One of my really good friends has a blog that is the opposite of this one, AKA it’s deep and consequential. I wrote an entry for it (yet to be published) and I strongly recommend you do too. I am putting the rough draft of my entry at the bottom of this post because what’s more vulnerable than a rough draft of your attempt to be deep. You can find my friend’s blog here: Water The Roots
This is the About Page:
The title of this blog is based on the metaphor that we spend our whole lives watering our leaves and flowers, but rarely our roots. As in, we try to facilitate outward growth towards success — in our careers, relationships and nearly all that we do. But of course, the growth has to start internally, and at the root. If you only keep watering the leaves, they’ll dry up eventually, along with the rest of the plant.
At some point during the crisis that ensued after graduating from college and moving back home, I started thinking about the media and values we’re force-fed by society, as well as the social networks we force-feed ourselves. None of them necessarily encourage this type of thought process and reflection. We’re a generation obsessed with ourselves and with our friends’ lives. Through a combination of Twitter, Facebook and blogging, we can practically map every one of their movements and our own. Yet, very little of it forces us to say something real about our lives.
That’s where I want “Water The Roots” to come in. I want to display stories from people all around the world each week, and they can be about ANYTHING as long as they’re honest, personal and required some thought to write. The purpose is to use the constant updating and curiosity harnessed by our social networks for good. By getting a glimpse into others’ lives and thoughts, maybe we, as the twenty-somethings, can be encouraged to take a further reflective look at our own.
-Desiree Matloob
This is what I wrote:
So, here’s the deal: my life is pretty awesome. I am pursuing my ever-evolving dream of being a comedy writer, which was preceded by dreams of being a journalist, and of being a pink flamingo. I love my job, my friends and where I am at in life right now. Basically, I appreciate everything and it makes me super happy.
If I were religious, I would probably be an “everything happens for a reason” person, but since I’m not, I am more of an “I don’t know where the heck I am going, but I’m fucking into it” type. You get into a lot of adventures and very strange situations that way. It’s like, I may be poor, but at least I am not old man who eats pie alone at DuPar’s every night at 11, hilariously incompetent lady who sells sheets at Macy’s, or drunk guy that yells out “I am going to have butt sex on YOUR front lawn” when he gets angry. I love those people, creepily, from a distance. Heck, sometimes I even talk to them to find out what their deals are.
It’s hard to get down on yourself for trivial things when you enjoy everything around you. Yeah, I have days that suck, I just think it’s a waste of time to wallow in self-pity about them. Seriously, don’t do that, it’s pointless. What follows is an attempt to make everyone feel as happy as I do, because I am self-important like that.
Ashley’s Tips to Happiness:
-Actively seek the weirdness in your environment
-Build real friendships, life is too short to waste time hanging out with people you only kinda like.
-Don’t commute. Seriously, my life got so much better once I moved three miles away from where I work.
-Don’t make Kim Kardashian jokes, no one thinks those are funny
-Be fearless. This drunk british dude who was wearing a fisherman hat and a suit (just, for the record) once told me I was fearless. Sure, that was in the context of a poker tournament at a seedy hotel in Las Vegas, but I’ve been going with it as a life motto and it’s been treating me very well.
-Be open-minded about where life is taking you. I had a really specific environmental major, and now I work in advertising – and I love it.
-Do something you’re good at, be it painting, marathons or improv. It will make you feel awesome about yourself.
-Don’t define yourself by your 9-5, you’re a whole lot more than that. And if you are just that, you probably need to reprioritize something.
-Take some “me” time. IDK, I enjoy very few things more than reading a good book while sitting at a diner counter and sipping mediocre coffee.
-Don’t sleep too much, wasting a whole day sleeping is hella lame
-Have a really specific collection. It makes it easier for people to buy you presents. Mine is “weird wood things.”
-Be passionate about something. Cool points if you’re passionate about something weird.
