

Like I said, I planned on buying a cork board to use as my physical mood board. There’s just something different in inspirational things that are also tangible.

A cute mood board. Plus it can also be a cute wall decor! Creative, amirite? (source) Image taken from Web Designer Hub.

You don’t have to buy a cork board to have one, either! Maybe you have a space on the door of your closet or you can paste it on top of your desk. Be resourceful about it! Cut out or print the images you want to put in your mood board and there you go!

A great way to know when you have to change your physical mood board is if you stop noticing the images there because you’re used to seeing it all the time.

Pinterest

Pinterest, as we all know, is Internet’s very own collection of idea boards. I actually took the images for my digital board from Pinterest. You can create a secret board in Pinterest if you don’t want people to see it. I have my own secret board where I save that are in my blog’s color or has that certain feel that I want my blog to have.

Images I saved for my Digital Mood Board taken from Pinterest. Notice the abundance of food? XD

Digital Board

While digital boards lack in tangibility, it does make up by being portable. I made my digital board using Photoshop and have a copy of it in my laptop and my phone. I also keep .psd files in my laptop so that I can change the images whenever I want to. In fact, I have three templates you can use for free if you want to create a digital mood board. Just click the button below. 🙂

But you don’t need to have Photoshop, of course! You can create a simple collage with MS Paint or even with a photo app online like Canva or PicMonkey.

My mood board for my blog + the colors I chose

There are plenty of ways to keep your creative juices flowing and spark up an inspiration. Having a mood board is just one of them. Whatever way you use, so long as you are inspired to do what you like every day, then do it!

Do you have mood boards? How do you keep your creative juices flowing? Share them in the comments below!

Have an inspired day, awesome peeps! <3

January 11, 2017 10 Comments

Little Things You Can Do to Grow Your Blog

15+ Little Ways to Grow Your Blog | Wanna kickstart your blog in an awesome way this 2017? Here are several ways you can do right now to grow your blog.

Hey everyone! Last month I didn’t get the chance to talk much about blogging, since I was giving way for holiday-themed posts. Which is why for the rest of January’s Saturdays (and probably February’s too) I will have a series of posts focusing on the topic, giving some tips that can be helpful to kickstart your blog this 2017.

We all started blogging with different purposes. Maybe you were bored or you wanted to improve your writing or you sought for a place to vent (this is how I started) or something entirely different.

But the fact is: we were looking for something and the blogosphere called to answer.

It’s such an amazing place, the blogosphere. It’s huge and you would think since it’s already overpopulated it won’t have any space left for anyone new. But it never gets tired to welcome people in. Never. It’s kinda like the Hermes cabin in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. They welcome everyone!

Now as a blogger, there would come a time when you want to improve yourself and grow your blog. This can be done in so many ways and I’ll give you a few (ooh rhymes!) on each aspect of blogging.

1 | Your Blog Design

Out of everything here, improving this aspect of your blog is the most noticeable to readers and visitors. Your blog’s design is important in determining whether a reader would stick around long enough to read what you’ve written or could hit that back button faster than me saying “cheetah.”

According to this site, it only takes a mere 0.05 seconds for someone to form a first impression on a website and determine if they would stay or leave. Even more so, 94% of a person’s first impression on a blog is apparently design-related. It’s like a book’s cover. With just a glance on your blog’s look, a person will determine whether it’s their thing or not.

Here are few ways you can improve your blog design:

+ Create a clean custom header

+ Fix yo’ sidebar (and footer if you can)

+ Create your own color palette

+ Make a favicon

+ Have custom graphics everywhere you can put ‘em

2 | Your Blog Content

I find that the most important improvements for your blog’s content ultimately depend on you:

What are the topics you want to write frequently?

How often do you want to write them?

Think long and hard what your answers for these two questions are. They’re what will help you create the foundation of your blog’s content. But the problem is, they’re pretty subjective. Only you know if you want a niche blog or a nicheless one. Only you know how much you need to post a week or a month to create awesome content.

We all have different limits and capabilities. And so only you can know for sure if something is working well or not. No blogging tip or advice could give that to you.

