The Need for Change

Change can be scary sometimes, especially if there is an unknown future. However, for some reason, I absolutely love change. Yes, I still get the anxious feeling when there’s uncertainty in how things will change, but in general, I am quite comfortable with it. I am writing this post for those of you who have a hard time with change and would like to know how some people manage it.

I learned to adapt at a young age.

I think my comfort with change comes from moving to a few different towns growing up. I would have to get used to a new room in a new house in a new neighbourhood and go to a new school with new people. Then once I was in university, I would have a new living space a few times a year – from dorms to my parent’s house to an apartment back to my parents house, to a basement suite to a upper level rental and back to my parent’s house.

I got used to moving around so much that I found it difficult to stay in one place, almost as if I needed more stimulation. I randomly decided to move to Kelowna so I would be forced to learn a whole new way of living. I’ve already lived in 4 different places in the 4 years that I’ve been here, and with each place I’ve managed to adapt to it and make a new routine.

I couldn’t imagine permanently settling down in a house… If I ever do that, I’m sure I would be doing some sort of renovation every couple of years as I would need a change of scenery.

I have a wild imagination.

I think that having a creative, imaginative mind has a hard time sticking to the same routine, schedule, and surroundings for long periods of time. I enjoy having variety in my life and can get bored easily if I’ve had the same routine for a while. This eventually causes me to try something new, after having a pity party that nothing is interesting anymore.

I’m still trying to understand myself, because sometimes it causes me to make impulsive decisions and I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not. I mean, the easiest way for something to change is to take a risk and see what happens, right?

I am open-minded.

Since I’ve seen many different ways of living and have learned to adapt to them, I have developed an open mind. I like to listen and understand others’ point of view and thoughts. For those that I don’t agree with, I still try to rationalize why they might think that way to avoid conflict and arguments. This can be both a blessing and a curse – yes, it makes it easier to get along with people and be likable, but it also causes me to be vulnerable to getting hurt by people who take advantage of my passive approach.

That being said, I believe being open-minded is the easiest way to adapt to change. If you have a hard time doing this, try to switch from judgement and assumptions to taking a moment to look at a situation with a different angle. You are not always right.

No matter what, change will cause personal growth.

I have to admit – the adult life has definitely made the feeling of change a lot more difficult. I have developed an absurd level of anxiety that I am learning how to manage. I never used to be this way, and was always open to new things. I can now understand how others who aren’t so used to change might feel. It’s a lot more comfortable having a certain level of security.

That being said, despite how I think about the world now, I still remain optimistic about change. It might be more of an emotional struggle than it used to be, but I always come out on the positive side of things and look forward to a new future. I think the only way we can be comfortable with change is to be grateful about the past, and to find the positive things about the future and be excited to learn something new about yourself.

I think it’s important to see who you are in different situations, because you may just surprise yourself. Maybe you find out what you’re not good at, what you don’t like, and who you can’t get along with, but that is still a move in the right direction. We focus so much on making the right move to see what we are good at, do something we like, and be around people that become our best friends – but we only learn to appreciate these things by experiencing the opposite.

Change is inevitable.

Life will constantly change and there’s nothing we can do to stop it. Whether it’s a slow, gradual change, a quick abrupt change, intentional or not, we will be forced to adapt and move forward. As long as you trust yourself that you will be okay, you will certainly be able to figure out a new way of survival and thrive.

Why I Love Journalling

I have 4 different journals that are laying around my house, each of them holds some sort of purpose to organize my thoughts. I will explain each one and why I find it useful, and hopefully it will give you some ideas if you are looking to start journalling, or to find a reason why you should.

1. My “Goals” Journal

This is the journal I would say I go back to the most. It holds my financial goals, health goals, travel goals and overall life goals. It’s important for me to revisit so that I can stay on track, or re-evaluate my previous goals if needed.

I like to throw in some motivational quotes, or just phrases to help me when I’m feeling incredibly unmotivated. It’s also nice to look back at what I accomplished for when I am feeling like I haven’t accomplished anything. Some things that I thought I would never do, I end up doing and some things that I thought would be easy might roll on to the next page of goals so I can make a second attempt.

I also like going over my finances here so I can simplify what’s going on in my bank account and to find ways to minimize costs. It’s easy to just ignore what’s happening with your money online, but sometimes I need a wake up call. For some reason I find it fascinating to have a plan on how to spend my money and when, so I never feel guilty about making big purchases if needed.

I think my health goals are most fun to go through, because I most definitely need a wake up call for that sometimes. Whether it’s healthy eating or physical fitness, I need to go back to remember why I want to continue working towards these.

I also like to write down places I’d like to visit and jot down things I’ve learned about how to travel to each place and how to prepare. This includes thing I would want to buy in order to make it happen, or writing packing lists. This even includes things for camping, or road trips in general.

I like imagining a bright future and sometimes I get overly involved in that to the smallest detail, but I often find it fun rather than stressful. I think it can be quite beneficial to work towards accomplishing goals, whatever they may be.

