My favorite thing about being a writer is that I can get inspiration from anything. I can get it from a book, movie, song, something my friend's say, a random stranger walking down the street, or accidentally eavesdropping on someone's conversation.
Most of all, I get my inspirations from my dreams. My dreams usually don't make any sense. One minute I could be sitting on a park bench reading a book, and the next thing I know (just from lifting my gaze away from the pages) I'm in the back seat of a car rolling off a cliff. Morbid, I know, but it just proves that they are the most random things that occur to me. Sometimes, even the most surreal which gives me more and more ideas for books. I love hearing form someone "How do you come up with all of these ideas?" I get new ideas so much, that I have started a new inspiration notebook. Every time I get inspired by anything (and I mean anything) I write it down in the notebook or glue/tape an object into it along with the date. I keep it with me at all times. So how about you? What inspires you to do what you love? -SJ
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I recently moved into my new apartment for my final year at university. I will be graduating in May 2014 with a BA in English/Creative Writing, a Minor in Music, and a certificate to be a piano teacher. I will have fulfilled most (if not all) of my requirements by the end of my fall semester.
I want to be an author. A best selling author. And that scares me. A lot. Like a hella lot. What else can I do with a BA in English/Creative Writing? ---Become a journalist ---Become a teacher . . . . Again I ask, what can I do with a BA in English/Creative Writing? I don't want to be a journalist. I know there are many openings for writers in that field but its not something that has ever caught my attention. I like to write creatively. stories that I want to tell. Everyone tells me to become a teacher because it's a great backup for a writer, there is always a need for a teacher, and you'd be making a salary. For years I wanted to be a teacher, but then I realized my patience level for young kids, in a word, sucked. So I changed my ambition. Then I decided I wanted to be a teacher again after a positive experience with my first piano students. Now, I don't know if I want to continue with being a teacher. Right now, I don't want to be a teacher because it's more like a career choice people have already made for me. I feel like I'm forced into it. I didn't really have much of a decision. Already, These are a few questions and comments I've received from people since the summer: --"When you go to graduate school to get your Master's in Education...." --"You should look at becoming a teacher..." --"Where do you want to go to grad school to become a teacher?" --"Are you sure you want to be a writer? Teaching is more stable of a job (to an extent)..." I feel pressured to follow this career path, and I'm not happy about it. I don't want to be stuck in a profession that I'm not 100% in to. I don't want to do something that doesn't make me happy. I just wish people would listen to me more. Maybe right now, I'd like to get a job and take a year off of school. I know I need to get a job. The way I move through life is that if there's something I need you to know, I'll tell you, silence is golden. I've always been like this. I'm just a private person. When it comes to the job topic I don't like talking about it at all. I don't tell people that I get interviews. If I feel disappointed when I don't get offered a position, I feel even worse when I have to relay this news to others. Then of course there is also the fact that if I mention I have an interview I feel like I'm jinxing myself and I won't get the position. Also, if I don't talk to people about it they assume I'm not trying to find a job. This summer I have applied to over 100+ places both online and in person. However, I didn't talk about it. I would apply to positions in the store during the afternoons. I would apply to positions (both online and physical ones) through an online application roughly four times a day four days a week. Every time I mention money or school or something I want to do after I graduate I hear these phrases: --"When you get a job you can move out to [Insert Place Here]..." --"When you get a job..." --"Get a job first..." --"You need a job..." I feel as if I'm doing something wrong when I'm told those phrases over and over and over again. Job searching for people my age is not easy. It's actually very difficult. To those people who tell me those phrases, I feel as if they expect finding a job to be easy. I feel like they think its my fault I'm not being hired because I'm doing something wrong. Overall I'm scared. I'm scared: --to graduate --to go out in the real world --to apply to a grad school and get accepted/rejected --to pick a career over graduate school and not have it work --to pick graduate school over a career and not have it work --to pick a path after graduating university and not having any support I'm scared because I don't know what I want to do with my life in general. Ultimately I want to help people and I can do that in many ways. I can help by becoming a teacher. I can help by writing a story that is relatable to many readers. And no matter what I end up doing (becoming a teacher or a writer) I want to make the decision, I want to be happy, I want support, and I want to know that I'll eventually make a difference. -SJ
Bow hair clips In order from left to right (clockwise): pinwheel, classic bow, two-ribbed bow, butterfly bow, bow tie, and a tailor bow
These are a few of the bow hair clips I've recently started to make. I really enjoy arts and crafts and this was a project I've been wanting to do for a long time. I sell some of my craft work (usually through my social media accounts and word of mouth) but I recently made an etsy so I may put up listings for these up on the website as well. What I would ultimately like to do is sell a lot of these and then donate half the proceeds to a charity or organization. One of my family friends works at a senior center for people who have developed dementia and Alzheimer's so I may end up donating there. I don't know, we'll have to see. --Steph In case you can't decipher what the title of this post says, it stands for 'Project 52: Be Positive'. Get it now? Its a play off of a blood type. I know that's really corny.
