Just Do It!

Hello there dear readers.

My apologies for the late post, I've been moving houses and we haven't had access to the Internet until recently. But here I am now, so let's get straight to it!

Something that has been on my mind a lot this year has been the idea of determination. Determination is actually a difficult concept to define. Usually, having determination is seen a positive character trait, while being stubborn is seen as negative. To me, being determined means that once you have your mind set on a goal, you do everything in your power to make it happen, even if you have problems achieving it along the way. I see it as being so set on achieving your goal you would throw yourself into it to make it happen.

As some of you would know from my previous posts, last year was a difficult time in my life, and I not only lost my sense of self but also my sense of determination. This year, I managed to pull myself together to rebuild and renew my sense of self. I feel like this year I am more determined than I was before the troubles of last year, and that my ambition has returned with a vengeance.

I've found that determination isn't really a trait you're born with, but rather something that you teach yourself. It is something that can be learnt. and also nurtured. It also a skill that can be forgotten if not used.

Something I've noticed with a lot of people in my generation is the surprising lack of determination by a majority. People have no ambition, no drive to want to do better or push themselves,They've allowed themselves to grow comfortable with mediocrity, settle into a comfort zone of "average". And if they do perhaps decide to set a goal, one small hiccup and they give up.

I have no right to judge anyone about how they view their goals in life. I'm just surprised by how little ambition there seems to be. No determination to succeed or do better than the last time. And especially with people in their early twenties, in the prime of their lives.  Perhaps they are waiting for the devil of "tomorrow" to save them. The truth is, there is no tomorrow. The only time to make a difference is right now. But starting a million things and completing none of them is no use either.

Even if you dedicate your entire life to one project, if you finish that project at the end of your lifetime, I can almost guarantee a sense of happiness at having been determined enough to see it through right to the very end.

So here are some easy tips on how to ease determination into your life:

• Set small goals to start with. Say you want to read more often, don't say you'll read the entire Game of Thrones series in a week. You'll probably fail and sink back into the cycle of average. Rather say, I want to read at least 5 pages a day. 
• Set Goals that you know will make you happy. If you can imagine being ecstatic after completing a goal, and a goal that will improve your life, then you will be more determined to achieve it. 
• Ask for help. If you are struggling with being determined, ask your family and those closest to you to help you stay determined. Use role models to show you that all the work wont be for nothing.
• DON'T GIVE UP. This seems so simple but is at the core of determination. If you have a hiccup along the way, don't give up your entire goal because it temporarily became more difficult to achieve.
• Reward yourself for when you achieve your goals. 
• Your goals are not set in stone. If you feel like your goal isn't working for you, then change it.
• Surround yourself with determined people so that you have positive role models to follow.

Until we meet again 

Talia

Get Up Again

Hi there again dear readers. I know, I went from a massive break from blog posts to a sudden flow of things to write about. I guess I've just had a ton on my mind lately, and I feel like talking about it with you, dear readers, is a good way to convey my thoughts and feel like someone out there is just listening to what I have to say. 

So dear readers, something I've had on my mind lately is the idea of strength and self-empowerment. To me, I've always had a deep rooted fear of appearing weak to other people. I hate crying, being sick, being injured, being too emotional. Anything that knocks me off my A-game. To be honest, it doesn't take much to knock someone off their A-game. It can be feeling under the weather. feeling over-worked, upset about relationship or personal problems, or just having a bad day. I have been off my A-game more often than not recently. For me, it's been because of relationship and personal problems. I've been so emotional in the last few months I think I've had my share of negative emotions for a lifetime. 

The problem with emotional turmoil is that I've developed the bad habit of moping over a negative situation. I can think of a lot of reasons why this has changed, but the biggest reason why it bugs me is that I feel excruciatingly weak. 

As said before, it is the one thing I am most afraid of.

So as of today, I am done with this crappy feeling of being weak. Yeah sure, things get crappy in life. We all make bad decisions and sometimes it feels like the light at the end of the tunnel is just an illusion, 

Life is hard, 

We get knocked down.

We get winded.

We bleed.

We must get up again. 

I am so sick and tired of waking up and feeling like getting through another day is going to be tough on me. I am 20 for God's sake, I should be changing the world every day, not sitting and moping about things that WILL NOT matter in the grand scheme of things. Here is where the importance of self-empowerment comes in. See dear readers, this is something I have realised over the last few years. 

No one else will make your dreams come true for you. 

No one else will fight harder for you than yourself. 