Now if you already have the answers to these important questions, yay! Good for you! *hands you a rainbow cookie* Here are some more ways to improve your content:

+ Try Out an Editorial Calendar

+ Make Use of Categories and Tags

+ Format Your Blog Posts Neatly

3 | The Important Pages

What are the important pages, Kate? You may ask.

Well, these are the pages that any blog needs to have, no matter the niche or even if you don’t have a niche: the about page or the “start here” page and the contact page.

And if you want to go a little bit further, there are also:

+ Terms of Use

+ Privacy Policy

+ Disclaimer (especially if you make use of Amazon Associates)

+ Archives

4 | Blogging Etiquette

I say blogging etiquette as if I mean The Ten Commandments of Blogging or something, but I don’t.

The blogosphere doesn’t really ask for much. Mainly? Just respect. Respect for the other people in the Interwebs, not just the blogosphere. Respect for other people’s works. Respect.

For example: the “follow me” comments. Those hurt me. I mean, imagine yourself sharing something to someone and that person will just interrupt you and be like, “Yes yes, that’s nice. But listen to this one…”

That’s kinda rude, isn’t it?

Unless of course that person found you in a Link-Up party or a blog party. These things allow you to promote a handful of your posts so I think it’s no question to return the courtesy and visit others’ too. But outside these situations, it’s not really kind to do so. Like you’re using other people’s space to promote yourself or something. It’s spammy.

So how do you show respect to others in the Interwebs? Let me count two ways:

+ Give credit where credit is due

+ Be completely genuine and give thoughtful comments

This is where the growing isn’t only limited to your blog but also comprises yourself as a responsible netizen and, ultimately, as a person.

—

I’m telling you right now, I’m no blogging expert. Heck, even I am still instilling some of the things here or constantly improving them. *cough*blog design*cough*

See, I like to think we’re all a work in progress. And we can always do small things everyday to improve. And as I’ve said before, there is always a room for improvement. 🙂

I will be discussing some of the points here more extensively in the next few Saturdays so if you are interested in one or more, you can click on that follow or subscribe button so you won’t miss ’em.

Or, you know, just drop a visit every Saturday! My blog is always open 😉

What do you want to improve in any aspect of yourself this year? Do you have some changes planned? I’d love to hear about them!

Happy growing, awesome peeps!

January 8, 2017 7 Comments

6 Life Lessons I Learned in 2016

So.

We’re in the last Wednesday of the year.

Is anyone getting teary-eyed saying goodbye to 2016?

I can just hear you: “Teary-eyed, Kate? Tears of relief, maybe. Good riddance, I say!”

I know, I know. 2016 was definitely not one of the best years for many and that’s saying it nicely.

But what do I always say here? Good and bad always go together. They’re two different horns, yeah sure. But they’re two different horns on the same llama. So they have differences and things in common and they always go together.

That said, I honestly believe that while 2016 was a straight-up birch as a whole (that was not a typo; I’m just cautious of younger awesome peeps reading this) even the Rainiest Johnny and Jenny Rain Clouds can’t deny that good things happened this year, right? Riiiight?

And to prove it, I share to you the 6 best life lessons I learned this year.

1 | There is no pace to keep other than your own

This was the hardest one I’ve learned this year, I think. I personally grew up with the idea that I have to figure things out as early in my life as possible. I guess a lot of people are. We’re all pressured to decide what our future job should be and start working to achieve it by the age of fifteen. We are all pressured by this internal time ticking in our subconscious telling us to keep. Pace. Keep. Pace. With everyone else.

And you know what I learned this year? This is all ridiculous. There is no pace to keep. You are not lagging behind.

I could go on but I don’t want to keep this post 8973 words long so let’s leave it at that for now. I may write an entire post about this next year but for now, you can head on to my previous posts below to see a glimpse of what I think of this.

Sarah Dessen’s “Infinity” and the Daunting Task of Making a Decision

Why It’s Okay to Not Have Everything Figured Out

2 | There is always room for improvement

I think there’s that tricky, blurry line between contentment and persistence. When do you stop doing one and start doing the other?

Honestly? I have no idea.

But what I do know is this: even at times when you feel like there is no way that you could ever surpass where you currently are now, well surprise surprise because someday you will. There’s a whole lot of space left in you for improvement.

You are a work in progress.