I've been wanting to do this for a while but I never got around to it. I'm all about good energy, positive thoughts, and making my dreams come true. I want to pass on my thoughts and various other tips to everyone else. I will be forming various random acts of kindness (okay, not so random cause I'm planning this out) at least once a week for the year. I will also be recording all of these projects and uploading them to YouTube under my shared account with my sisters. I'll be making a playlist for it as well. I just want people to know that there is someone out there, at least one person, that cares about them. I will be creating a new email account for this project. I plan on putting a note on the back of the messages or whatever i leave in various places so those who find them can contact me and let me know if it helped make their day brighter. Or really, to say whatever it is they want to say. Here is a list of things I would like to do. If you have any suggestions, comment on this post or head on over to the 'Contact' page and message me. -100% Tip: (Depending on how comfortable you are in doing this) Leave your waiter/waitress/server a 100% tip. So if your meal was $10.71, leave a $10.71 tip. -Pay for a friend's (or even stranger's) meal at a restaurant -Leave a positive note in random books in your favorite book store -Leave a dollar bill in random books in your book store. -Leave a positive note on a bathroom mirror -Leave a positive note on someone's car -Give out a compliment genuinely -Write a letter -Send someone a small gift anonymously -Send a thank you note to a person who has helped you in the past -Stand up for someone being mistreated -Donate blood -- 9/20/2013 -Let people go first -Hold the door open for someone -Make a new friend -- 12/21/2013 -Be kind to someone you dislike -Apologize for past mistake -Bring flowers to someone -Share inspirational quotes -Make/Send a homemade craft to someone -- 9/28/2013 -Listen to a stranger if they need to vent --Steph So many amazing things have happened to me so far this year. With only (roughly) 4 months left in 2013, I know they will be filled with many more great moments. With the start of my senior year at university starting in September, I'm already planning on filling up a jar with every great moment that happens.
I know that many positive things will happen because I believe strongly that good things happen to you if you think in a positive way. I've found that the minute I start to second guess a situation or become a Negative Nelly, things end up going the way I predict it: badly. I read online that if you have a list of things you'd like to happen and think positive thoughts towards it, then the items on that list will come true. I have followed this "advice" for two years now and I know first hand that it works. I even say the "Bunny, Bunny,"/"Rabbit, Rabbit, White Rabbit" on the first of every month to get good luck. After becoming a positive person I've become a happier person. I've changed my outlook on life and found that things were brighter once I changed my thought process. I've stopped focusing on the negative. I've cut out negative words from my vocaTwo years ago, I would have never thought that a few of my dreams would have come true. Look at me now: I have three published books out when my main goal is to have just one. I have many more dreams I'd like to accomplish and many more things I'd like to do and see, and I know it will happen. So, that's it. That's all there is to do if you want goo things to happen to you. Say "it will happen". Because it will. Trust me. :) Just be positive! --Steph |
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"Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you." - Walt Whitman Archives
January 2022
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