Tag: Writing

Relaxation time

Taylor BurianLeave a comment

How do you relax?

It’s really quite simple. Anything that I do that allows me to immerse myself into it and forget the things that have been stressing me out are things that help me relax.

Video games, reading/writing, painting miniatures while listening to music or podcasts (lately it has been Legends of Avantris and their Once Upon A Witchlight campaign on YouTube) and of course sleeping.

Each of these activities takes my focus away from the stressors of life and gives me a good distraction so that I can relax, often in an almost pseudo-meditative state of mind.

The reason I blog

Taylor BurianLeave a comment
Daily writing prompt
Why do you blog?
View all responses

At the core of it, the main reason I blog hasn’t changed, but how I use it is different.

I blog because I want to write, and this is an easy way to share what I write in a manner that I control while leaving myself open for comments/critiques.

Originally, I had started it because I wanted to share my writing, but I was trying to take outside inspiration through custom requested writing prompts from when I was streaming on Twitch. Unfortunately, I let that fall to the wayside because it was taking a lot of effort out of me to stream, write, work, and have my usual downtime gaming sessions. (I very much still have that list, so I can refer back to it when I need something.) I might go back and pick at those requests someday soon.

Now, I’m writing on my blog using the daily writing prompts as a way to push me towards consistency, which was another issue I had with the original method of streaming/writing. If I can maintain the consistency, and more or less retrain my brain to focus on/prioritize writing then I can make significant progress toward my larger writing goals.

The blog has been very helpful in all of these endeavors because it has allowed me to stretch myself in different ways. Exploring different ideas, trying different styles, and reading others blogs for perspective.

Failed Interviews

Taylor BurianLeave a comment
Daily writing prompt
Interview someone — a friend, another blogger, your mother, the mailman — and write a post based on their responses.
View all responses

An important part of any interview is getting permission first. So, technically, all interviews start with the same question.

Me: Can I interview you?

Friend: Not right now.

Me: Okay, thanks.

I asked several people and got roughly similar responses.

Me: Can I interview you for my blog?

Dog: *Stares blankly at me*

Me: *Staring back, politely waiting for a response*

Bit of a tough crowd today.

Me: Can I ask you a few questions?

Neighbor: You still have my mower.

Me: Right, about that…

Okay, so none of these are actually real occurrences, I just couldn’t be bothered to put in the effort to actually interview someone for a DAILY WRITING PROMPT. Personally, seems kind of silly, especially when it’s left so open to interpretation. My mind went in a few different directions for questions I could ask and each direction felt weird. Am I interrogating them? Am I trying to make casual conversation? Would they even be okay with me sharing their responses online?

So, no, I’m not going to interview someone.

Not even yourself?

No, not even myself. Hey, wait! Stop that!

Too late, you’ve already started.

Damnit…

So, how are things going?

THIS is how you choose to start an interview of yourself?

Well?

“Things” are going okay.

Is there anything you’d like to share?

Not particularly.

Sounds like we’ve met the criteria for an interview. Good job.

Alright, I’m done being silly. I hope you all have a great day!

The enjoyment I get out of writing

Taylor BurianLeave a comment

What do you enjoy most about writing?

Writing, as a high level topic of discussion, is such a fascinating thing. There are so many ways of categorizing or classifying a piece of writing that it’s almost mind boggling. From short, dry technical documentation to fantastical long form narratives. Massive compendiums filled with real world knowledge to serialized collections of short stories. Fiction, non-fiction, biographies, recipes, obituaries, and so on. Then there’s the next level deeper. Different authors have brought their writing styles, word choices and written dialects to life, and there is so much variety for people to discover.

One of the things I personally enjoy most about writing, when considering all of those things, is that anyone can find a place they feel they belong with their writing. That I can take my thoughts, put them down on paper or type them in on my phone (as I’m doing right now, laying in bed) and have the choice to share them like I do here.

I also enjoy the ability to take my imagination and give it a life outside of me, to create worlds in writing. To find new ways to describe something. Rewriting and clarifying the details.

This post is, I believe, the 308th daily prompt I have answered on my little journey to building my writing habits. Looking back on all of them, I can’t even begin to tell you just how many I’ve rewritten, whether in part or entirely. Along the way, though, I’ve found that I’m going to have good days and bad days. I’ll write short posts and long ones. That some will be serious while others are more light hearted or even comical to some degree, and I’ve come to enjoy all of that as well.

Writing is whatever we want it to be. That’s what ultimately makes it enjoyable. (At least, that’s what I want to think of it.)

Future worries

Taylor BurianLeave a comment
Daily writing prompt
What are you most worried about for the future?
View all responses

To be honest, this prompt made my head spin a little and gave me a smidgen of anxiety. Why?

Because there is so much going on all the time. So many things happening outside of our control, and for many of us it takes everything we have to just keep putting one foot in front of the other with such uncertainty staring us in the face. We worry so much about those things that we can’t control, and for good reason in some cases, because they can be as dire and drastic as life versus death (literally and metaphorically.)