No one else will ever be able to understand your life better than you,

Stop relying on other people to make things happen for you, they have their own lives to worry about. So at the start of every day, you are the one in charge of how it goes and how it ends. I won't lie, I've had a bit of a crappy day, and I have no one else to blame but myself (much as I would like to shift the blame I know I would be kidding myself), but here and now, typing this blog post - and listening to Pump It! by the Black Eyed Peas - I feel like I am doing something with my day. and something in me is stirring. A flicker of that inner strength that has been so stifled in the months past. 

I am not backing down from life anymore. I will fight until my last breath. I will make every day count this year, and I will be damned if I let anything and anyone get in my way.

Fight for your dreams dear readers, make your days count for more than yesterday-filled-regrets.

Until we meet again

Talia

P.S. This was the inspiration behind my latest art positivity typography pages, you can check them out under the Art & Other Creative Items Page.

Motivating the World, One Person at a Time

Well...

It certainly has been long enough hasn't it dear readers?

Well, shall we say that some turbulence in my life and general busyness and such has kept me away for far too long. But all is not lost, I have made some art in my time away and had a good reassessment of my life. The sun is still shining. The birds are still singing. And there is still plenty of art to be made! So here I am, with my first blog post since September.

So as cheesy and corny as it sounds to mention it, I turned 20 on Wednesday. No longer the teenager of the nineties but now a young adult. And since I have started working at my Christmas job, I realised something quite powerful.

Do you ever feel defeated by the world? By the people that are supposed to care about you? Have you ever wondered what you're doing with your life at the moment? Well, maybe if we all just started believing in one another's dreams a bit more, maybe the world would be a better place. On my birthday, I bumped into one of my old friends from High school. She didn't know it was my birthday but was an avid follower of the artwork I posted on Instagram. She told me that she thought I was really making something of my life and that I need to post so much more often. When I started my training for my new job, I had to do a quick sketch for a teamwork activity. My teammates and other trainees were so impressed that they started interrogating me as to why I don't draw more.

Why have I not been drawing more?

I stopped believing in my ability to create my own success.

But.

When people tell you out of the goodness of their hearts, that they think you are special, that you have something unique to bring to the world, it is probably one of the most inspiring forms of motivation I have yet to witness. Total strangers telling me they think I could change the world with my art, if that isn't good enough motivation, I don't know what is.

So dear readers, tell someone today, a stranger, a friend, your partner, tell them you believe in their dreams and their goals and watch the transformation.

Until we meet again
Talia

Growing Pains

It has been more than two weeks sans me posting, I must apologise dear readers. There has been so much going on lately that a blog post has been the last thing I've been able to accomplish. But anyhow... Here I am! I've just updated my Art & Other Creative Items Page to include some of the new paintings I've been making for class.

So today, dear readers, I am here to share some of my feelings on Growing Up. Yes. That huge scary term that seems to be tethered and loaded with responsibility... And that's because it really is. But growing up isn't a bad thing. It means... well it means more freedom. The thing about growing up is that it's not just about doing responsible things (like making your bed and doing the dishes), it's also about YOU. You can't grow up if you're not prepared to try.

Growing up and becoming a fully functional adult isn't exactly easy. It's about noticing all the little things you take for granted, about being able to fend for yourself rather than relying on someone else doing it for you. And most of the time you don't even realise how much you rely on other people. Whether it's booking a doctor's appointment, saving money, or knowing what to do in a medical emergency, these are all things we NEED to know how to do.

Thankfully we are now in an age were our family isn't the only source of information on how to grow up. There is a plethora of information online to give advice and guidance, but as the all knowing "They" say, "experience is the best teacher". The great thing is that no one says you can't have it both ways. You can use experience to put your skills to the test, but you can get advice and help first to make the process easier.

When I look back over the last few years, I can see how I've allowed myself to grow as an artist. It's about embracing change, not becoming stagnant in a comfort zone and being willing to push yourself. Now I see that everyday life is not all that different. If I am tired of something in my life, I have the power to change it. And so does every other person out there, Now that I've learnt the art of growing as an artist, it's time to adapt that skill to life. It will be difficult. But it will be worth it.

Until we meet again
Talia

Tomorrowland

My friends in my art classes introduced me to the concept of an "Existential Crisis". I had never heard of such a thing until I got to university, nor had I experienced much of it in my life. In a nutshell, this is how Urban Dictionaries defines an existential crisis:

Existential Crisis

A deep, obsessive concern with unanswered questions about the meaning of life and existence, resulting in the disruption of one's daily life and characterised by long or short-lasting bouts of apathy and depression.

