Challenges (the 31st of May, 2013)

In which I discuss challenges (and get a bit sidetracked).

So. This is an update of sorts.

 

There’s this website called Stumbleupon. It’s this fantastic tool that randomly brings you to different websites based on the interests you decide. My interests include dogs and games and music and things of that nature. And then I have the cliché girl interests like complexity, philosophy, culture, and, of course, jewelry.

 

But I was just stumbled to this website detailing different 30-day challenges, and I feel inspired. It’s almost June, and the time is ticking! I should do some of these challenges! What do I have to lose?

 

Time? I don’t think so.

 

So these are the challenges I’m thinking about taking on. I’ll put them in bold font and offer explanations and reasons and excuses and such.

 

Take one picture each day for 30 days.

 

I tried this before. It was called Picaday and it was on Twitter. The point of it was to take a picture every day for the entire year, and I got to February or March before I quit. 30 days, however, is totally doable.

 

Also, there’s something really exciting about creating a new album on Facebook. I enjoy seeing the new album and thinking hey, I get to name this album and describe this album and post pictures in this album…all at the same time!

 

Also, this doesn’t seem that difficult. I didn’t quit Picaday because it was difficult, but because I got bored. Besides, I get to take deep-and-thoughtful pictures and add filters (because Instagram) and then post them to Facebook AND my blog (maybe). I can do this.

 

Re-evaluate one long-held belief each day for 30 days.

 

This is a really good challenge for many reasons.

 

I have changed quite a bit since high school. I’m not saying I’m an entirely new person and all that cliché noise. I’m merely stating that some (read: SOME) political views have changed. Religious views have changed. Music tastes have changed. My hair style has changed. The amount of shoes I own has changed.

 

And long-held beliefs? They probably have changed as well. And it’ll be a really interesting experience reevaluating what I believe. I should write them down beforehand or something.

 

Now that I think about it, the hardest part of this challenge will be to think of the beliefs. I have no problem reevaluating them, but coming up with them is a whole different story. Or…is actually coming up with the beliefs part of the challenge? If I make up the rules (which I do because why not), then the reevaluation is the only real part of the challenge and therefore I can list beliefs all day and all night.

 

If you don’t like it, oh well. I make the rules.

 

Write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days.

 

That’s gonna be really difficult. No, seriously, I have tried on numerous attempts to write a novel and it has failed.

 

On top of this, fifty thousand words? Fifty thousand words? Fifty thousand words?!

 

I can barely write a 2,000 word blog passage!

 

This will be the really big challenge.

 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m really looking forward to the challenge. I just know it’s going to be very difficult for me to sit down and think of a plot and then write words about characters and landscapes and tables and things.

 

I’ve actually been thinking about this quite a bit. I started writing this passage on the 28th, so I’ve had time to think about what plot I would pick. I have a few ideas I’d love to explore, but…I don’t know yet. I guess it’ll all depend on who I share this writing to, if anyone.

 

...

 

I had a couple of other challenges, but I decided against them. It wasn’t worth adding more challenges to the three challenges I already feel inspired to do. The entire point of me sharing of my inspiration to do challenges was because I’m inspired, not obligated.

 

Also, as much as an update on my life is super important, who really cares about that sort of thing? I thought I would express my feelings on challenges since the actual discussion of things related (or kind of related) to my life is more of what I wanted this blog to be about.

 

While I’m thinking about it, I think blogs tend to be self-centered. It’s in the nature of the blog, however, so I don’t blame the writer for this self-centeredness. The entire point of a blog is to talk about things in the writer’s life.

 

I have a problem with this. Don’t get me wrong, I like to talk about myself as much as the next person, but sometimes it’s a little too much for my liking. I’m not afraid of sharing too much information, or too personal of information. This is the beauty of a blog; you are given time to actually think about what you say before you publish it for the entire world to see it.

