All posts filed under: real world

Thoughts About Rejections

Originally posted on Lola By The Bay:
How do you deal with a rejection? What effect does it have on you emotionally and how do you go about with proceeding forward from it? This is a topic that I’ve been meaning to discuss for a while, and after the events that have happened in my life over the past few days, now feels like the right time to finally touch on the subject. Rejection comes in several forms, and it’s something that can never be truly avoided by  anyone, but for the sake of the matter, I want to focus in on the rejections received as a creative person… and/or as a Millennial; for these are the rejections that follow along the “make or break” kind of deal. Rejections in the Creative Life Anyone who is a creative person- regardless of whether you’re a writer, a visual artist, an actor, singer, dancer, and so on- already knows that there are bounds of rejections to be faced and have yet to be faced. With so many…

Thursday nights, Paydays and Boobsweat

Originally posted on This, That and the Other Thang:
The older I get, the more I’ve come to the conclusion that things are a bit (okay, a lot. Things are A LOT different) than they were 10, even 5 years ago. I may still look like I’m pre-pubescent, and I will probably forever and always get carded for that PBR, but this whole adulting thang has changed the way I do, think and feel about certain things, things that 10, even 5 years ago had a mostly positive connotation to them whereas now, they just emulate a feeling of panic and overwhelming boobsweat. Here are just 24 things (words, actions and ideas) that can mean something totally different now that you’re full-on adulting. Payday Used to mean: Every other Friday, you’re gonna make it rainnnn in this club (or mall, or GameStop, whatever floats your pubescent boat). You worked hard after school and on weekends! You deserve it! Now means: The day when rent is due and you need to pay your bills, and maybe if you have any money left…

The Emotional Roller Coaster of Passion

Every project starts with excitement. Not those terrible assigned project that may require you to work with other people. Passion projects. It starts with excitement. You dive into the planning process. You hit a few bumps there, but you push forward and turn your research into reality. You work and werk on your blog, new business, or project of your choosing. You hit another bump or two, but you still manage to launch. Things are going well, then okay, then comes the monster bump.

Gunther Better Work There!: Central Perk Cafe Coming to Toronto

Originally posted on The Nostalgia Blog:
Toronto will apparently become the latest city (joining NYC, Sydney, Beijing and Liverpool) to have their very own Central Perk Cafe. The cafe opens in June and will supposedly give out prizes to customers who come in dressed as FRIENDS characters…so I guess people with gel in their hair and wearing t-shirts tucked into khaki pants. The attention to detail will supposedly be uncanny so this should be a big draw for die-hard FRIENDS fans. I just finally hope it answers the question of how 6 more or less fully employed people can spend 60% of their lives in a cafe and still afford to live in New York…Also I hope the barista has bleach blonde hair.

Dazed and Confused at 22

Originally posted on Rosie Culture:
Your 20’s are so damn confusing that it’s even hard to explain why it’s so confusing. Things started getting pretty complicated in the teen years. You are experiencing new things, new feelings, and growing up. You feel too young, but sometimes you feel too old. How you are at age 13 majorly differs from how you are at age 19. But nothing is really expected from you. Yeah, you need to figure out what you’re doing after high school and you have to maybe get a part time job and maybe go to college. But when you turn 20, you’re already well into college and figuring everything out. Your path finally seems clear and you’ve settled into something. Then you turn 21 and all of a sudden you can go to all of these bars and buy your own alcohol. But you’re also inching closer to graduation. Things start to get a little blurry. Then you turn 22 and you need to decide EVERYTHING. Are you getting your masters? Are…

Playing House: What Toys Taught Me That School Should Have

I sat at the bottom of the staircase as my brother finished making his sandwich in the kitchen. “I didn’t really know how to hold him. I kind of held him like a football, haha.” “I’ve actually known how to hold a baby since I was…about four. By the age of six I knew how to swaddle a baby, change a diaper, and feed/burp them.” “What’s a swaddle?”

Here’s What I Mean When I Say “Pro Black Doesn’t Mean Anti-White”

Originally posted on Black Millennials:
To be pro-Black does not mean to be anti-white. To be pro-Black means to be anti-white supremacy. I wrote these words in a piece about interracial dating some months ago. The piece argues that being pro-Black means to affirm Black bodies, spirit, and culture while denouncing the evils of white supremacy as unnatural, deadly, and unsustainable. Pro-Blackness is a value system that demands the centering of Black people in a structural world designed by the white ruling corporatist class. Some elements of pro-Blackness posit the belief that white supremacy must be thoroughly destroyed for everlasting Black survival. Upon writing that piece, I’ve seen and heard many — mostly Black folk — similarly express that the pro-Black value system does not ultimately condemn “all” white people, just the omnipotent network of institutions, structures, systems, and constructs derived from white supremacist ideology, and the individual agents that empower them. From social media feeds to think pieces, I’ve seen these expressions manifested in digital space. In the physical realm, I’ve seen nonprofit professionals try to embed the sentiment in grant proposals.…

Do What You Love, Even When It Sucks

Originally posted on Ellie Hartleb:
Acclaimed sportswriter Red Smith said, “Writing is easy; you just open a vein and bleed.” As it turns out, Red was right — writing is a lonely, sometimes soul-sucking battle. Throughout my writing history, the main players have been myself, a pen, a legal pad and a laptop. After years of trying to master the craft, I have learned only a few things: Mastery is impossible, My best writing is first produced by hand in the middle of the night, and I love this, even when I hate it. On the eve of my fourth semester of college, I have realized that growing up to do what I love is more difficult (and more expensive) than I ever imagined. College has taken a lot of mental, physical and financial strain lately. It has both affirmed that my lifelong love of writing will one day be my full time job, and has made me question, more than ever, whether I really belong in this atmosphere. As it turns out, loving what I…