Inspirations – Page 2

TAYLOR SWIFT IS THE QUEEN OF SUBLIMATION AND PRODUCTIVITY

November 21, 2021 by Little Miss Honey

I was never officially a Swiftie. I was never a fan. But I started liking towards her catchy songs as she creates new songs after nee songs. One album that made me an official fan was her album, Folklore. It was created in the midst of pandemic during July 2020. While all of us are lamenting the days we are stuck at home and some privileges like going out & meeting up friends, are denied to us, Taylor Swift made us of that time to create a beautiful masterpiece of an album. I love almost all the tracks there. It is perfect for cuddle weather nights, barefoot on the cold floor, sipping some red wine or warm coco. She taught us a lesson in productivity. She made perfect use of the pause pandemic has given us by creating not only one but two albums in 2020. Not less than five months of the release of Folklore, Taylor release another album on December 2020 entitled Evermore. This girl has been busy! We have to take note that most of her songs are written by her with her storytelling style that takes a peek of the singer’s emotional experiences especially when it comes to love.

Now, Taylor Swift again making waves recently because she re-recorded her old album, Red. The re-recording venture is Swift’s countermeasure against the changed ownership of the masters to her first six studio albums. She re-recorded new versions of the songs in the album. The first one that was released was a 10-minute version of the song, “All Too Well”, which tickled people fancy for celebrity gossip because everyone knows Taylor is referring to her short-lived romance with actor Jake Gyllenhaal. Not only did she made a new version of the song but she directed an awesome short film music video of the song. It was unbelievably beautiful and creative. It stars two amazing actors, Dylan O’Brien from The Maze & Sadi Sink from Stranger Things. Their chemistry is so electric! They are both so impressive! The Red album is purely an album for the brokenhearted. Watching the short film Taylor Swift directed bring you back to that old love you have, a favourite mistake of your youth, that broke your heart into pieces you don’t know if you will ever piece it back together again. (But good news, you will survive and heart will beat again.)

Taylor Swift has been known to create songs about her ex loves. She turns heartbreaks into art pieces and earns millions through it too. Talk about perfect example of Sublimation. Sublimation in psychology definition is a defense mechanism that involves channeling unwanted or unacceptable urges into an admissible or productive outlet. Taylor Swift is a good example of sublimation, a woman who went through a breakup channels her emotions into a lyrical music that tugs peoples’ hearts. Another examples of sublimations are a teen who has angry and violent urges may join his school’s wrestling team or an unhappy housewife who enrolled in a creative writing class and writes about happy children stories. Sublimation is one of my favourite mature defense mechanism from life’s stresses, a habit that should be practiced by most people.

Taylor Swift is a great role model for women of today that turns setbacks into triumph. This woman definitely knows how to create lemonade out of lemons… I have officially become a Swiftie!

Here is her 10-minute version “All Too Well”. Enjoy! Let me know what you think about it.

MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE

November 12, 2021 by Little Miss Honey

Credit: Where Watermelons Grow Pinterest

I am bidding goodbye to social media unofficially. I didn’t actually deactivate my social media accounts (yet). But I consciously decided not to post anymore stuff in it (or as much I used to). Let me share with you my history with social media and why I am somehow creating boundaries with it.

My History with Social Media

I used to have the good ol’ Friendster (remember that?) like everyone before – the testimonials, the feature of knowing someone is viewing your accounts and yes, keeping up with what is going on with your “friends”. I also just created a Facebook profile that time due to the encouragements of my cousins from Canada for us to keep in touch. But during those times when I was in my internship year of medical school and I wasn’t in a good place in my life followed by a bad break up with my first serious boyfriend, so I deleted my Friendster and Facebook account and never thought of about it.

But when I was in my residency training in Family Medicine, I took a trip to the United States for my friend’s wedding. Her husband is a game programmer and has created online games for Facebook. They persuaded me have a Facebook account for us to share photos of the wedding and for us to play games in Facebook. So I eventually did. I started enjoying posting status updates. And slowly but cautiously created photo albums in it. Around that time, I created a blog in Multiply which I transferred to an official blogging site, Blogspot. I eventually but shyly started posting links of my blog posts in my Facebook account.

When I was already working in Singapore, I got so serious with my blogging and I became more aggressive with marketing my blog. I often would share my blog posts in my social media channels: personal Facebook, my Facebook page, Twitter, Google+, and Instagram. I even try my hand with Snapchat. I enjoyed being in social media; getting updates from everyone; interacting with friends, followers and online strangers ; getting likes and acknowledgment. I did struggle trying to keep up with my blogging peers who seems to get the magic formula in increasing their social following in Instagram while they all reached to 10k, I was still hovering at 7k. So besides the pressure of being online all the time, to be visible, to get more exposure for my blog, gathering more followers from Instagram and keeping up with the commenting & like-for-like, social media has become such a second nature to me that I have to keep everyone updated what is going on in my life. It also became my sort-of escape from boredom, loneliness, anxiety, frustration and many emotions inside me that I refuse to face. It is almost like a tic that I cannot shake off. I need to see that notification. I need to reply to that comment. I am embarrassed to say, that my hubby even observed that I even brought my phone going to the bathroom when I was about to take a bath. I have to post all the foods I have to eat for the day. I have to share all the cute things my kids to the world. I have to share all the quotes I love to everyone. I would often reason out that the reason I am always on social media is to market my blog. But is it, really?