"Dude, what's up with Steve?" 
"He's been reading a lot of Nietzsche and watching How the Universe Works on the Discovery Channel, now he's having an existential crisis."

Well, that sums it up quite well. For me I have existential crisis' based on time... or more specifically, the lack of it. I remember reading a quote once that went something along the lines of "In every moment we are living we are also dying"... Yes it can sound quite depressing, but honestly, shouldn't it also be good motivation to try and make every day a good day? Most people on the planet nowadays are born and bred procrastinators. We live in a world where tomorrow is always a given to us... But there are only so many tomorrows left, if any exist in the first place. 

I know it seems like an odd thing to think about, but books remind me of time passing. Every time I walk into a library or a book store, I think to myself how many books I would love to read... And in the same train of thought I realise that there will never be enough time to read all of them... I could spend my entire lifetime reading and I would never be able to get through enough books. The funny thing about life is that almost everything is like that. Art. Books. Films. Love. People. 

But not all is lost.

All you have to do is decide what to do with the time that is given to you.

You can spend your whole life sulking about all the things you can't do, or you can just jump straight into the deep end and start doing things. The choice is yours.

Until we meet again dear readers

Talia

P.S I finished watching all of the Lord of the Rings movies this week, so unreferenced quotes are here duly given credit to! 

Wanted

Is it a crime to want more than you already have? Is it wrong to want more, constantly?

The truth is, dear readers, I have no idea what the correct answer to that is... but I think that if your heart is in the right place, and maybe your mind too, wanting more can't be such a bad thing. I'm one of those people that has learnt to accept what is given, more by habit than by any particular rule or bad experience. I guess it's just something that has become a part of me over time. And I haven't really questioned that aspect of myself... until recently.

I've realised over the last few weeks that wanting more isn't a bad thing at all... It all depends on what that "more" means. If you're a billionaire and you want even more money, that's probably a bad thing. If you hypothetically control the entire world and then you want to control the Martians (if they exist)... then might be a problem.

But what if your heart wants more? There is already enough hatred in this cruel world of ours, so much pain and suffering that we've actually become numb to because we've learnt to not see it. I can't believe that there was ever a doubt in my mind that wanting care and love someone more could ever be a bad thing... I guess I just needed a hypothetical slap in the face to be reminded that caring more could never be a bad thing... Even if everyone is not that appreciative or reciprocating.

Just this little (or not so little) change in perspective has kinda changed my way of seeing the world... which admittedly hasn't been that great recently. But that's okay, sometimes you need a lot of rain to appreciate the sunshine again (or vice-versa for all you pluviophiles). I can actually feel my heart getting bigger and more loving everyday, now this introvert just has to work on showing it to the people that matter.

Keep those hearts going for the people you care about dear readers.

Until we meet again
Talia

P.S. If anyone happens to be a charitable billionaire this art student is always happy to get more art supplies too!

Hope

Ah Dear Readers... I have returned yet again, and I am quite proud to say that I have survived yet another season of silliness! No, I don't hate Christmas and No I definitely do not hate the New Year... In fact, I've grown a certain fondness for the celebration of a New Year.

The build up to the New Year is one of the few times that almost people seem to have a connected energy that fills the air with the kind of electricity that is deeply exhilarating. I read a little quote today (whilst it was still New Year's Day, mind you) that summed up this phenomenon perfectly.

"New Years Eve. The evening of little miracles. Peel away the exploding fireworks, roaring countdowns and ridiculous resolutions and what you are left with is hope. Small human hope. The hope of better days, of fresh starts and perhaps, if you are very lucky, a kiss."
-Beau Taplin

Quite the perfect summary isn't it? Hope. Such a simple little world that bring the whole world to celebrate one night that will bring every dream and aspiration that much closer to us achieving them. I never thought about a new year bringing something as instinctual to humanity as hope. If you're not too hungover on New Year's morning, it's difficult not to feel the infectious air of this being the year you can change the world.

And the truth is, you can. You can change the world. Starting now. Chase your dreams like time is about to swallow you into oblivion. Chase your dreams like they deserve to be chased. No one will ever be able to live your life for you, so if you've been putting off those resolutions for two or four years, make the effort to actually see them through.

Hope is infectious. Bottle up whatever you can now whilst it's overflowing from every human being. Savour it for whenever you feel like you can't pick yourself up again. You've just been given the clean slate, now start your new chapter.

Happy New Year Dear Readers.

Until we meet again
Talia