This amazing article from Brain Pickings (I mean, who are we kidding? Brain Pickings is an inspirational gold mine; all the articles are ah-mazing!) tells of two mindsets and how they could essentially change our outlooks on life and even shape it. This article strengthened my belief for this particular lesson, too, so give it a read. It’s really enriching.

3 | Your quirks are part of who you are; embrace it

And while you’re at it, embrace all parts of you.

Further cementing my belief on this one, I recently read this amazing collection of stories by A.C. Burch called A Book of Revelations (*Amazon affiliate link over there) and my gobbling turkey the stories are just plain amazing! One of the stories had this quote that I think excellently sums up my point:

Edit: I forgot to attach this, whoops!

And to drive it all the way home, I wrote a post at Flawed Silence for Project Taboo where I talked about how I think every part of you doesn’t have to “make sense.” And since you’re there already, scroll through Kiya’s amazing blog. It’s filled to the brim with inspiration, delectable baking goodies, and spectabulous photographs!

4 | Don’t judge a person by how they appear

I’m calling it: a lot of people literally judge books by their covers *raises hands* but don’t do this to people.

Every one, every single person you met, passed by, engaged eye contact with, talked to, even those you haven’t met yet: they all have unique experiences you wouldn’t understand.

Okay so maybe you kiiiinda get it because you’ve been through a similar experience. But read that again: similar. Totally different from exact. Because, folks, even when you’ve read that person like a book from cover to cover, always remember that there is still something between the lines. And you may have missed it.

This is a hard one, believe me, I know. But as Judy Hopps always say, try.

5 | Take a break

And by that, I don’t just mean coffee break. (Or in my case, chocolate break) I mean, get some rest—physically, mentally, and emotionally. If you’re over-fatigued, sleep. I find that having enough sleep when you’re life isn’t as hectic helps in so many ways. I mean, if Arianna Huffington approves, go ahead and do it!

And if you’re feeling overwhelmed, nothing wrong with taking a break, amirite? But there’s a huge difference between stopping and quitting, mmkay? Speaking of which…

6 | Never quit entirely, immediately

So you got rejected in your job application or maybe a scholarship one. Will you quit applying altogether? Will you not pursue it anymore? Will you not try to reevaluate what you’ve done and see how you could change it?

Personally, this is the easiest lesson that I learned this year and could apply for next year onwards. But that’s because I’m plain stubborn. Well, a lot more stubborn than I was when I was a kid. I’ve decided to never let one failure/rejection/Johnny Rain Cloud get to me.

Now I don’t mean to never quit your whole life. Because there will come a time, when one thing isn’t working anymore, there’s no point in pursuing it further. I just mean that maaaybe you haven’t tried everything yet to possibly work it all out.

—

Whew! That was one lengthy post! But hey, it’s my last Wednesday post of the month and the year. The last post this Saturday (December 31st, holy macaroni!) will be, like every end of the month, a creative review and probably will include a short Happy New Year message. So we’re really saying goodbye to 2016 in a few days!

Onto you: what life lessons, or any lessons in particular (I’m not picky, I just love lessons ;)) you’ve learned this year? Share them in the comments below!

Have an amazing day, awesome peeps! 🙌

December 28, 2016 31 Comments

6 Motivational Quotes to Keep You Going Next Year

Hey all!

We’re less than a week away from Christmas! Which means we’re less than halfway through the month. Which means we’re almost done with 2016!

Can you believe that?

Actually, I can.

A lot has happened this year and there were definitely moments when I felt like I hit the all time low. And I’m sure I’m not alone in this. So these motivational quotes are for those who need the right words to keep them going.

“You may encounter defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.” – Maya Angelou

“You go on. You set one foot in front of the other, and if a thin voice cries out, somewhere behind you, you pretend not to hear, and keep going.” – Geraldine Brooks

“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius

“Things don’t go wrong and break your heart so you can become bitter and give up. They happen to break you down and build you up so you can be all that you were intended to be.” – Charlie Jones

“It is absolutely essential to hang in there—especially when you feel most discouraged.” – Steve Shallenberger

“It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

Lastly, I got my own motto/quote to share. This one I’ve thought of just this year.

“Life is full of surprises. So always have a smile ready.”