I previously wrote a blog post why I blogged. It is because of my love for writing, never about wanting popularity or validation. So am I just using it as a “reason” for my over-attachment with my social media and my phone. The start of 2021, one of my resolution was not to use the phone when I am with the kids which I don’t think I follow through with. Besides social media and constant documentation of my life in Instagram stories, I always have constant conversations with family and friends on messaging apps which makes me ignore my kids who are with me. I should be more conscious that I should allot a time for me to reply the messages especially when the conversations are not so important like celebrity gossips and sharing funny links with each other. Also late of this year, I got more serious with increasing followers in Instagram that I was constantly in it and creating content.

But just a week ago, I woke up to the reality that social media and my phone has taken over my life. I am so busy documenting my life with it, updating it, creating content and being constantly in it that it seems like my phone is an extension of me. I realised that this got to stop. I don’t need to be in social media all the time, broadcasting my life and creating content for people who barely know me. So I stop sharing in Facebook, not even those quotes that people would guess what is in my mind or what I am going through. I already have stopped way before, posting my thoughts in Twitter and even privated it. I recently stopped posting Instagram stories and has pending 2 more parting Instagram posts.

How About My Blog?

My husband, my number one supporter of my blog, asked me, “Why did you unpublish your Facebook Page? You love blogging!” I do love blogging. I love pouring my thoughts over it. I love articulating my thoughts and documenting my experiences with paragraphs & photos. I will never give it up. But I don’t need to market it at all. I don’t feel the need to. Besides, I am blogging for me. I think of my blog to be like a message in a bottle, floating in the vast sea of the worldwide web, no specific address, just happily floating. No exact address to send the message. No urgency to be read or need to be recognised. Grateful if someone picked up my “message” I sent out into the vast sea and feel inspired after reading it.

If you happen to stumble into my blog, welcome. I can come and visit anytime. I try my best to post weekly. This is a place where I share my musings of life, my family adventure in our current country of residence: Oman and things that inspire me… Say hi in the comment below. I am glad you found my blog….

I MISS THE OLD PERSONAL BLOGS. DO YOU?

October 24, 2021 by Little Miss Honey

I miss the old personal blogs back in the days…. Do you?

I really loved reading blogs back in the day, especially when I discovered the blogs of Bianca Gonzales, Patty Laurel, Cat Juan and even KC Concepcion blog posts at Multiply account. I love the tidbits of sharing they do in their blogs from their movie recommendations, meet-up sessions with their friends, their travels and their thoughts on love & life. Those days, the blogosphere wasn’t as saturated like it is today. There were less of those curated posts. There were no sponsored posts. The blogs have no specific niche. They were just personal blogs that people come to visit to read & enjoy the sharing.

Then suddenly, blogging became so popular in the internet. Everyone started to blog. Blogs became more promotional and lost its charm. Even my favorite blogs became too commercialised and too niched.

In 2008, I tried my hand in blogging too (with apprehension) all for the love of writing. I love writing. I love pouring my thoughts into strings of sentences. I love documenting my experiences with my own words in lengthy paragraphs. So I started my blog. I started in the defunct Multiply the transferred to Blogspot.com or now called Blogger.com. Then I eventually got my own url: https://www.littlemisshoney.com.

Initially, I just enjoyed writing for writing sake. I would write anything that I fancy. But there was a nagging urge for me to monetised my efforts and to gain bigger readership to affirm that I am an “real blogger”. When I was already working and living in Singapore, I took my blogging seriously. After I got my own url under godaddy.com, I hired a blogging coach. Then I got a website designer. I joined online blogger groups. Then (magically) suddenly, I have brands and PR company emailing me to work with me. I would get lots of free products that I would review. I would get free hair and nail services, I would get to try yummy foods from restaurant for free. I would get free passes from concerts to playgrounds for kids, etc. I got to earn a few dollars from some collaborations too. It was fun times. But sometimes, if I accepted too many collaborations, it took the joy of the whole thing and it became just a task to do. It did lit me up anymore like it used to. It became almost unauthentic and too promotional.

In addition, it is advised by experts that blogs must be niched. Goodbye to personal blogs and lifestyle blogs. They say, you cannot just write about anything. They say, you must stick to your niche which I try my best to follow. I think I found one which is an expat blog – to blog about my journey as a Filipina working abroad from Singapore and now in Oman.

But I miss the freestyle writing of yesterdays’ blogging (though yes, I am aware also that blogging has been dead for so long. My favorite bloggers stopped blogging in 2019. Hello Vlogging!). So I decided to get back to that. I will, of course, still write about my expat adventure but along with it, I will share a smorgasbord of what peak my interests. Would you like that?

P.S. My thoughts on Vlogs

Vlogging is the “in” thing these days. Everything is moving towards video-based storytelling. Look at Instagram, promoting reels. Most vlogs now are sponsored and have lots of ads interjected within the video but then again, it is already considered a legit livelihood. I have so much respect for vloggers. I could imagine the hardwork and time they put in to create one video. I think it is amazing. But after giving it some thought because I mentioned I am mulling over the idea to start an Youtube channel by next year. I realised it is really not the platform for me. I could not sustain the energy to create a vlog weekly. Maybe in the future future, who knows but definitely, not in the near future or definitely not next year