Journal #17: I Started My Blog

This is from a journal written on January 20, 2022.

I want this to be an extension of my social presence on Instagram. A place where I can share and expand on my experiences, thoughts, feelings, and emotions; past that which I can do on Insta.

I appreciate Instagram for its curated nature to present myself and my travels. However, I feel like I’m trying to add tips, tricks, and reviews in the wrong place when I add them to my captions. I don’t feel like I’m totally connecting to my audience.

Which is a-ok!

I know the travel blogger space is a bit saturated, yet I think there are people who can benefit from my sharing about this journey in detail.

I know my experience is unique in the sense that I‘m traveling while working a corporate, American job, and the style of my writing is off-the-cuff, written first in my journal and then shared here with you.

Oh, and, why the hell not? What’s the worse that can happen from this? People don’t like my writing; they aren’t interested; they don’t find value in what I have to say. That’s fine. At the very least, I get the chance to update my friends and family on my journey. And right now, that’s good enough for me. :)

If you're here and giving this blog a chance, I primarily want to share this feeling. Last night I was catching up with my friend Linds (one of my best gals from college), and she asked me what my High and Low have been from the trip.

I told her my High hadn’t been one specific moment, but a culmination of the following factors and how they have vastly improved my mental health, motivation, and inspiration:

1. We have no friends or family physically close to us

2. Therefore we have loads of free time

3. This means that I can dedicate my standard hours to work every day while still having ample time before and after for personal development (reading, journaling, social media strategizing, lengthy chats with Brett about business ideas)

And let me tell you, as I dedicate more of my free time to these activities, I can literally feel my brain getting lighter and lighter.

It's almost like this feeling that the weight of traditional American culture and expectations has been lifted off of me, and now, I‘m able to explore what the fuck I want to do with my life.

I still haven’t figured that out yet, but I think I’m in a better place to do that now more than ever.

And yeah, I still spend too much time on Insta and TikTok, and Brett and I watch Netflix every night before bed. But the difference this shift has made in my mind, even while falling victim to some of my vices, is incredible, and I don’t ever want it to stop.

I don’t care if you went to school for fashion or finance; we all have creative brains. Half of our brain is dedicated to creative pursuits. We are born with creative instincts, yet we beat our brains down with virtual shit that isn’t even real, and I think that madly suppresses our creativity.

And maybe you’re in a creative field like me. Great! But perhaps, also like me, you’re only harnessing enough creative power to get the job done, cash the check, and hit happy hour to drink all the stress of the week away. Only to wake up the following Monday and do it all over again.

It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in. We all get swept into the cycle, the rat race, the Big fucking Snooze!

Anyway, if you made it this far, thanks for indulging this rant on life and creativity and escaping the boring shit, I hope you all enjoy the blog.