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

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

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

Attempting More Details and Backgrounds

Here’s a fact about me regarding my watercolor paintings and drawings in general: I don’t usually have backgrounds. If you skim through all my artsy creations here in my blog, you’ll notice that I usually just draw a character and forego any specific background.

Lineart has always been my favorite part of making an artwork so I always have full concentration on that. Then I would breeze through the coloring or shading. I end up having a not-so detailed work and back then, I find that good enough.

Now skimming through different artists on Instagram and Youtube, I see how much work they put into the background and the little details in the piece.

It amazed me.

The result was this piece of work that’s more…complete, I guess. The characters aren’t just characters in white background. They have a story and a personality. There’s a certain mood that you won’t only see in the character’s expression but also backed up by the background and props.

And I decided, “I want that in my work.”

But deciding to change the way you create things is far easier than the act itself.

It was hard, extremely hard to add more into my “drawing routine.” And so I did it little by little this month.

Remember when I had that Poker-faced Girls Series of watercolor art? Well, I made another series but this time it’s four girls embodying the four natural elements—fire, earth, water, and air. It’s called Elemental Girls with Closed Eyes Series.

This is where I decided to put in a little more effort in tiny details. Each girl took up around a day to finish but that’s because I didn’t work with the next girl straightaway.

Water (I didn’t have time to think of their names, sorry) has this wavy-ish hair and the hem of her dress looks like sea foam. I had fun doing the seaweeds but omg, those bubbles feel so awkward. Or is it just me?

Having Fire’s hair look like, well, fire was extremely fun, especially doing that gradient-like feel. Her seemingly burnt dress was an accident I made but a happy accident nonetheless.

Air has no defining feature, honestly. You won’t be able to tell she’s Air without those clouds. But I like how dreamy she looks like, snuggled up in the clouds. Gosh, I want to be her.

Earth was the last elemental girl I drew and I loved her a lot. I honestly don’t know how I successfully made those cracks in the ground but they look so legit and I’m happy with it. 🙂

Here are other works I made this November:

I painted the lineart I made last month and I was immediately in love with it. I made a short backstory about the five of them which you can see in my Instagram art account. (Psst! It’s a new account, give some lovin’ and I’ll spread it ;))

My friend gave me this purple gel fountain pen-ish (I honestly don’t know what it’s called but the label has fountain pen so //shrugs) and I tried it out. I noted how the ink bleeds incredibly fast so I have to line a certain area real fast if I don’t want it to bleed.

I recently bought my first ever gouache tube set and I’m in love with how vivid the colors are! <3 I immediately tested it out along with my brush pen because I haven’t used that in a while. I learned that the brush pen bleeds with the gouache more easily than with watercolors as you can see with the Blue-haired girl. That was my first attempt.

Don’t ask me what she’s looking at, even I don’t know.

This was my second attempt and I like how the gouache could be light and also used for details like the shadows of the hair.

This was my third attempt and I screwed up with the skin color but now when I look at her, it looks pretty with the light purple hair.

This was my fourth attempt. At this point, I used watercolor for her skin and put in gouache with the rest and then lined it with the brush pen after. Meaning, I completely changed my drawing process. And it looked neater.

And that’s it! These are what I created this month. Do you have any favorites? 😉 Would you recommend something I would draw? Shoot me an email or comment it below!

Happy creating, awesome peeps!

November 30, 2016 10 Comments

To The Brave Risk-Takers who are Doubting Their Selves

To the dreamers who dream of wonderful things. To the young hopefuls discouraged by the cruelty of the world. Who were told to “just give up” because their big ideas are too big for this world to carry.

To the once innocent child, whose hopes were raised and whose hearts were spoon-fed with “dream big”s and “you can do anything”s, just to grow up with crushed dreams and doing nothing.

To the people courageous enough to take risks but have wallowed their selves in self-doubt.

Please.

Keep on dreaming.

Fill your heart with hope and believe in yourself. The world needs more of you.

And in the words of the Cecil Beaton:

Have an amazing day, awesome peeps! 😀

November 23, 2016 4 Comments

Create with Me: 3D Letter Typography

Hey all! I’m back again with another Create with Me post.

For those who don’t know, Create with Me is a relatively new feature here in my blog. It’s kinda like Get Ready with Me for style bloggers but for my first- or second-attempt creative experiments.

The aim of this feature is just to experiment on different creative things. This is one of my little ways to feed my creativity with something new and unfamiliar.

Today, I’m showing you what happened to my first ever try at making 3D letter typography.

I’ve always wanted one so bad but I couldn’t find them anywhere so I thought, “Hey, I’ll just make myself one!” Which was crazy of me considering I’m worse at crafts than with watercolors.

