Hello reader,

Boy, do I have things I want to tell you! It’s a new month and with it, it brings new changes and this little blog space will be undergoing some changes as well. Before I tell you what those changes will e (without divulging too much) let’s review the past month, should we?

I’m rather proud of myself for having posted consistently, twice weekly and at the same time always. Well, except for that one time when I wrote a post, went on a weekend away and remembered I didn’t schedule it. Oops! I also created my own graphics to accompany the posts as well, a far cry from the photographics I used to do. However, I do not know which you, reader, like. Do you like the vector graphics or do you like the photos behind a heading? See, this as a survey kind of thing because I do want to make this space something that people enjoy visiting.

Yes, you must have noticed that this post doesn’t have a graphic accompanying it but that’s one of the changes. This is not a regular blog post, just a sort of announcement and also, I’m going to change the visual look of the whole blog (wish me luck because this may involve some html tinkering and I’m not exactly a connoisseur), including deciding whether I should go with the graphics like you saw in the month of February or the ones in the month of January.

Now to tell you about what some other changes will be. I’m going to write less about my own personal life because my life isn’t really interesting and most of the posts about a Day in The Life do not get many readers (according to analytics), BUT I will be doing more and more book reviews since those are popular (yay!) It’s a win-win. It will give me an excuse to read more books (between running a business, creating artworks and writing there really isn’t much time to properly sit down and read a book) and I’ll be giving honest reviews about books I like and don’t like. *claps hand gleefully like a baby seal*

But wait, there’s more! I will also be introducing an exciting blog series that will remain a secret for now but I’m so excited about it and I have been thinking about it for weeks now! I hope you will love it as well because it is something wholly different.

So that’s all. To summarise, I’ll be writing less about my personal life, will be doing more book reviews (or generally talking about books) and will be introducing a blog series. As for the schedule, I was thinking book review on Wednesdays, blog series on Fridays and if have something interesting to say about my personal life that will go up on Mondays or Tuesdays?

Do not expect a post on Friday by the way; there won’t be any until I’m ready to launch the new changes. This was a heads up and a public service announcement. *waggles eyebrows*

If you read this blog regularly and have any suggestions on what you would love to see here, please let me know in the comments below.

‘Til next time,

-Bella

5 Ways You Can Make Someone's Day

Hello reader,

I really love being nice to people. You never know when someone may be going through a pretty rough time and when I make someone smile, it makes me smile as well. Sometimes though, it can be hard to figure out how to make someone smile but fret not, here are 5 very simple ways you can make someone’s day.

1. Compliment them. Sure, so clichéd, but compliment them in a different way and if possible, make sure you compliment something that is permanent for them. Steer away from complimenting their eyes, or smiles; chances are they’ve heard it all before. Try complimenting them about something that they won’t expect anyone to really pay attention to like their hands or something alike. When I was in grade 8, this lovely girl told me that she loved the way I walk and it was so unexpected that I’m still smiling about it all these years later. She really made an impact with a compliment so simple.

2.    Do little things for them. If it’s a stranger, you could open/hold the door for them (as long as they are not far away so they have to do an awkward jog to get to you, haha!) or help carry their bags or let them get in first in a lift. Possibilities are endless. Hopefully they’ll appreciate it and you’ll get –what’s that? Is that a smile? – yes, a smile out of them. If it’s someone you know, try making a cup of tea or coffee out of the blue for them or giving them a chocolate bar or even going as far as giving them a little gift.

3.    Smile widely at them. Don’t just smile a tiny smile that then disappears once they look away. It’s quite easy to spot a fake smile. First try noticing something you like about them -maybe their outfit?- and smiling . People respond back to real smiles (as far as I’ve noticed) and hopefully they’ll mirror your smile.

4.    Talk to them. Most often than not, people just need someone to talk to, even if it’s just a short conversation. Talk to someone you haven’t talked to in a while and tell them that you were thinking about them. Remind them of something awesome or funny they’ve done/said and they’ll appreciate that they are in someone’s thoughts and that they are not easily forgettable. Also, it is important that you don’t ask for anything when you do this or they’ll think you only talk to them when you want something.