Bringing it down to a more personal level (without going into TOO much detail) in order to answer the prompt more appropriately, I’m going to focus on things that I have control over. What worries me about the future? That the decisions I make (or hold myself back from making) don’t lead me to a future I will like. That I am simultaneously the source of, and solution to, all of my problems, and that I need to accept that to make progress in directions I want to go, there will be sacrifices and changes that may be uncomfortable to make.

There is something that I used to remind myself of, and could stand to keep reminding myself of more often again. It sounds weird until you put things into perspective, but hear me out.

Change is the only universal constant.

Change happens all the time whether we want it or not. Even the rates at which things change can themselves change. Things happening faster or slower than predicted. Change is something that we need to face and accept. Yet, sometimes, it’s hard to do that. There is only so much of the future that can be predicted, because even the futures we envision for ourselves can change dramatically. This is why I tried to remind myself of change being the only universal constant, because it will happen whether we like it or not and we just need to roll with it.

Life’s sacrifices big and small

Taylor BurianLeave a comment
Daily writing prompt
What sacrifices have you made in life?
View all responses

Life has a funny way of putting obstacles in our way that we find to be either insurmountable or require a sacrifice, but what if you have convinced yourself that it was life doing this and not yourself? The everyday choices we make can sometimes have unforeseen affects far into our future.

This prompt has me revisiting some of the thoughts I’ve had over the years regarding WHY I’ve made certain choices or remained where I’m at (at that time) in life.

After my family moved to South Dakota, the dynamic of my life changed dramatically. Sure, my family had some horses when I lived in Colorado, but that was a relatively recent change due to my Dad meeting and marrying my Stepmom, but I basically went from a suburban teenager to a “farm kid” practically over night. I couldn’t walk or ride my bike to go hang out with friends who all lived within a half mile radius of my house. I lived multiple country miles away from anyone in my class, and had a roughly eight mile drive just to get to school. I had to pick up daily chores to take care of all of the horses my parents kept “collecting” at the time (really they were mostly rescues or small number related to breeding.) This all adds up to a sacrifice that I had no say in and was forced to make. I don’t really regret having to go through that, because I was able to learn a lot about a completely different way of living and the hardships that some people face out here.

Not long after this time was when I would graduate high school and go on to college. I was fortunate that I lived close enough to the city to attend college while still living at home, so I took advantage of that, but it made it difficult to build meaningful relationships with my peers. That choice meant I sacrificed opportunities for social growth, and I’m lucky I even met the handful of people that I still talk to today.

Leading to college graduation and beyond is where I really look back at my life and think about the sacrifices I convinced myself I had to make. I continued to live at home until about the age of 25. I had a job and “friends” that I invested time into, but I was still stuck at home and helping out on the farm. Eventually, I did make the choice to move out, which meant sacrificing income (I lived at home practically rent free because I had an arrangement with my parents to do chores in exchange) that I had otherwise been funneling into video games and other entertainment. I didn’t move far away, as I still helped with chores on the farm, but the choices in living arrangements and jobs thereafter are where I feel I sacrificed the most. I never strayed far from home, from my family. While my sister moved further and further from home, chasing jobs and dreams (she did eventually move back home), I stagnated. Year after year, new things would come up that impacted my family in ways that I made the same sacrifices to stick around and help them out. I had convinced myself that I was kind of a “shield” for my family. That while my siblings were exploring the different facets of life, such as moving to different states (my sister) or settling down to start a family (like my younger brother) I was making the choice to miss out on those things in case they collectively needed me.

There was a point that I realized I COULD have ventured further afield, so to speak, and done more, but I was using my family as an excuse to not stray from my comfort zone. My own fears and insecurities were (and to a certain extent still are) my biggest obstacles that I keep making sacrifices to accommodate. Do I want to change jobs to try and make more money? Yes. Am I comfortable where I’m at because I’m afraid I won’t succeed? Also yes. In that regard, I have convinced myself in part that my sacrifices are that I’m needed where I’m at, which means I don’t grow professionally. Do I want to own a home? Yes, but the market where I live isn’t great for a single income unless you make more money than I do. Are there places I could go that are more affordable? Absolutely, but that means either sacrificing quality or moving out of state (which also means likely finding a new job.) I also happen to have a financially great living situation with my roommates, and it’s hard to part with that even though I’m also making a mental sacrifice to not having my own space to more deeply explore my hobbies, but I also sometimes use the housing market as an excuse to not leave. (I could totally afford to move into an apartment of my own again, but I’m just being picky about once again sharing walls with strangers.)

Life is full of sacrifices, even if they’re driven by fear and insecurities.

Career plans?

Taylor BurianLeave a comment

What is your career plan?

I don’t think I’ve ever truly had one. I have, more or less, just kind of fallen into whatever I stumble into or the odd opportunities that have come to me.

