Hi everyone! I didn't want to let October slip through without a post, but lately I've been feeling conflicted about what to blog about. I was debating between reviewing H20 by Virginia Bergin, or writing this post that you are currently viewing. I figured this post would be more beneficial for both me and maybe even you all, because circulating resources is a nice thing to do, right?
I've spent so much of my time doing homework assignments after school that I began dreading (and actually being incredibly irritated with) anything interfering with time between myself and my tasks. Don't get me wrong, it's an amazing feeling to get everything consecutively done in a day. The little person inside of me thrives on productivity. The problem arose when I began measuring the overall success of my days by how many things I could accomplish. I feel like bloggers (especially study/planner people) tend to fall into this trap of productivity, and it ends up sucking the life out of you. When I realized my mindset, I sat down and re-evaluated my priorities. To help with this, I began seeking inspiration to simultaneously be productive, but also be lenient.The last month or so has been incredibly stressful for me. With college deadlines looming on the horizon to tests and essays in school that I was anxiously waiting results for, I found myself forgetting about...well, me. How do you forget about yourself? Simple: you begin living for tomorrow, and allocating all of your energy to one thing. Next thing you know 28 days have gone by in the month you're asking yourself what the heck just happened.
#1: Self-reflection
Although early action deadlines have been quite the factor of stress in my life, I'm grateful for them. For one, they actually made me sit down and begin this whole college supplement process (because otherwise I probablyyy would've waited until November 30th. Oops?)
But more importantly, they have given me an opportunity to really think about who I am as a person. They have even given me an opportunity to realize my growth from tiny child Cierra all the way up to present day 17-year-old Cierra. I watched a YouTube video the other day of a blogger who really inspires me (I'll talk about her in a second,) and she said: "when you look back on your life, you think that it was always the same you in all of your memories. You still see yourself as you are right now, experiencing those things, and you don't realize how different you were."
Just the other day, I sat here, at my desk like I'm doing now, and re-read my goals for 2017 that I posted January 1st. I am thrilled to say that, although some may be subjective, by the end of this year there will be only one goal that I did not accomplish, and I know this because I'm not even concerned with accomplishing it any longer. But the point is, the version of me writing that post in January had no idea that by almost November I'd have all of those things accomplished. Even who I was then and who I am now are two different people! Goes to show, a lot can change in a year.
#2: Other Bloggers
Okay, so let's begin with the blogger who gave me the above quote.
Kalyn Nicholson is pretty much the epitome of where I hope to be in life by my mid twenties. Not necessarily with the YouTube channel, but mostly with the independence and flexibility of her life. Her apartment is adorable, her chiweenie Bently is even more so, and her routine and general content that she puts out into the world is so positive and honest. Let's just say this: I came for the vegan lunch ideas, and I stayed for her personality.
So, these two blogs are both aesthetic and gorgeous, but Madeline from Reverie Pages actually co-blogs for Xan of Twirling pages, so I decided to just talk about them together. Again, I came for the aesthetic, and stayed for the personality. This is more of a bookish source of inspiration for me, but occasionally I pick up a bit of life advice from the two of them. Honestly, I'm just in love with the way they structure book reviews, and I get a little excited every time I see in my e-mails that they've posted again. If you're here for bookish things, I got you covered.
#3: Kids Movies....On Repeat.
There is just something magical about re-watching my favorite childhood movies. It reminds me that there are people who have dedicated their lives to bringing inspiration and imagination into this world. More importantly, they offer a temporary escape from the real life stressful world, which in turn sometimes revitalizes my motivation to keep doing everything to the best of my ability.
#4: Music
I have two all-time favorite artists that I go to when I'm in need of inspiration. #1 is Vexento, as pictured. (Check out his music here!)
I love his style because he's all about not conforming to typical genres and just expressing what he feels through music. It's amazing because you can feel the mindset he was in as he made the song. And not to mention, little Vexy is adorable.
Not pictured here, however, is Owl City. I think I've considered myself to be an Adam Young fan since waaayyy back in 2011-2012. Those middle school years...*pleasant nostalgia vibes* Honestly, part of the reason why I love Owl City so much is because of my middle school years. We all know that stereotypical song Fireflies, but I've grown to love any and every other song he's produced as well. He also has songs in a lot of the kids movies I like!! Double points for awesomeness, double points for inspiration.
And last but certainly not least, #5: Writing
Sadly I don't write in this prompt book as often I should ☹️ However, the prompts that I have responded to are surprisingly simple, and yet they sparked a whole stream of story ideas. Because I'd like to spread the resources, here are a few prompts from the book!
What is one thing that you used to do that you don't anymore. Describe it.
Make a scene with a character exhibiting really bad behavior.
There are often three reasons for something:The reason we tell others, the reason we tell ourselves, and the real reason. Write about the war among these three.
Write the President's personal to-do list.
Thank you all for reading the epitome of my Cancerian mind. It's a blessing and a curse at times to feel the world around me so deeply, but as I grow and experience new things and new sources of inspiration, I am slowly learning to manage my emotions, and these 5 things definitely help me ground myself on days where it feels like there's not enough hours in the day to get stuff done.
Do you have any sources of inspiration that help you get through busy times? Share them below!
OH, AND HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
