How not to be a workaholic
The answer is simple: Just make time for yourself.
If you’ve ever observed work-obsessed people, you will notice that one of the common factors among almost all of them is the fact that they rarely—if ever—make time for themselves. And the scariest part? They don’t even realize it.
I mean, it’s not as if they set out to make work their life. Sometimes they use it to fill a void, sometimes they just get too carried away with the illusive “future” and what they need to do today to be where they want to be tomorrow—but regardless of reason, if they just set aside time for themselves each week, many would be in far better shape (if only mentally) than they currently are. (And if you want to get technical, being in better shape mentally = more productivity, so really it’s a win/win!)
I visit both sides of the fence on a regular basis. Being a business owner, I know what it’s like to sacrifice, and I all-too-well understand the concept of delayed gratification—but the thing that most of these people somehow overlook is the fact that no matter what you do, there must always be balance. You can be successful without giving up everything, even when it doesn’t always look like it’s possible.
Creative frustration
Have you ever wanted to do something, attempted to do that thing and then found that no matter how hard you tried, you simply couldn’t?
That’s how I feel right now about anything that requires creative energy. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat down with a witty idea or two, only to find that those ideas dancing around in my head simply couldn’t find their way out my fingers. Everything feels forced, and definitely not inspired.
For me, the worst thing about creative frustration is (surprise, surprise!) the “frustration” part. Unlike other negative emotions, I have yet to find a way to channel frustration into something positive. When creative frustration hits me, it crashes the whole operating system of my right brain, sort of like what happens when you try working in Photoshop and Illustrator at the same time while you browse Firefox with 50+ tabs open—I can’t write, I can’t draw, I can’t take photos, and I sure in hell can’t design.
Remember when you asked me not to blog about this?
You know you’ve reached a certain point in your career as a pseudo-blogger when your friends start asking you not to blog about certain things:
The tail-end of a lengthy discussion on those who live life superficially vs. those who don’t (also known as CHANEL, YOU THINK TOO MUCH):
The Friend says: (10:37:11 PM)
You drive me crazyThe Friend says: (10:37:20 PM)
And this is just MSNThe Friend says: (10:37:30 PM)
… Please don’t write a blog on this :P
With more and more of my offline friends, family and acquaintances finding this website (which, admittedly, isn’t hard; all you need to do is google me), the subject of my online writings have never come up more often. Specifically, the question of “You’re not going to blog about this, are you?”
To those offline friends, family and acquaintances, and maybe our mailman: I am on the hunt for my next project and new material. Lock your doors. Maybe even close your windows. But be especially careful what you say or do around me, because you never know—it might just end up on here.
The best kind of April Fool’s joke
This just came in the mail today:
Check out the issue date.
Chanel goes to Washington, meets Hillary Clinton
Impossible, you say? But I have picture proof!
As you can see, Hillary Clinton (along with other senators Barack Obama and John McCain, not pictured here) were at the Washington-Dulles Airport on Tuesday, promoting their new lines of presidential campaign clothing and paraphernalia. America Votes 2008!
(See: GROUP PHOTO)
More comic relief from my brother
Talking about a piece of gum that dropped on the floor:
“I’m going to go wash this.”
“Don’t wash it! It will only turn sticky.”
“I washed a cookie I dropped on the floor once…”
“Denzil, washing doesn’t help everything.”
“I know… that’s why I don’t take baths anymore.”
Looking good, March!
The month isn’t even over yet, but it’s already quite apparent that March has been the month of doing things I thought I could never do. First it was the 5K run in 36 minutes and 49 seconds. Next it was the dance competition (and bringing home my first ever trophies!) I told everyone I couldn’t “wouldn’t” do. And today? Today I ran twenty minutes. Straight. WITHOUT STOPPING OR WANTING TO DIE.
You probably won’t understand the significance of this, and that’s okay. But I do. I remember the girl who couldn’t make it halfway around the track without dying - but tonight I was the girl who ran a total of 68 minutes, running 10, 15, 20, and 10 minutes straight with 1 minute breaks in between. I did it.
If I keep this up, I could actually achieve world domination before I turn twenty-five.
Now, if only I could take my driver’s test…
Chanel survives Gala ball, comes home with two trophies
I think the title says it all, but in case it doesn’t, the following photo should:
We ranked 5th in Advanced Latin, 3rd in Jive and 3rd in Paso Doble, bringing home two trophies and two gift certificates each to JC Dance Co’s Rising Star Squad (Standard Technique). More photos here.
I won’t lie and tell you that it wasn’t “OH MY GOD I’M GOING TO DIE” terrifying, but I will tell you this: It was totally worth it in the end. Sure, I might have made mistakes in every dance and danced the Samba at twice the speed of the music in front of my friends, family, and TEACHERS, but I survived it.
In fact, forget all the dance experience of training, preforming, and not dying, and forget about the two shiny trophies I kiss every night before I go to bed… The very fact that I voluntarily decided to be judged on my dancing—in public no less—and survived to want to do it again next year has set the bar a notch higher for the next bigger and scarier thing that will no doubt come my way in the near future. Like public speaking. Or fish.
This “coming out of your comfort zone” thing? Hard, but awesome.
Someone you never talk to is now in a relationship with someone you’ve never heard of
Abstract thought of the hour: Facebook is incredibly creepy and stalker-like when it comes to publishing information about your friends’ every online (and in some cases, offline) move.
And while we’re on that topic: Has anyone ever noticed that Facebook’s feeds are a new breed of passive gossip? I’m reminded of one of the first things anyone ever told me about Facebook mere hours after I joined:
When a couple breaks up, Facebook knows about it before they do.
What is the strangest thing you’ve ever learned (intentionally or not) about any of your friends through a social networking site like Facebook?
My Five Vices, or “The Entry I Wrote Because I Cannot For The Life Of Me Come Up With Anything Remotely Interesting To Blog About”
- Trashy celebrity magazines and blogs. I never buy them, but flipping through celebrity news at the checkout is another reason why grocery shopping is, hands down, my favorite type of shopping.
- Food. I love to shop for it, make it, bake it, and eat it. Basically, this vice sounds like a recipe for obesity. Thankfully, the four factors that stand in the way of me and obesity are: 1) I’m vegetarian, 2) and a fairly healthy eater, 3) very active, and 3) not American. (Kidding about the last one, of course.)
- My ability to take something small and make it huge. My upcoming dance competition is an excellent example of this. I freaked out, thought up the most lucrative worst case scenarios and made a small competition into a huge OH EM GEE IM GOING TO DIEEEEE event, but after a couple practices, I was actually looking forward to it. Overeact much?
- Pride. I have a certain pride in my independence. I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing, but definitely something that can run a little too far at times. I like to do things by myself. I have a particular inability to ask for help, especially when it’s something I’m adamant about figuring out for myself. I refuse to date, partially because of my pride in being my own person and above all that typical non-committal, toxic nonsense.
- Being too analytic. I examine things. I have this particular fondness for picking apart my life, both my current situation and my planned future. While I know that it has definitely contributed to me being more aware about my behavior and every last aspect of my life, it also has the tendency to drive people crazy when I do it out loud, my family especially.
- My ability to do nothing and still feel as if I’ve done so much. I don’t even think this one needs explaining, but I can tell you one thing: I’ve had days where all I do is sit in bed and read or sit in bed and work on something useless for HOURS, and after all that I can still have the sheer audacity to feel as if I’ve ran a marathon.