I don’t know if that made any sense to you, but it does to me.

Have an inspired day, awesome peeps! 🙂

December 21, 2016 4 Comments

An Artsy Student’s Christmas Wishlist

Hello, hello everyone!

Have y’all done your Christmas shopping? Have you bought anything for your artsy friends? *hint hint* If not, I’ve got a few helpful gift ideas below. And I know these are what artsy students generally want because, well, I’m one. Hehe.

So this is my Christmas wishlist but it’s also a sort of gift idea for artsy students in general.

Journals

Seriously. Whoever invented journals is a genius. I’ve probably mentioned 659 posts ago that I collect journals and stenos just because I love writing random things in them. There are tons of journals out there–typical lined, the gorgeous and perfect-for-sketching unlined, and the dotted ones that are perfect for lettering and #bujo.

1. Twilight Garden Journal

2. Hydrangeas Journal

Planners & Agendas

Students typically need planners or agenda notebooks. That said, might as well get something pretty or artistic for your artsy friend.

3. Rifle Paper Co Midnight 2017 Agenda

4. ban.do Girl Crush 2017 Agenda

Art Materials & Supplies

They’re artsy; of course getting art supplies will excite them. I mean, I get sketchbooks for Christmas exchanges lots of times and I’m just happy to get them. A little caution for gifting art supplies, though: look for art materials with great enough quality. You can search for reviews in Amazon or pick highly-reputable brands.

5. Winsor & Newton Watercolor Half-Pan Set

6. Pentel Aquash Water Brush

Office Supplies

After art supplies, office supplies are my next favorite gift to receive! You’ll be sure that they’ll use the office supplies, whether for their school life or in their creative ventures. I particularly like to have these three below.

7. Brush Stroke Mug

8. Vintage Leather Pencil Case

9. ban.do Straight Magic Sticky Notes

When it comes to your artsy friends, I’m telling ya, you could never go wrong with an aesthetically-pleasing gift that’s also functional. I find that I appreciate a gift more if it was given more thought on how I can use it. And I’m sure a lot of other people think so too. 🙂

How about you? What do you want to receive this Christmas?

Happy giving, awesome peeps!🎁

*some links are affiliate links*

December 17, 2016 6 Comments

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

Easy DIY Christmas Decors for the Non-Crafters

Hey guys! We have like 22 days before Christmas! Isn’t that exciting? Are you as excited as I am? Because I am! Have you added little Christmas decors in your rooms already?

Me, I’m working on it. And I’m DIY-ing them.

Because maybe it’s just me, but don’t you think the Christmas decors available in malls are a little more like… *ehem* for your grandma’s generation? Or maybe that’s just the malls here in my country.

But anyway. It’s still fun to make the Christmas decors yourself, right?

So whether it’s any of the reasons above or something else entirely, if your room is in need of some DIY Christmas decors that are easy enough for non-crafters such as myself, don’t worry.

I gotcha covered.

I sought help from Auntie Pinterest and gathered these 5 really cool Christmas decors that a non-crafting unicorn can create.

And create beautifully, I tell you.

So don’t you dare scoff at the monitor and doubt yourself even for a second because I have faith in your novice crafting skills and you can do this!

(Sorry I’m just so pumped up for Christmas haha)

Yarn Christmas Tree

Source

I’m telling you now, this is the hardest one in this list and really, what’s making it so hard is the DIY hardening solution used in the tutorial above. I looked it up on Big Ole’ Google and you can try to use equal parts glue and water. Refer to this article too for more ways to stiffen the yarn.

Dixie Cups Christmas Lights

Source

You’ll basically just need dixie cups, a cutter or a knife (although a scissor is fine too) and a string of Christmas lights, or as you lot call it “fairy lights”. Still is a string of Christmas lights to me.

Oh and a friendly reminder: be careful in using the cutter or knife or scissor. I’ve been in too many crafty attempts to know that my frustration could lead up to me slicing my hand. Thank God, the wounds weren’t too deep and I didn’t amputate myself.

The lesson here? Don’t be like me.

Music Sheet Christmas Tree

Source

The moment I saw this I fell in love. It looked super cool and since the instructions were in Swedish, I had to be–well, crafty and figure out how I could come up with something similar. I decided I’ll need a paper and a stick, obvs. But for the stand, I was thinking of cutting a tiny piece of styrofoam and either wrap or paint it.

