From The Drafts: Volume 1

 

A few of my favorite bloggers have started doing something on their blogs where they share bits and pieces of their drafts on their blogs. It’s an interesting way to see what they think about. I’ve had lists of blog post ideas, drafts that are half-written sitting in my computer. Seeing that, I thought it would be a great series to start on my own little internet space.

 

What A Celebrity Says

We take what a celebrity says so seriously that sometimes it’s laughable. We pick apart everything they do, everything they say. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I could survive being picked apart under a microscope. Sometimes things just get blown way out of proportion.

Everyone will get criticism, regardless of whether or not you have a million Twitter followers or not. Which is why the criticism following Emma Watson’s He For She speech bothered me.

She stood up for something, something she believed in. There was an outpouring of support from people, but there were also critics, just like anything in your life. The speech was too narrow, too broad, too something.

I don’t think Emma Watson spent the weeks leading up to her big speech picking apart every clause, trying to phrase everything so that as many people as possible would agree with her. Okay, maybe she did, but I can’t say for sure. I think she was trying to galvanize support and get her point across. Judging by the 1.1 million #HeForShe tweets, she accomplished that, wouldn’t you say?

Sometimes we take what celebrities say like it’s blood on the Rosetta Stone. Rather than being so quick to say, “(Fill-in-the-role-model-celebrity) supports this cause and because they do, I should too,” we should take the time to form our own opinions. The media isn’t always the most reliable source of information.

 

Blogging Burnout

Sometimes blogging is hard. Scheduling tweets, learning to code, taking pictures (or finding images), and you have to think of blog posts? Can we just go back to the days when my biggest worry was what show to watch next on Netflix? Sometimes the last thing I want to do is write.

I’ve always struggled with maintaining the balance between being authentic and maintaining a sense of privacy. I don’t want to spill my guts all over the internet (because I don’t want to turn this into an online diary) but I do want to be authentic. Striking that balance has always been a challenge. And sometimes I just get burned out. Those times when the thing you love the most turns into a chore. Yeah, those. Not a fan.

 

On Being The Odd One Out

I have never been one to follow the crowd. And I have always gotten flack for it. If I get into the musicians that are dominating the Top 40, I will get into the SUPER late. I am usually on the receiving end of the eye roll. You know the “Babe, I already knew that, and the way you’re getting into this just now is so cute,” kind of eye roll. I am the kind of girl who uses things until they can’t be used anymore (hello earphones that only work on one side).

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The 4 Life Lessons You Can Learn From Avril Lavigne’s Hello Kitty Controversy

Yes, you read that title right.

 

My first reaction after I watched that explosion of pink and cupcakes was: Um. What did I just watch?

 

Yes, I was rendered speechless. Yes, I was mildly horrified at the fact that it was an actual song. The “Minna saiko arigato. Ka-Ka-Kawaii” made me raise my eyebrows. Yes, the cultural appropriation did make me twist my lips a little, but then again, she’s not the first artist to have done it. (cough, Gwen Stefani cough, Katy Perry cough, Selena Gomez, cough.)

 

So what can you learn from 3 minutes and 18 seconds of cupcakes, pink, and robotic dancing?

 

1. It doesn’t matter what your career choice is; you’re not going to be able to please everyone.

 

Actually, this goes beyond career choices; we don’t have to be Emma Watson or one of the boys from One Direction to be judged by the public. We’re all being judged every day; I don’t care how many social media accounts you have.

 

But you’re also learning and growing every day.

 

2. Everyone responds to criticism differently.

 

Avril Lavigne took to Twitter to address the backlash by posting the following:

 

(Do I think there’s a better way to handle criticism? Yes.)

 

 

It’s hard not to be emotional when something you’ve put your time, love and energy into gets ripped apart. Getting emotional about it is easy. But the reality is that no two people respond to things the same way.

 

The trick is not to let yourself take the naysayers so seriously that you let it stop you.

 

I recently admitted that one of my biggest mistakes as I tried to get over a block was to take criticism so seriously that I treated it like it was blood on the Rosetta Stone.

 

It took distancing myself from my blog and distracting myself by doing other things (and a couple days) before it clicked in my head.

 

Taking criticism seriously is not a bad thing. It means you want to improve. It means you’re willing to grow. Personally, I’m not a fan of staying stagnant.

Some people won’t waste their breath (or brain) worrying about controversy, but I’m not here to tell you whether or not you should worry.