2. My “Feelings” Journal

This sounds incredibly cheesy, but for someone who overthinks everything and has all sorts of chaotic thoughts floating around, this is a good place to understand what I’m feeling and why. My imagination has a habit of going wild which can be good for creative or optimistic endeavours, but when it starts going full tilt into more negative thoughts, I need to slow the heck down.

This is where this journal comes in handy. Sometimes my brain doesn’t have time to make sense of why the emotions that are coming up have arrived, such as sadness, anxiety, anger, or anything else that is a bit more uncomfortable than usual. As I’m writing, it slows down my thoughts and makes them into things that are just on a page – all of a sudden, they don’t seem so bad!

There have been numerous times where I am SO frustrated and I go grab this journal and begin writing so fast my pen wishes it stayed at home. By the end, happy thoughts arise and I feel much better. Not to mention, if you are someone who accidentally takes it out on a loved one, this is a great way to stop that from happening! I learned that the hard way. My poor boyfriend…

3. My “Creative” Journal

This is where I jot down ideas for YouTube videos, recipes for my cookbook I would like to create one day, and sometimes I just sit and doodle a bit. This journal is a bit sporatic, since I technically have more than one place for these ideas. When I’m out and about I will jot down a note in my phone, when I’m on the computer I’ll write ideas on Google Docs, but it usually will all circle back to my physical journal I keep in my house.

It’s quite often that my boyfriend will throw together a dinner with whatever we have, and it ends up being good – despite my constant nagging that “you shouldn’t mix those together it’s weird and will taste gross.” I honestly don’t know how he does it.

Overall, it’s fun to have a place to look back at your own creations and ideas.

4. My “Travel” Journal

This is something I bring with me when I travel, usually somewhere that is out of the country (which unfortunately, isn’t that often). This is something that my parents used to do whenever we went somewhere and it kind of stuck with me. Sometimes I forget a few days while I’m on vacation, but I try to at least write about stories that happened rather than what our schedule was like that day.

Of course, as a Lord of the Rings fan, this journal had to be a leather, old school journal (the one pictured above) so I feel like a true traveller. However, I’m a little too impatient to write the whole thing in calligraphy as Bilbo Baggins did.

This journal is nice to read when I’m feeling a travel bug coming on, but am unable to go anywhere. It’s funny to find things that I couldn’t remember in a million years, but as soon as I read my own memories I instantly am living in the moment. It’s easy to remember moments looking through my pictures, but in my journal there are often details that get overlooked and it’s cool to look back on.

Yes, I know journalling isn’t for everyone, and I might be a little hardcore with all of the journals I have, but I find that it’s a great way to reminisce about memories and achievements, be creative, work through hard times, and have goals to accomplish for the future.

Let Your Ideas Flow

A good friend once told me that the best way to write something was to just write without going back to re-read what you put down. She said that once you stop to go back, you will disrupt your flow and not be able to get back into it. I always need to remind myself to trust the process instead of constantly doubting what I’m doing. I believe this concept applies to more than just writing.

Self-doubt is a killer when it comes to creativity in my opinion. The more your process or flow gets interrupted the less likely your brain can fully finish a concept. That is something that I have been working on for a few years now with any form of creativity. It’s so easy for me to go back and change something immediately or to stop altogether and never go back. This is the main reason that I don’t paint or draw as often as I would like to – which is funny because the more often you paint or draw, the better you will get. I think I depend too much on instructions and doing things the right way sometimes and I don’t leave room for my own thoughts and opinions. I think what stopped me in the past is when my friends in school would comment that my art is “weird and doesn’t make sense,” or that it’s “too abstract.”

This may sound easy to get over, but it’s so nice when people can appreciate the creativity you put into your art work. This is a prime example of why you shouldn’t take things personally, because there are billions of different styles of art work in the world and it’s one thing that absolutely does not have a right or wrong answer. Yes, there are courses on writing, drawing and all sorts of genres of art… but as soon as you finish your own piece of work it doesn’t matter what all the rules are of certain colours that go together, or certain ideas that flow in an article.

There must be a reason why using art therapy is so popular. It’s something that provides an open space for non-judgement, and allows you to understand yourself in a new way in whatever form that may be. I think it would be especially useful for people who don’t think they are creative. You don’t have to be able to paint a self-portrait to be a good artist. It can come in all forms – some people are good at taking pictures, whereas some are good at motivational speaking. The only thing that gets in the way is self-doubt.

So whatever way you want to let your creativity out, I encourage to start and don’t look back and criticize. It’s not so much the end result that you should be focusing on, try to enjoy what you are experiencing in the moment and perhaps every once in a while you’ll have created something you are really truly proud of.