So you can do that or simply copy the instructions and paste it on Google Translate.

Washi Tape Wall Decor

Source

This is the high moment when my two-year Spanish elective stint in high school…didn’t help. So I could only understand bits but a picture says a thousand words, right? And this one’s pure brilliance, honestly. All you need is a washi tape of your choice, no cutting or gluing requied. And you can start getting creative with your Christmas DIY wall décor.

DIY Glitter Candles

Source

While this does not require any use of cutting tools, it will involve with a good amount or glue. And glitters. So if you don’t want to get glitters all over your body, I suggest being extremely careful in this. You also want to use some sort of cover to achieve that half-glittered look above. I find that using a piece of paper wrapped really tight and secured with a tape will do the trick but you can also follow what they did.

Ooh! And speaking of getting crafty, I also have a collaboration with my awesome unicorn friend, Kiya of Flawed Silence, this month in time for Blogmas. You’ll probably see it in her blog in a few days. And while you’re over there, say hi to Kiya for me and check out the rest of what her blog has to offer.

Spoiler alert: So much inspiring goodness, let me tell ya!

Have you put up Christmas decorations already? Will you? Is there another December holiday you’ll be celebrating perhaps? Share it in the comments, yo! I’m seriously curious of other cultures and traditions happening this month 😉

Happy creating, awesome peeps! 🎄

December 3, 2016 5 Comments

4 Storytelling (+Life!) Lessons from Hayao Miyazaki’s Films

It has been more or less three years since Hayao Miyazaki’s last feature film, The Wind Rises, was released and until now I miss his presence in the film industry.

Hayao Miyazaki, in my opinion, is not only one of the best animated filmmaker in Japan but the entire world. You could watch his movies at any period of your life—whether you’re nine or twenty-nine—and they will still resonate with you.

I mean, I’ve probably watched most of his movies more than a dozen times each for the past six years and there are still new things I would learn as I watch one of them for the enth time.

I planned on creating a tribute article of sorts but I felt, with my little insight, I would never do him or his films justice. Which is why I’m doing this Kate-style: a list of lessons.

Since some folks out there are probably participating in NaNoWriMo, I thought I can help out in the inspiration part with these lessons on storytelling. I freaking love stories anyway, whatever medium is used, so this is also me fangirling about storytelling. And I’m going to casually insert some life lessons in there too, if I can help it. Because you all probably know how obsess I am with life lessons, right? (If you hadn’t, now you do ;))
Whoa, that’s like using one stone to hit two birds and eat a cookie! #Winning.

1 | Learning to Pause

Don’t get me wrong, there’s something thrilling about action-packed stories. I love them and my regular praise for Rick Riordan books is evidence enough. But I also love how Miyazaki has this short “breathing room” after every excitement. A space where we see his characters simply reflect their circumstances and we don’t really need any explanation or dialogue. We just connect with them.

My Neighbor Totoro Iconic Bus Stop Scene | 4 Storytelling (+Life!) Lessons from Hayao Miyazaki's Films

I mean, who could forget this scene?

In a sense, you could also apply this to everyday life. I understand the appeal of living in the fast lane but pausing every once in a while, giving yourself a little breathing room in your life, won’t be so bad. Personally, I like plunging on to a project or some task and give myself a little break after. And when you think about it, isn’t that what the Pomodoro technique is all about? *le Eureka gasp*

2| Not Really Happily Ever After

Growing up, I have always gravitated towards happy endings. The hero saved the princess, the cursed town restored, yada yada. I’ve only started to appreciate the not-so happy ones in my late teens, have only realized how closer they are to reality.

And in most of Miyazaki’s films, you would not get a completely happily ever after. I mean, everyone’s happy, sure. But some things aren’t tied up tightly into a pretty ribbon. While Jiji did return to Kiki’s side in Kiki’s Delivery Service, he still can’t talk.

Things don’t always go exactly the way we want them to. And that’s okay. 🙂

3 | Incredible Character Depth

Okay, by far, this is one aspect in a Hayao Miyazaki film that I like the most. (Which is why I’m going to have a short fangirling moment below mehehe) And if you know me, that’s not a surprise at all, considering I always talk about character depths in my book reviews.

