Why Would I Write

  • Finishing Friday

    I’ve spent the better part of the day typing away in front of my laptop today. In case you’re wondering why, it’s because I haven’t been updating my blog for the past week due to me being busy with life. I’ve got 2 coffees and 3 beers in my system, there’s a Na’vi vs Mineski match going on right now (let’s go Na’Vi!) that I’m not watching, and I’m still typing away.

    Last week, I found it quite difficult to keep up my writing, but today I seem to be on a roll. I guess like everything else in life, you just need to open the floodgates to get started. After all, it takes less energy to keep an object in motion than it is to initiate the movement. This, my friends, is momentum at work.

    I don’t know why I’m writing all this nonsense. I guess it’s just good to see words from my mind formed on a page. Also, if I go along with Nanowrimo this year, I need to turn it into a habit.

    Yesterday I played a miserable set. In addition to being unprepared (I’m still rusty as a nail…on the Titanic?), all my songs were downers. I mean, I guess I don’t have any particularly happy tunes in my repertoire, but even I bummed myself out playing those songs. I guess I’ve accepted the fact that I’ll never write a happy song without sounding too cheesy.

    It’s important to challenge yourself to step out of your comfort zone, but I’ve also heard advice from the other end of the spectrum – keep doing what you like or are good at, and you’ll eventually find your audience. Now I don’t claim to be good at writing sad songs, but it’s just something I do naturally.

    Is there a point I’m supposed to be getting at, it’s lost on me. It’s just a typical Friday night where I sit and drink coffee and write. Nothing out of the ordinary.

    I guess I’ll just head home and give my dog a bath.

    Maybe I’ve run out of words for tonight, the train has stopped.

    Also, in case you didn’t know: the difference between that and which. Something I learned today.

    See you next week, curious readers!

  • (dis)connected

    Despite us being so connected in today’s world, sometimes it also feels like we’re so disconnected from each other. I recently found myself knowing so much about someone when in reality I knew nothing. I came to this conclusion after hearing some recent news about somebody’s plight. Based on that person’s social media, I didn’t think anything was wrong with that person. In my head, everything was fine and dandy. Sure, I haven’t been the best of friends and never bothered to find out how that person was doing on my own – I made the assumption based on the posts I read on their social media accounts.

    How wrong I was.

    I guess even though it’s so easy for you to update everybody around you about what’s going on with your life, you only share things worth sharing (though there are some people who behave otherwise).

    At least that’s how I use my social media accounts. I share things that I think people will enjoy checking out. I don’t really share negative things, so somebody who isn’t close to me but relies on my social media accounts for updates on how I’m doing might think I’m doing fine, since I’m not complaining online. I mean, I could or could not be fine, nobody really knows. After all, I could be depressed and sharing uplifting stuff at the same time. What you see online isn’t indicative of what’s going on in my life – it’s what I choose to let you see.

    Anyway, this leads people to think that a lot of people are living better lives than they really do. Probably that’s why you see a lot of happy couples and mushy photographs/status updates, and you rarely see posts about the opposite.

    On the flip-side, don’t rely on social media if you need help. Reach out to your close friends or family if you’re feeling down. A status update can be easily missed or ignored by people who have too many things going on in their timelines. Better to get help sooner than later.

    Also, worth a watch:

  • Do Nothing

    “$100,000 for doing nothing. Sign me up!” I thought to myself as I hit submit on the form after giving them my name, email address and phone number. That seemed like the perfect thing for an out-of-work person like me (or as some people say ‘in between jobs’. I then returned to my routine of browsing funny pictures of dogs and cats on Reddit.

    It was less than a minute when I received an email address from the company, aptly named Company X, about this curious job. You will be receiving a phone call from us within the next few days confirming your application. “Sweet!”

    A few days had passed since I signed up for the ‘do-nothing’ job, and I was doing my usual internet browsing at a cafe near home. I had already written off the dream job I signed up for (they must have had a shitload of applicants) and was just going through some job sites looking for work that tickled my fancy.

    Most of them were boring, uninteresting jobs that paid terrible. There were a few high paying jobs that caught my eye (alien hunter and stray cat rescuer) but I had second thoughts about applying for them. Mom didn’t like me risking my life for money, and the reason I needed work was to take care of her anyway. No point risking my life for high-paying jobs if I couldn’t finish them to give her any money.

    I was about to pack up my laptop and head for dinner when I received a call from an unknown number.

    (more…)