Unless I’m mistaken, most colleges offer some kind of career counseling where they help you, you know, PLAN and even maybe track down opportunities related to your degree path. My particular experience with that was very disappointing and underwhelming. Prior to graduating I met with a “career counselor” at most twice before they started to cancel meetings with students. Post graduation, the only support these folks gave was a weekly email of job listings in a table format with related degrees listed next to each item. That was several months after graduation, and I was immediately suspicious because I had no further contact with them prior, so I dug in a bit. Looking at the jobs listed in the email, I compared the list to the local news employee ad section. Sure enough, it was the same. So much for that job hunting assistance and career planning.

Outside of that terrible experience, I didn’t look particularly hard. I just needed to get my foot in the door somewhere and then I could (hopefully) start working my way up and deciding an actual plan. I would occasionally check that email because it served as a reminder to look, then I’d also look on Indeed.

So, beyond all of that, I never really had a “career plan” and really still don’t. That’s part of why I’ve stayed in my current job for the last eight years or so.

Maybe I could consider the writing/authorship desire to be a “plan” but I don’t have a solid timeline for trying to achieve any major goals. I’ll just get there when I get there.

When you know your life’s direction

Taylor BurianLeave a comment

What gives you direction in life?

To me, knowing your life’s direction means understanding what drives you to action and fulfills you. Having a sense of fulfillment usually leads to some amount of happiness. Unfortunately, I just kind of go with the flow most of the time, no major drive to act, so I never really get a solid sense of fulfillment to know that I’m going the right way with my life.

If I’m in the right place and time, and someone needs help in a way I can help them, then I provide people with my time and effort to make sure they get that help. If I can’t directly help them but know who can then I point them that way and make sure that they connect.

Outside of all of that, I don’t actively seek out opportunities to help.

In retrospect, as I’m writing this post out, I’d say my lack of drive is probably because I’ve never made a connection with helping people in ways that I know I can do continuously. Like some authors who write books and know that their stories have helped readers around the world, which would help drive them to keep writing. The ways I’ve helped are always relatively brief. (Does this make sense?)

Maybe this is part of why I’m pushing through with writing every day.

Words to live by

Taylor Burian2 Comments

Do you have a quote you live your life by or think of often?

So many people throughout history have provided wise words that hold some measure of “magic” that makes them resonate with others. There are many choices, from simple sentences to long form narratives, that we can choose from. When I first read this prompt I couldn’t decide where I wanted to go with my answer because I have four different sources of inspiration, but I think I’ll share them all with you in the order of most consistent impact they have had on my life.

The first one is simple and incredibly important. One that I think should resonate with everyone, and if you’ve watched the recent Fallout series from Amazon then you’ve heard it. It’s “The Golden Rule”. Do unto others as you would have done unto you. Now, I try to remind myself of this every day, because I believe there is so much truth to those words, however, I take it a step further. I don’t want to let people walk all over me or push me around. I won’t strike first, because I wouldn’t want to be hit, but I won’t let someone who WOULD strike first have that power over me. I won’t show them unnecessary kindness or respect if I can clearly see they mean to harm me or have otherwise ill intent. I show them the kind of treatment I would except for myself if I were in their shoes. I’ll leave it at that and let you all mull it over.

The second one is just as short and simple, if a slight bit fanciful. It comes from the game Tales of Symphonia, spoken by the character Kratos. Courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality. I don’t necessarily remind myself of this day in and day out like The Golden Rule, but I like to remind myself of this when I feel like I need to take a leap of faith. It falls in the same realm as “nothing ventured, nothing gained” and all the other phrases that sound similar.

The third and fourth ones I’ll lump together more so because they’re too long to contain in a simple blog post. Third one is very much like the second one and is probably much more familiar to many people. It’s The Man in the Arena from Teddy Roosevelt. Regardless of his history and controversies from his lifetime, there is a measure of truth to his words. I’ll let you choose to look it up so that I can move right into the fourth one from Bruce Lee. I find his essay The Passionate State of Mind to be a wonderful window into the minds and souls of individuals. Self-awareness, ego, pride, self-worth. How we see and value ourselves as compared to others. Well, I keep articles bookmarked for both of these sources of inspiration so that at any given time, if I feel the need to, I can refer back to them. I would encourage you all to look into them and see how they resonate with you.

Fave holiday?

Taylor BurianLeave a comment
Daily writing prompt
What is your favorite holiday? Why is it your favorite?
View all responses

Earlier this year for Bloganuary I talked about how I see July as basically the epitome of Summer. Adding onto this with today’s writing prompt, my favorite holiday is probably July 4th, or Independence Day, here in the States. However, it’s only my favorite holiday because of the timing and not 100% for what it represents, because that has been used for some measure of political manipulation.

Anyways, in more detail, it is my favorite holiday because it’s hot outside, you can stay out late, there are fireworks (when used responsibly and respectfully), and we do lots of grilling and water balloon fights. My family has an absolute blast around this time every year.

Simple and straightforward answer for today.