So that idea went to the back of my mind for a long time until I was on the school supplies store to buy myself a new notebook. I saw this rolled up cardboard that’s white on one side and brown on the other. And reminded by my idea to create a 3D letter typography, I grabbed for it.

Lesson #1: Embrace the spontaneity!

I didn’t plan for anything at all. The closest to a plan that I did was this tiny doodle in my notebook on how I’m forming the letter K. Plus I didn’t think about what materials I’ll use thoroughly. (See: cardboard impulsive-buying above) And that’s cool and all.

At first.

So I went on to follow that messy doodle I won’t even call a “guide” and arrived with this.

Please note that perfectionist Kate took the reins at this point, and sloppy Kate was cast aside, which is why the letter K looked so good.

I cut out two of these using a cutter and a ruler because, like I said earlier, I suck at precision cutting with scissors. And I used masking tape to make the little strips that connect these two 2D K’s and make it one 3D K.

And that’s when I realized: the cardboard is too thin to hold itself. *cue The Scream face*

Lesson #2: Spontaneity is good—at small enough doses. But always have a plan when doing crafts or DIY.

I don’t have a picture of it but when I tried to make place it upright, it bent and wobbled. As did my hopeful heart.

Then my aunt saw me and was like, “Why don’t you put sticks inside?”

And my heart soared like a kid in Halloween.

Lesson #3: When things get sucky, improvise and be resourceful.

We have unused barbecue sticks so I used those and picked thicker ones. I cut them to fit inside the letter K without it looking distorted.

And it stood proudly like the Statue of Liberty!

After that, it was just a matter of buying a wrapping paper to cover it.

I would have liked paint but A) we don’t have any, B) I don’t want to waste money buying a can for a first-time project I’m not even sure I could do right, and C) I wanted to cover the sticks.

So wrapping paper it was.

Patterned wrapping paper - 3D Letter Typography

I believe it was fate that this was the only non-holiday kind available.

And this is the finished look! Plus flowers as props for Insta.

I still don’t know where I’m putting this so it’ll be kept in the cabinet temporarily. But with this, I’m now a wee bit confident at making other letters—using thicker board this time.

So the life lesson I got here is this: there will be moments when you can’t support your own so don’t be afraid to rely on others and ask for help. 😊

Also: avoid winging craft projects. Seriously.

Did you create or do something new recently? Were you spontaneous about it or did you plan every step? I’d love to hear your stories!

Happy creating, awesome peeps! 🎨

November 19, 2016 2 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

When Things Seem to be Falling Apart

A few times in your life, you would hit a low point. Like the sad chapter in a novel or one of those sad slow montage in movies with rain or sad songs in the background—or even both.

And to the viewers and the readers, the bystanders who merely witnessed you at your lowest, it’s not a big deal. It’s a short-lived moment in a bigger picture. A blink of an eye. They’d think you’re being too dramatic. But you know they’re wrong.

They haven’t experienced it the way you have. They don’t know the pain and sadness that only you bear.

They don’t understand.

And so you suffer quietly. Blinking back tears, pushing them far back into your eyes. You try to lift your head up, look at the ceiling, but see nothing through the blur of unshed tears filling your sight.

They don’t see the swell and redness that your eyes should have after crying because you did not shed any tears. You did not cry loudly; no one could hear the song of hurt playing deep inside you.

No, only your body could feel your struggle and your mind was the sole listener of that sad song. The swell wasn’t visible outside because it was your heart that stretched unbearably with bottled up pain.

To the people who are suffering alone, who are crying in the dark or silently inside, to those who feel like things seem to be falling apart around you, please know.

I understand.

I’m one of you. I have felt similarly to what you are feeling now. And let me tell you something honest.

The others are wrong, yes. You are not experiencing a montage that would fade instantly. But they are also right. It is not the end of the world. That burden is not forever. And if it comes to a point when it becomes overwhelming, please.

Please don’t allow yourself to be drowned by your sorrows.

Please remember that you are stronger than your struggles.

Please know that I am here.

If that makes any difference.

I’ve learned to accept that life comes with harshness and cruelty and difficult obstacles but even now I still don’t know the secret formula for passing through each of them with no scratch. I bear with me scars that will never fully heal and I will carry them for the rest of my life. But I refuse to let that stop me from wanting to live the life that I want to lead.

And it mustn’t let you too.

So suffer. Give yourself a moment (or three) to cry, to acknowledge the pain. Mourn for that tiny piece of perfection now wounded and utterly imperfect. Grieve for the loss of happiness but know—truly know—that it’s only temporary.

