Because why not, right?

HI :3

So… that 30 day challenge sure didn’t last very long. Right from the start, I had some doubt that I would be able to complete that challenge because I had just started it right before midterm season and I was also feeling pretty fatigued at that time since I would always average 3-4 hours of sleep every night no matter how tired I was. Despite that, I figured I should give it a shot. Because why not, right?

Anyone who has been following my blog for quite some time know that I am very passionate about writing and I only publish the best content I can create. My posts are about my life experiences, my interests (AKA obsessions) with books, fandoms, anime, quotes, Pokemon reviews, tales of introversion as well as relatable and inspirational stories. Sometimes, I post the odd rant about something that I’m extremely passionate about at a certain point in time and I love writing content like that because I’m proud of being able to convey my deep feelings and thoughts into words for others to read and understand. Now what exactly is the point behind me telling you all this?

As I mentioned, I attempted the 30 Day Writing Challenge in order for me to get back into the swing of writing. I figured that having something to write about everyday would help me create a habit. The thing is, I realized that if I’m given a prompt to write about then the content I create isn’t exactly one that resonates with me and the overall experience isn’t as memorable as it normally would be. And that just isn’t me at all.

I always try my best to invest my time into something I’m passionate about which helps me make the best experiences. I don’t really like doing things half-heartedly because that makes the memory dull and boring. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean that literally everything I choose to do is something I’m passionate about. So, for example, I could be writing and doing research for an essay topic that I don’t particularly care for at all but I do care about the class I’m writing it for. Or maybe it’s the class that I find boring but the overall experience and lessons I learned in that school year, both inside and outside the classroom, is what I’m passionate about earning.

During the past year, I’ve been trying my best to create more of these amazing memories and experiences in my own way. Because why not, right? Blogging remains one of those experiences for me, as well as attending my first year of university. Both are definitely not easy tasks to accomplish but are extremely rewarding not only in the what the final destination will be, but also in the journey I am currently taking to get there. During the later half of 2016, I began to try out more things like planning out a novel that I want to write, lettering quotes and attending more social events to name just a few. After some reflection, I realized that there’s actually more than one reason for why I do these things. I don’t do them just because I’m passionate about them, I do them because they help me become braver and more confident which, in turn, helps me try out more new things.

Doing all these things have led me to realize that I have so much potential locked inside of me and maybe I just lacked the confidence to reach inside and let it all out. But the more I do them, the more I want to try more things all while thinking, “because why not, right?” I’m only 18 and I still have my whole life ahead of me to be able to do all of these amazing things in order to create the best experiences I can. As someone who used to nearly always think “better safe than sorry“, I honestly don’t see this new mentality as being reckless and doing stuff “cuz #YOLO, amirite?” No, this new mentality is something that is helping me grow to the person I want to be and not get stuck in my old ways.

It’s also during this point in my life where a lot of people are asking me, “what do you want to do in the future?” While I do want to do something worthwhile for myself and for others around me, I will still truthfully answer “I don’t know”. Because I honestly don’t. A lot of new things could happen tomorrow, the next week, the next month or the next year  which could affect my answer. If I was somehow able to go back in time and tell myself, “Hey, a year from now, you’ll be writing an awesome blog, be studying in one of the best universities in Canada and you’ll be more confident in social events” then I would probably just give myself the most incredulous look I can manage (and not just because of the time travel element). I didn’t know I would be able to get the chance to do all of these amazing things. The main reason being: I didn’t know I had the power to open the door to all these life-changing opportunities. But I do. We all do. No matter how old we are, where we’re from or what we used to be in the past, I believe that there’s always something new waiting for us and maybe all it takes for us to open the door is a little voice inside of us to whisper, “because why not, right?”

Thanks for reading and I look forward to seeing you all in my next post!

~Ro (little Purple.Mage)

What it means to matter

HI :3

I watched Hank Green’s video titled “Redefining What it Means to Matter” and I have to say, it struck something in me.

For the past few years I’ve been dealing with the question “do I really matter? Or do I just exist in this world?” It’s something that, although I’ve given a lot of thought on, my mind just goes in circles on. I’ve wondered to whom I matter to, what I can do to matter to anyone or anything, what I live for, etc. And I have to say, thinking this way has caused me more grief than finding actual answers. Watching Hank’s video gave me more perspectives on “What it Means to Matter”

Firstly, why do we want to matter anyway? As Hank said, humans crave meaning in their lives and to a certain extent, I agree with this. I guess it is just human nature to want to be able to have a place in this world or to be able to leave their mark in it. From my studies, we also looked at various motivational theories and several of them (such as Daniel Pink) mentioned that what drives humans nowadays is purpose. Because at the end of the day, if there isn’t any point in doing something, then why do it? Whether the purpose is directed towards yourself or others, it’s something that gives us direction or a path to work towards to in our lives.

Second, what does it actually mean to matter? Hank questions “when do we stop appreciating the work people do to make our lives better?” and my interpretation of this is, “when do we start taking things for granted?” (I’m not sure if this is exactly what he was trying to get us to think about when he posed the question but that is what I think of it.) Either way, it brings up the implication that, people must always keep achieving new things or goals in order to matter. In my opinion, this implication has been ingrained in us by society because we are bombarded with stories about others’ successes or fame and in order to matter, we must keep our own achievements up to par.

Now, I don’t agree with this implication because it also leads to the idea that people are never enough. And perhaps, this is where the constant questioning of “do I matter?” comes from. People have different perspectives of what it means to matter and sometimes, they measure the answer to this question against quantifiable things like, as Hank mentioned, fame and money. “If you have a certain amount of fame or money, then you matter this much”, which I do not agree with. And this isn’t something I actually want to argue about because it’s simply the opinion of others and I’m here to state my own.

After questioning my own purpose and watching this video, I realize that every single individual have their own answer to “what it means to matter”. For me, there different answers; a main one being: to make small differences in my life and others.

I’m the kind of person who usually puts others first before my own sake, especially if that person is someone who I care deeply about. I also started questioning myself about my purpose in one of the darker moments of my life which is why I now choose to make sure that I never go back to those areas, and I try my best not to let others go there either. I could do this by expressing my gratitude to them or complimenting them and I know that it may seem small but it has given my life a purpose. Ever since I started to appreciate the little things of other people, I started to do the same for myself.

It’s not the only thing that keeps me going in life but for now but it is very important to me. And it may not seem much at the moment, but if it could just somehow contribute to making mine and other people’s lives better then I’ll do it.

~little Purple.Mage

PS thank you for taking the time to read this, you’re awesome! 😀