 

My problem with having a self-centered blog is that it easily becomes a place to whine about problems. Going back to the point about what I said about the internet, you don’t have to directly deal with the other person when you talk bad about someone online. It’s a wall that shields you from the hurt feelings and the shame and the anger.

 

Frankly, I don’t want to whine about problems in my life. Sure, I have problems and I whine about said problems, but I don’t want to whine about these problems on a blog. People shouldn’t have to read that. (People probably don’t read this, so I won’t have to worry much about that, but I digress.)

 

In fact, I laid out the point of the blog in my first post: I want to discuss deep and thoughtful things I see in my life. Deep and thoughtful thoughts, feelings, actions. I don’t really care what. The point is, it’s about my opinions, not about my life. Therefore, I should keep it that way.

 

Getting back to challenges…

 

Challenges can either be the dumbest/pointless things ever or the greatest/smartest things ever. At least, all of the challenges I have seen fall into these two categories. And the people that usually do challenges �" well, I don’t really know. I’ve seen a lot of different people do challenges. I don’t really think the challenges attract a specific type of person. You might find a pattern of some sort, but I have yet to pick it out.

 

I did a challenge once. It was a 30 day drawing challenge and it was pointless but really fun. I can’t draw to save my life so I drew a bunch of stick figures and thought/speech bubbles and sometimes I drew a cat. Other than that, I can’t really draw. Can’t draw dogs, can’t draw books, can’t draw burgers.

 

This is all the background experience I need. In fact, the point of challenges is not to have lots of experience. The point of a challenge is (you guessed it) to challenge you to think about things surrounding your life. You think about friends, and family, and your personal identity. It helps you paint a clearer picture of who you are as a character, as a friend, and as a human being.

 

Even with the 30 day drawing challenge, I found myself at a loss for what my dreams were and how I could accurately depict them using a pen and a blank piece of paper. Some of the things I was asked to draw about were pretty deep things. Some were not (favorite food, family, favorite TV character, etc.) but others actually made me think.

 

So I can really see the point in doing one of these challenges. They press you to question who you are and what you believe. They require thought, motivation, and determination. Now that I really think about it, challenges can be a really deep thing.

 

So I’ll take these three challenges on during the merry month of June, and I’ll be reporting now and then. I hope to actually include some of the long-standing beliefs into my blog. That would be pretty cool.

 

I can also include some of the pictures, if I remember. I can include them in my blog posts during June and then be on my merry way with that.

 

As for the novel…for some reason, I’ve had major self-esteem problems when it comes to sharing my writing. I’ve been writing since the first grade, and this has never gone away. I don’t even know why I’m comfortable with the idea of others reading my writing, but maybe I’ll come across an answer sometime in the near future.

 

When it’s a blog, I find it to be less casual and more about my opinions. When someone comments on a blog post, I take it more as “Oh you don’t like my opinion” rather than “Oh you hate the piece of my soul I just put on the internet for judgmental people to see. I’ll just go cry in a corner now.”

 

And don’t worry; I’m not like that with all my writing. My blog is a perfect example. Some of the crappy poetry I write is another example. But novels and even short stories that I work so hard on and give all my time and effort contain such a large part of my heart and soul. The last thing I would ever want is to post it and then be crushed by the cold hard truth that it’s not good enough in the eyes of the internet.

 

I don’t think this happens as much as I give credit for (by “this,” I mean my soul getting crushed by judgmental people). Sometimes, I think I write really insightful and deep portions of dialogue and description and I’m so proud of myself. Most of the time, I tend to write what I call a “rough start.” I need to go over it again and again and again until I feel really good about it.

 

However, this can take weeks or months. Sometimes it never happens.

 

In any event, I’ll have to really debate whether or not the novel would actually be shared.

 

Okay, I have nothing else to say for this. Since it’s been three days since I’ve actually gotten this idea (plus, June starts tomorrow), I should post this and be done with it so I can get the challenges started.

 

You’ll hear from me soon.

 

Author's Note

Let me know.