The thing is, Hayao Miyazaki’s characters all have incredible depths. And I mean incredible!

Princess Mononoke’s Lady Eboshi is not the cruel, heartless leader of Irontown because we see her compassion towards her workers, women from brothels and lepers—people who have been looked down by the rest of society. The titular character of Howl’s Moving Castle may be one of the film’s good guys but he also bears a vain and immature attitude.

Lady Eboshi | 4 Storytelling (+Life!) Lessons from Hayao Miyazaki's Films

(Image via Nefarious Reviews)

In Miyazaki’s world, there is no purely good guy or a purely bad guy. And it pays to realize that this is true for our world too.

Everyone has a little good and a little evil in them and in the end, you can’t sum up a person by one act. And anyway, that just seems unfair, ain’t it?

4 | Emotions and Logic

Fun fact: did you know that Miyazaki creates scenes through the emotion they bring? He and the rest of his animators actually come up with the storyboard afterward.

I’ll give you a minute if you’re mind’s blown.

You okay now? Okay.

And hey, don’t worry. When I learned about that the first time, I was like, “*whispers* NO FREAKING WAY.”

Hayao Miyazaki Storyboard | 4 Storytelling (+Life!) Lessons from Hayao Miyazaki's Films

The Storyboard for Ponyo (via Creative Stuff)

Maybe it’s because of this that Hayao Miyazaki’s films always bring up a surge of emotions whenever someone (me) watches them. Maybe this is why we (I) could connect to the story and the characters so much.

I think this comment from RogerEbert.com could sum up my thoughts on this one:

“He’s (Miyazaki) always made us realize that human/dramatic motivation is too complex for either-or reasoning.”

While I really want to ponder upon Miyazaki’s thoughts on the complexity of humanity, the point is Hayao Miyazaki does a huge part of his work emotionally, something that I think is important in art in general. And it worked well on him.

In our case, we have to find what works for us. I, for one, am the kind of person who has to balance both emotion and logic in my life. I can’t function in total intuition nor in total organization (a long story I’ll tell some other time) so I need balance.

So that’s it! These are the storytelling lessons I got from Hayao Miyazaki’s films along with some life lessons as well. While we’re at it, here are two amazing videos about Hayao Miyazaki that I’ve watched (for like a hundred times now):

Hayao Miyazaki Tribute Video in 3D by Dono (Vimeo) – A 3-minute tribute video of all of Hayao Miyazaki’s works. This brought me surrounded by my own lake of tears. Like the feels…

Hayao Miyazaki – The Essence of Humanity by Channel Criswell (YouTube) – A 16-minute video essay about how Hayao Miyazaki understands the complexity of human emotions. This is so amazing, I downloaded it in my YouTube app for offline watching. <3

Have you watched any Hayao Miyazaki films? Which one(s) is (or are) your favorite? What are your thoughts on his films as a whole? Share them on the comments or you can tweet it! (Yay for options!)

Now excuse me, I have to go and binge-rewatch some of the movies I just mentioned above…

(I didn’t know you could crave for movies)

(Crap, now that I thought of crave, I’m craving for ice cream too)

Happy watching, awesome peeps!

November 2, 2016 6 Comments

5 Motivating Mantras for when You Think You Can’t Do It

Imagine this: your mind was wandering when suddenly, you thought of something. You’re so excited. You think it’s a good idea…nay, your optimistic inner voice said, it’s a spectabulous idea! It’s gonna be SO great.

But then someone hit the breaks. Your other inner voice, the grumpy one, shook its head and said that no. You can’t do it. Not now. Probably not ever.

You shrink and shrivel, believing that inner voice because it is true, isn’t it? It isn’t possible for you.

Sad, no?

Now, maybe there are some of you whose optimistic inner voice rule your thoughts. But I’m pretty sure there are also people out there like me whose grumpy inner voice hold the reins.

It’s sad when someone else discourages you but it’s even worse when you discourage yourself.

And I should know.

This is the reason why it took me this long to try out watercolors. I had an artistic trauma (ooh fancy phrase) back in first grade when I first used watercolor and my inner perfectionist (already there at age 7) wasn’t happy with the output.