5.    Share things with them. The internet is full of funny pictures and videos that are guaranteed to make someone smile. For example, you could try texting a friend a link to a gif with ‘hey, I think you will like this.’ Or you could offer to share food (yes, yes share!) or even something as small as a joke. I for one like sharing jokes I’ve seen on Reddit. Reddit is rife with them!

These are just a few simple things that I do and that have been done to me (and that you could do) that have made me and people smile. I’m all for making this world a better and brighter place and I believe it all starts with being of service to others; being kind to them, loving them and helping them when needed.

What little things do you do to make someone’s day? I would love to read all about them so feel free to comment and if you’re a blogger, leave a comment with your link so I could check out your blog.

Have a fantastic and happy weekend!

‘Til next time,

-Bella

When you compare yourself to others

Hello reader,

Today I’m not feeling particularly well and went through a terrible night/morning where I had some kind of skin reaction and my entire body itched, it was hard to fall asleep and now I’m feeling super drowsy. Anyway, other than this, something happened yesterday that I want to tell you about.

I made a mistake yesterday. I sat down in front of my PC to get to work on some designs when I reached a creative block. I decided to go online and have a look at some designs similar to what I want to do and that’s when it went downhill. The first thought came into my head, ‘mine suck!’ ‘Am I even good?’ And just like that, my self-esteem took a knocker. It only took less than a minute for that to happen.

Here’s where I made a mistake. I compared myself to those other designers whose work I deemed better than mine, and honestly, they were. However, I was only supposed to get inspiration from them and not bring myself down in the process. Suddenly the work I felt really proud of became something measly. What really put me down in the dumpers was that I worked really hard on those designs and I was supposed to unveil them to the public soon. ‘Who would buy these when there’s so many better out there?’ I asked myself.

I know that I’m a long way off from being the designer I want to be but isn’t this what it’s all about? The journey? For some reason we just want to have arrived at that place. We compare ourselves to others who have begun earlier and a much further because of that plus hard work. There’s a saying I read somewhere that says, “Do not compare your Chapter 1 to someone else’s Chapter 20.” Easy to say though, isn’t it? Sometimes we just cannot help it.

When I started feeling as if my designs were crap, I switched off my PC and took a step back. I reassured myself that okay, maybe compared to the other designers’ who have more design experience than I do, my designs are not that great but when compared to the previous designs I did, they look pretty awesome! I put myself back on track and I know now that this is my own journey that I’m walking and I cannot wander onto others’ lanes or compare my distance to theirs. Someday I will get there and I’ll bet that those very same designers also wish they were somewhere as well because let’s face it; there will always be someone much better than you are. The trick, I learned, is to be better than the person you were yesterday and that’s what I will remind myself of whenever those niggling thoughts start to creep in.

Dear reader, I will love to hear your thoughts on this subject. How do you deal with comparing yourself to others and the not-so-good feelings that come with it? Feel free to comment. J

Now, let me drink a lot of fluids and get some rest until I feel 100% better. ‘Til next time,

-Bella 

When life gets in the way of your dreams

Hello reader,

Isn’t life a funny thing? It’s made of complexities that no one can really make sense of, but are we even supposed to? It’s hard enough trying to live it. You get these dreams in your heart and you try and go after them because of the life you want to live. Sometimes however, it’s hard to reach those dreams and you have to forget them for the moment and live the life you don’t really want just to get by. Moments turn into months, which turn into years and before you know it, you haven’t chased after your dreams and you don’t really have all the time in the world now.

It’s hard, I get it. Right now I’m trying to live my dream of being a successful artist and running a successful business but it’s just so dang hard. My savings have all but dried up and I feel even more pressure to just forget my dream for the time being and to just make a living. I know I’m not the only one as well. I am however reluctant to give up because I know exactly what I want. I put all my savings and a lot of time and tears into this dream and sooner or later something has gotta give, right?