Source: https://www.ronitbaras.com/family-matters/parenting-family/handy-family-tips-5-kids-artwork/

Be a Creator, Not a Consumer

Every day, we consume information in all sorts of forms. We wake up, look at our phones to check messages, emails, social media and everything in between. We hear what other people have to say, we have decisions that need to be made and not to mention, our jobs take up 8 hours of our day! For some people these 8 hours are spent doing boring, mundane tasks given to them by their manager or supervisor. Consuming can be beneficial for learning or for fun, but over-consumption doesn’t leave room for our own thoughts and ideas.

What happens after work?

I’m speaking from personal experience here – what do I do after work on most days? I come home feeling tired, lazy and just want to numb out any thoughts. I either cook dinner or order in, but immediately want to watch a show on Netflix while I’m eating, after I’m eating and can’t think of anything else to do except browse my phone, play video games or watch MORE Netflix!!! It’s like my brain cells have been completely used up by work and I no longer want to think. If you don’t have room to think, how can you create?

We spend most of our days at work, and especially for younger people who are trying to grind in order to make a resume look pretty. Can you imagine what we could think of or come up with if we had nothing but time? Well I’m finding a lot of free time during quarantine and I am happier than ever – I don’t feel stressed, anxious or depressed. I feel positive, inspired and optimistic. This seems strange during a pandemic, but I didn’t realize how much of my energy was going into the daily work I was doing that was for someone else. There’s truly something special about creating something by yourself that is very liberating.

Why is it important to create?

When something feels like a task it usually no longer feels enjoyable. I could type out an essay about how to be a creator and not a consumer at a desk job as a project, however, I would probably have to follow guidelines, it might not have been my idea and I would have the time pressures of getting it done. Right now as I sip on coffee and am in my super comfy housecoat, I am loving typing this out because I’m excited to share my idea with the world to help inspire others.

Everyone on this planet has their own experiences, their own brain and there are infinite possibilities with what can be created. Imagine if you sat down to paint a flower instead of look at memes on your phone for hours. Why would this be beneficial? Well first of all, you would be learning a skill. You would be mindful in what you are doing. And you would end up with something that YOU created! Before sitting down to paint that flower, you didn’t know what would end up being on that page. But now it’s there. ISN’T THAT AMAZING?! Would you feel the same after looking at hundreds of memes on your phone? I don’t think so.

Implement creativity every day

I think a huge factor that could help save our brain power has a lot to do with using our phones, as most of us cannot change what we need to do at work. I’ve researched many ways on how to treat our “phone addiction” because I find it fascinating how much I use my phone without realizing. It’s also quite worrisome as to how much I say to myself “only one YouTube video before bed,” or “I’ll only browse through Reddit for a few minutes this morning,” or, “I don’t need to see all this stuff on social media” only to find that I’ve spent hours doing all of these things.

One thing that I’ve found to be useful is to delete apps that aren’t useful to you for your own personal growth. Especially if you want to work towards something and are procrastinating, getting rid of all distractions is essential. In addition to deleting useless apps, try not to use your phone for an hour after you wake up, and to put your phone away an hour before bed. I’ve heard of people who have baskets in their house for everyone to put their phones in so they can interact with each other and connect on a human level. So far, I’ve found that I have enough self-control to just leave my phone and block out times throughout the day to check anything new that has come in. I have found that my conversations with my boyfriend are wholesome and it’s much nicer knowing we are both listening to each other rather than kind of paying attention while still being on our phones.

So how can you implement creativity every day? Perhaps write a list of things you enjoy doing and why you enjoy doing them. Or anything that you’ve wanted to do for a long time but haven’t gotten around to doing. I’m sure all of us can think of at least one thing that requires creativity, but we haven’t been able to do it because our brains are already full of other things. Once your main distractions are gone, really dive deep on what interests you and just do it! Just start. There is nothing to lose when you are creating something and leaving a mark in this world, but there is valuable, unique talent wasted when you are consumed by everything around you.

Source: https://society6.com/product/wild-rose-watercolor-art-pink-flower-painting-nature-art-flowers_print

COVID-19: What a Time to be Alive

Although many of us are facing the consequences of what this pandemic has created, I am feeling rather optimistic about the whole thing. I’ve been laid off from my job and for the first time in a while, I am motivated to work towards my passions. Usually, after working all day I would dwell on work and just think about how I have to work the next day. All day long I am consuming information with little to no room for creativity in other aspects of my life. Now that all I have is time, and an excuse to stay home, I feel more positive than ever to take up hobbies that can hopefully lead to new opportunities.

I think that despite the fear that is currently instilled in everyone, we have the opportunity to take a step back and realize everything we have been longing to do. I have been connecting with friends and family much more than normal, and all I have room for is to exercise my creativity! I have learned several new recipes, I’ve been forced into making things homemade and it has actually been quite fun. I am now working on my blog which has been neglected for almost a year, and today I started my first podcast!! Yay!!

Everyone should take advantage of this time we have to ourselves, with no obligations or responsibility (other than staying home) and find what truly brings joy. Please stay safe, we are all in this together!