Those of you who know me personally, know that I’m a very private person. And those of you who follow me, I’m telling you that you don’t know all of me. But I will say, that you know most of me-the more vulnerable parts of me-parts I thought I couldn’t share with anyone else other than my mom and closest friends. And despite this oxymoron, part of my power is in the fact that I still get to chose which parts I get to share with you. I get to share these vulnerable pieces of me when I’m the most comfortable. And that’s okay, and I’m here to let you know that that’s okay for you as well.
We live in an era where social media rules the world. We tweet every thought that pops into our head, we snap chat our friends every time we walk in and out of the door and we post and pose for Instagram because “we look cute!” And we should, but we also shouldn’t feel forced to share with the world when the world isn’t being as honest with us as we are with it. You've probably heard this more than once before but a lot of people still only post their greatest hits on social media. And that's okay, it's nice to see and look back on all your happiest moments but if you're someone like me who's a little more hesitant about sharing certain aspects of your life, listen to that quiet voice in the back of your mind. Maybe it's because you're not ready, maybe because deep down you know this is something you should keep to yourself. Even when you see your favorite celebrity finally tearing down their walls and coming clean, makeup free, doesn't mean that you suddenly have to as well. Social media has done a great job of connecting people all around the world and helping people be themselves, build up their confidence, but it's also an online world full of many different voices and not all of them are nice. Before you post something really personal online, understand the reasons behind why you're doing it. Is it for yourself? Do you need to get this thing off your chest and sharing it with the world will finally allow you to come clean with yourself? Or do you need to share this story with others to let them know they're not alone? Don't do it if you feel pressured; don't do it for the validation and don't do it before you're ready (if you ever are) because you'll only regret it in the end. I will say that things are changing. It’s all about The Real Real nowadays where people can come clean about their stories and really be inspired. But there are still too many filters going around and for the wrong reasons. Be yourself for yourself. Be vulnerable because you want to be but not because you feel like you have to. Being vulnerable in person sucks...but online? Who knows what can happen? Protect yourself-your hearts, your energy, your mind-don’t let others speak on your life that you don’t want to. People that you don’t know shouldn’t be able to critique and watch your every move and analyze every word without your comfortability. Allow your privacy to be your protection. Let it be your peace. But my gosh share with the world to your hearts content if it makes you SING! If it gives you that voice that you thought you had to hide. If it inspires you, if others inspire you. Because we don’t need validation from others but wanting someone to care, to show you that they do care even 5,000 miles away never hurts anyone. Sometimes it can even save a person’s life. So my advice to you is, take back your power. Own your dialogue and let your privacy be your peace and your audience be your cheerleaders when you need them to be. But take everything with a grain of salt because no one will be a bigger cheerleader than you. Until next time! Peace and love. Arianna
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“If you want to be a writer, just write. Don’t wait for permission...it’s really ugly, it’s really intolerable but just do it.”
I love this quote; wise words from author Mary h.k. Choi but really she’s not saying anything we all haven’t heard before. But that’s a thing, we know what to do but fear holds us back. Always fear. Fear of failure or of success and it sucks because I think so many aspiring writers don’t get to where they want to go because they get so discouraged with the writing process. And okay, I too fall under that category sometimes but I’m still here and working at it everyday. Hell, I’m even going to college to learn how to be better! I’m also open to newer styles of writing. I briefly touched upon my latest poetry revelation in a post a couple of months ago about how expanding your writing styles evidently makes you a better, more versatile writer. Poetry used to be something I struggled with but now that I’m in college it’s become such an inspiring time for me to write poetry. It’s quick, easy and passionate BUT it’s become harder and harder to find time and the right headspace to write my longer, more thought out creative pieces. This is something I’m currently writing on the floor in my dorm room while mustering up the courage to take a shower in the beautiful dorm bathroom. (Peep my sarcasm?) But aside from that, it took some time in order for me to be able to form a coherent and quiet thought about this topic in order for me to write about it. So today I wanted to give some brief tips that have been helping me get into the proper headspace so I can write-especially if it’s your first time in an unfamiliar setting-like your dorm room, that you’re trying to write in. Play music. I know this is arguable for some who can’t concentrate with music but I find that music helps set the tone, can calm you down and can actually really narrow your focus. Sometimes it helps to play it low and aloud on a speaker as background music. I sometimes like to use headphones because it can really help me be one with myself and hone in my thoughts; but if you’re trying to write and you can’t focus or ideas aren’t coming to you, let the music speak to you. Let it determine your mood as you make a playlist or play your favorite song and write anything to the music. Let something else creative inspire your own creativity and if the music is setting the tone for your topic then it’ll be easier to get motivated to write about it. Inspiration. Everyone by now knows how much I love and live by Pinterest, though it’s easy to get distracted by other things (most times also found on Pinterest lol.) but I find that it helps to look for something that exposes you to an endless amount of prompts. Whether they’re writing prompts, starter sentences, picture prompts, anything that you can look at and desire to tell the story behind it, let yourself be exposed to it. I have my Visual Writing Inspiration bird for my picture prompts AND my “You Should Write More” board so that I can have my sentence starters if I’m in the mood. So start one or the other, or cram everything into one, or just google it; search something on tumblr, heck, even Instagram can be inspiring but as soon as you find something that speaks to you, run with it, no matter the imperfections. It may take a little time and practice but I find that as soon as you start with someone else’s idea, it becomes easier to come up with your own. Find common ground. Being in your dorm room is like being home away from home but the first couple of months or weeks is going to take some time to settle into. Suddenly you have a lot less space, and if you’re like me and have always had their own room, you suddenly have a roommate you now have less privacy. As a result, it can be hard to find peace to settle into your thoughts and to allow your creative juices to flow. So I recommend finding someplace or something that reminds you of home. Someplace that grounds you and helps remind you of how it feels to write. Maybe you had a park bench at home, find one on your campus, maybe it’s the nice chair at the library or maybe under a nice tree on the quad but either way, find someplace that gives you enough nostalgia to feel comfortable enough to let your ideas flow. Finding that piece of home might be the only piece you need to keep going. Schedule it in. College life is busy-busier then we thought it would be-busier than we can plan for, but just like we plan our days to study and do homework, plan out days to just sit, do nothing and be creative. It may sound silly or redundant but you’d be surprised how easy it is to get caught up and forget to take that time for yourself. Funnily enough, you can become out of practice or loose all motivation for why you like to write in the first place. So schedule it into your calendar, one day a week where you sit in your spot, play your jams and just write. It's so important that we find the time to write but when you feel like you don't have thee time, make the time. Writing for yourself is just as important as doing you're homework because you're a writer. You have a responsibility to yourself to nurture your craft so make sure you can dedicate some time to it. You could take twenty minutes for lunch to write or the entire Saturday to write. Even if in between those five hours you’ve scheduled on a Saturday you can only pump out a word, one word is better than nothing and at least you’re exercising your brain into getting better at producing during a scheduled time period. I’m in college to learn how to be a better writer and you’re reading this post because you want to learn how to become one too. But college is busy, as well as overwhelming but it’s so important that we remember that we call ourselves writers for a reason. We can’t forget our reason and if we do, then we have to remind ourselves why. So take the time, nourish those creative juices when you can but don’t give up. The process is long and hard and frustrating but it’s a process. But don’t stop, because if you stop, then you’ll never know. The end result can even better than you imagined. “I am still learning how to go back and reread my own chapters without feeling like I want to set my pages all of my pages on fire.” (E.V. Rogina) Until next time. With love, Arianna |
AuthorI'm an 21 year old girl who lives in NY. I love to read and write and fashion is my life. Follow me to find out more! Archives
January 2023
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