Because what’s amazing about life, I learned, is that it’s so much bigger than all of us. This makes life uncontrollable and unpredictable. But this also allows life anything inside it. Anything. The possibilities of what will happen next are infinite, as are your choices. Even at times when it feels like you’re cramped tight in a box.

So cry. Be sad. And then choose to be happy, to be hopeful, afterwards.

I know it’s hard; I keep returning in that same position, always struggling every time. But try. Stand back up bearing the scars. Forever with you, a reminder of what you have gone through. There will be moments when they’ll hurt again.

But stand and keep on walking anyway.

Have a happy day, awesome person 😃

November 9, 2016 1 Comment

What To Do When You’re Having Blog Burn Out

You know, I personally think that starting a blog isn’t so hard.

I mean, sure, you get jitters and you’ve been thinking about having one and you’re probably going to overthink everything. And I mean every. Single. Thing. But when you get past all the necessary blanks to fill, get that first post live and start interacting with fellow bloggers, you realize, “Hey, that wasn’t so bad!”

It’s kinda like learning how to swim. You’d think you’ll surely drown but the moment you cross one point to another without a rubber tube, you realize it’s so freaking easy.

The difficult part in blogging, at least in my case, is the maintaining and growing.

Maintaining a blog means writing, taking pictures, editing, and virtually mingling with other blogging peeps. And when you’re busy as heck with other stuff in your life (e.g., school, work) the maintaining part could get really tedious.

It’ll be like crossing the English Channel when you are only a novice swimmer.

End of story? Blog burn out.

I’ve had more than a couple of blogging burnouts in nearly two years, most of which I’ve thought of quitting altogether. Just recently, I’ve had two a few months past. But I’m getting the hang of this and I’ve learned a thing or two.

So today I want to share what I do when I’m having a blog burn out.

1 | Identifying the Problem

Burn outs don’t happen all of a sudden. You think they do but they don’t. It’s like the flu. So you want to recall what you’ve done recently that could have caused it. Were you working too much? Were you drowning in self-doubt?

I obsess myself with a lot of things blogging-wise (because, you know, overthinker) but particularly in my blogging schedule. I started posting spontaneously then I decided posting more “regularly”, which means almost every-freaking-day. It was at that point when I felt squeezed out of ideas to write about and I just can’t take it anymore. (Okay I feel like that’s a lyrics to something. But whaaat?) Now I know my limits and try to be mindful about it.

Knowing what the problem is can be helpful, not only to remedy yourself from the burn out but also to avoid it in the future. Because no one wants to feel bad by the same thing twice, amiright?

2 | Refueling My Motivation

I’m the kind of person who has unlimited source of inspiration but that gets clogged up inside me because I’m lazy and my motivation is limited. I usually end up just daydreaming about awesome things but I’ll be like, “Ehh, I’ll do it later.”

I know me. Which is why I find inspiration whenever I’m having a burn out. This could be going to Pinterest or visit my #goals blogs (aka: bloggers I want to be like in the future) and just scroll through the many awesome things I expose myself to.

I’d get super pumped up and inspired that I’ll start writing.

3 | Creating an Idea Dump

Blog burn out usually means having your creative juices frozen or worse dried up. So to me, it’s extremely important to take the time to simply sit down, have a notebook and pen on the table and just stare at them.

No kidding, I really just stare.

It usually gets me bored and I let my thoughts roam free. Going from this imaginary world that I hope I could make into a novel to random musings like, “Will little chicks ever learn to shut up?” (I was sitting in our backyard) And sometime later an idea will pop up.

Boredom does that, you know. Help you out creatively. And science has proven it!

Now this is just my ideal method for coming up with topics to write about. And it works great for me. If you want more, the amazing Allison from Wonderlass (one of my #goals blogs) has shared more ways to avoid running out of awesome content ideas.

4 | When All Else Fails, Take a Break

Sometimes a blog burn out just gets too overwhelming that nothing works anymore. So take a break!

No one will arrest you for taking a break from blogging. In fact, because most of the blogosphere denizens are super nice, you’ll be missed but they’ll understand.

And anyway, it’ll be good to you–mentally, emotionally and creatively. You’ll be free from that claustrophobic feeling that you get from the burn out and when you go back, you’ll be refreshed and so full of ideas!

I would know, I took a break last month. Went to Patrick’s rock. 😄

Burn outs are a pain in the backside but it’s not the end of the world! There are always gonna be ways to remedy them and avoid them in the future. Speaking of avoiding burnouts, I found this really awesome post from Melissa Hebbe where she shares some tips on avoiding blog burn out. I really like the bit about allowing yourself to fail.

Have you ever had a blog burn out? Do you do something about it that I haven’t mentioned? Share it in the comments below or tweet me!

Happy blogging, awesome peeps! 💃

November 5, 2016 6 Comments