I’m holding onto that hope because I truly and wholeheartedly believe in myself and if I don’t believe in myself, who would? And if I don’t give myself a chance, really, who would? So many unfortunate people have given up on their dreams to just get by but I realise that most of them had no choice because they had families to feed and well, life just happened. I don’t want that to happen to me. I don’t want life to happen to me, I want to happen to life and I will put in more than 100% to even touch my dream.  Perhaps this is all just a test to see how much we would fight for our dreams. I hope that you will all take up arms and fight with everything you have to reach your dreams because if you can dream it, you can live it. I don't believe God puts dreams and visions into our hearts just to watch us not live them.

Have you ever encountered a time when some uncontrollable situations threatened to derail your dream/s? Feel free to comment and let me know.

‘Til next time and have a great, fantastic weekend!

-Bella

How much do you value privacy?

Hello reader,

I was on a random Reddit thread yesterday when someone said he used to look at geotagged images and try and find the people in the photos, calling them by their names because it is so easy to find out things about them just from a tagged image. It was an interesting discussion that makes me wonder, how much do we value privacy?

It is so easy to forget that the internet is not a really safe place that we share anything and everything freely. I was once like that. I shared every photo I liked on Facebook and Twitter until one day I received a reawakening. I had Googled myself and the images that came up were personal pictures and lots of photos of my nephews. I love my nephews very much and I think they are the cutest so I felt the unnecessary need to share their photos with my Facebook friends and my Twitter followers, not understanding that I’m actually sharing them with the entire world. I wasn’t comfortable with their pictures out there like that because they are so young. I therefore embarked on a ‘clean up’ mission, deleting Twitpics and removing photos off my Facebook. Not only that but I readjusted my privacy settings.

I had always liked privacy but now I value it greatly. I am now careful of what I post asking myself questions like, “is there anything that looks unfavourably upon me and my loved ones?” “Did this person/s approve of me posting this photo?” “Will this hurt someone?”  “I’m I revealing unnecessary personal information about myself or others?” and so on. Nowadays I only talk about my nephews and it’s always something positive. I don’t post pictures of them anymore and not many people know their names, or where they go to school. That’s how I like to keep it. I admit though, sometimes I’m tempted to post a photo. My cousin sent my mum a photo of his newborn daughter and she was so, so adorable that I wanted to Tweet it. I didn’t though because she’s still so young and I didn’t think my cousin would approve. I didn’t even post photos of my nephew’s athletic meet because other than respecting my own privacy, I respect and value theirs as well. I am so careful of what I post online that even here on this little blog of mine, I make sure that I don’t reveal too much about myself or my loved ones. I think its importance to maintain a balance.

I do feel sorry for celebrities when thinking of how privacy is important to me. Even though renouncing most of your privacy comes with the status, I cannot imagine how unsettling it must be to have millions of people know details about your personal life from who you are dating, which restaurant you visited to your pets names. In high school a lot of people knew my name and who I was. I wasn’t popular *scoffs*; it just came with being the only one wearing hearing aids. I remember one day when I was in the school bathroom –I must have been in Grade 11 or Grade 12- and this lovely girl in Grade 8 said, “Isabella?” I looked at her and she smiled and said, “I know who you are.” That was so unsettling because I did not know her name. Not fair, haha! Felt like something out of a thriller.

I think we all need to carefully scrutinize what we put online and if it involves other people, ask them for permission, especially when tagging! I am not a fan of tagging people in photos on Facebook and if I do, it’s because they’ve asked me, or gave their okay for me to post photos of them and tag them. Did you know that even if you’re not friends with a specific somebody on Facebook, they are able to find information about you just by having a mutual friend tag you in something? Let that sink in a moment.

Feel free to comment and let me know how much you value your own personal privacy, if you have ever experienced an invasion of privacy or what steps you take to ensure your privacy online. I’d love to hear your stories!

‘Til next time,

-Bella