I was happier with pencils and pens because I have control on the outcome. All those years, I’ve never tried branching out the mediums I use for the sheer reason that I think I’m not capable of anything else.

And while I’m now slowly learning watercolor, I still have that grumpy inner voice holding the reins of my self-determination. There are plenty of factors to this: low self-esteem, low self-confidence, afraid of getting out of my comfort zone… I have my own issues. But today, I’m not talking about those.

In this post, I want to share some mantras I recite to myself whenever I’m holding myself back from something awesome. In a way, they help me. So I hope they do the same to you. 🙂

1.)

Believe in your idea’s awesomeness. Like seriously, believe it. Believe it the way Steve Jobs believed in his then-unconventional computer. The way Jasmine said yes to Aladdin when he asked, “Do you trust me?” (swoon)

2.)

This kinda relates to #1. If you seriously believe in that idea, you’ll know that trying it out will be worth it. And it is. Think of it this way: if it doesn’t work out, at least you’d know that it doesn’t. And you’d learn something.

But if it does, boy, it’ll be a great day for you!

3.)

Yeah, laugh at me, if you will. But Ellen personally gives me motivation whenever I think of some crazy ideas. I mean, wouldn’t it be cool to be interviewed by her?

You could change it if you want. Think of anything farfetched: getting a Nobel (I also think of this one), being approached by a big label or company. Anything. It may be farfetched but it boosts your determination somehow. At least it does for me.

4.)

I swear, Shia LaBeouf has become a moderm motivation maven because of this. But it’s really effective when I’m holding myself back in doing something.

Just buy a set of watercolor tubes and brushes, Kate. Just put brush on paper and paint.

5.)

Personally, this is the one mantra that my grumpy inner voice can’t argue with. You wouldn’t know if that idea was awesome or not if you don’t try, right?

So let me get back to Shia here for a minute…

JUST DO IT!

Happy Shia LaBeouf-ing, awesome peeps!💪

September 26, 2016 6 Comments

Reach Inside Your Heart

Hey everyone! This week was so jam-packed, no? And I’m not finished yet! 😁 My good friend and amazing human being, Kiya of Flawed Silence and I have come up with a collab post. My first ever, yay!

So the idea was that Kiya, the ever amazing wordsmith, was going to write a poem and I’ll do an illustration inspired from it. Because, you know, her poems can get anyone inspired. Hope you enjoy!

It’s just another day

As I see myself
Drifting away
Fingers skimming the stars
And grazing the gentle clouds.

I see myself going places
But I see the shadow of doubt
Trailing me
Playing
TAG you’re it
TAG you’re it!

With every fight
And every knife to the back
And every wheezing for breath
We slump down
Deeper
And
Deeper
Into a world full of hurricanes
Uprooting confidence, belief and esteem.

Tell me
Oh tell me why we are wasting time
On crocodile tears, peeling scabs and
Waiting for someone to realise you’re not a paper doll?

Cling to the hope
And let it blossom into a wild flower
So unique from the billions of people existing
Let the thorns prick the ones that cast you aside
But like the wildest roots
I know that you can
Grow, and survive
The evil madness in this world.

Rise above the golden rays of sunshine
And glide alongside the moon’s waning figure
Whilst intertwining with the shimmers of the galaxy
We all have potential
You have capability
So don’t let others dictate
How, why and what you will do.

Instead
Reach inside of your heart
And generously feed your dreams
Hopes and ambitions
Set fire to the negative vibes
And shoot across life
Like a shooting star.

Because you are one.

Such a beautiful and inspiring poem, right? 💕 I’ll tell you guys a secret: I actually had a more ambitious idea of an illustration to pair with that poem but I don’t think I’m good at it. Yet. But who knows in the future? But I still had so much fun making this one.

We have a different collab post up on her blog too so check that out!😁 I had the most amazing time working with Kiya on these collabs. Be sure to head on to her blog because it’s just filled with inspiring poetry and the visits to National Trust properties! Gorsh I love those.

I hope you guys enjoyed this and I’ll see you all again this weekend. (Yep I’m not yet done for the week. ;))

Happy Friyay, awesome peeps!🌌🌠

September 2, 2016 11 Comments