 

3. Focus on the positive

 

Okay, I don’t have 20 million people following my every word on social media, but celebrities do have a point when they mention that for every spite-filled threat they get, they get more than 200 other comments saying that they’ve saved lives, asking for their hand in marriage, and other generally positive things.

 

This isn’t to say that criticism doesn’t hurt. I mean, come on. We’re all human. Sometimes we smile, but we’re not really happy. We say okay when we want to say no.

 

You get the idea.

 

Some of us may not have 20 million followers (raise your hand if you also hate that word, by the way) on social media, but focusing on the little things that make you happy, the things you’re grateful for, can help you make peace with the fact that your choices may not win you Best Child of The Year award.

 

I don’t care if you’re grateful for a birthday text, your adorable puppy, the roof over your head, the food in your stomach or all of the above. Start small if you have to and work your way up.

Try to shift your perspective.

 

4. “Racist???”

 

Controversy is controversy. Not everyone is going to want to know both sides of any controversy, not everyone is going to believe everything you say. Avril said her video was not racist, but that doesn’t stop people from believing that it is (or isn’t).

Controversy gets attention. Your product doesn’t have to please everyone, and sometimes it’s not meant to. You just have to go to bed at night knowing that you believe in the product. And if you believe in what you’re doing, suddenly the weight of people’s opinions doesn’t feel like a boulder.

 

So ask yourself: Do I believe in what I’m doing?

 

 

Are there any other recent controversial issues that you’ve learned a lot from?

Screenshots are taken from Avril Lavigne’s official Twitter account and VEVO Youtube account. All credit for the images in those images go to their rightful owners.

 

How To Stop Comparing Yourself to Celebrities & Feel Like One Yourself

“ I finally realized that beauty was not a thing I could acquire or consume. It was something I just had to be. And what my mother meant when she said you can’t eat beauty was that you can’t rely on how you look to sustain you.”

Lupita Nyong’o

When I was younger, the only thing I wanted was to look different. I didn’t want to be the Asian, the exotic one.

But I couldn’t pay for plastic surgery. I couldn’t dye my hair, and I didn’t know that colored contacts existed.

I just knew that I was different.

There weren’t people who looked like me in the mainstream media. I didn’t have any role models, save for figure skaters. It irked me when people said things that they loved a celebrity or they felt like they knew them personally.

We all know the media projects a certain image of people in the public eye. Yeah, that one heartthrob might sound like your Prince Charming on paper, but wouldn’t you rather find someone who loves you for who you are instead of who you are in the public eye?

Yeah, I thought so.

But then I realized that I didn’t have to know the celebrity. I liked the celebrity because I resonated with something in their essence. I didn’t need to grow up with them to do that.

Because the things qualities you admire in people are already in you.

Yes, you read that right.

I’m going to say this again.

You possess the qualities you admire in others.

So how do you start to feel like you can take over the world?

 1.    Ask yourself this ONE question: What qualities do I admire in (insert person’s name here)?

I don’t care who it is. It can be a friend, family member, or a celebrity. If the answers you’re coming up with are, “Because he/she seems nice,” or “Because he/she is talented,” dig deeper. What do you admire about them?

I’m not saying it’s bad to love a person because they seem nice or because they’re talented, but loving a person because of their talent and kindness doesn’t do much when it comes to making you feel like you can take over the world.

Take Jennifer Lawrence for example.  (Yes, I am a fan.)

What do I love about Jennifer Lawrence?

I love the fact that she is refreshingly honest and candid for someone in the entertainment industry. She’s authentic.

Yes, I am one of the thousands of people out there that have  gravitated toward that authenticity. Knowing that that I have the capacity somewhere inside me to release my inner J-Law makes me feel pretty darn awesome, if I do say so myself.

Knowing you have an inner celebrity (or whoever you admire) makes you feel pretty awesome huh?

2.    Write These Qualities Down

 

According to The Positivity Blog, writing things down works. It lets you focus. And we all know that in this world where we live by going from screen to screen that our attention spans are….well, you know.

I mean, I don’t know about you, but I feel pretty invincible when I look at my list and know that I can pull out my inner Beyonce or inner J-Law when I feel like it.

And that satisfaction, that feeling of invincibility, is CRUCIAL to taking back your sense of self-worth. You can buy all the makeup and plastic surgery in the world, but inner beauty does more. Inner beauty “inflames the heart and enchants the soul…there is no shade in that beauty.”

Who do YOU like to channel that makes you feel like you can take over the world?