Moments in Time

Today is 20 Something Bloggers 6th Blog Swap. So, the members of the community who decided to participate has a partner. My partner is Jennie White, the writer of the blog Generation You. So she is guest posting for me on today and kindly enough have written such an awesome post. Don’t forget to visit her blog to read my post! Now presenting to you, today’s guest writer Jennie White!

Hi Guys, sorry, but this is not Kelvin! I am taking over Moments in Time on this fine Monday. Kelvin has been so generous and awesome to let me guest post over here and I am really excited about it. For about the past week, I’ve been exploring Kelvin’s blog, Moments in Time. I am sure you all know this by now, but our friend Kelvin here is a beautiful writer. He’s deep, descriptive, and thought provoking which are all crucial for a successful Blogger. In Kelvin’s most recent post, “The World of Blogging,” he talked about why he blogs and why blogging isn’t for the faint of heart. It got me thinking, why should we blog?

Why is it important for us to twenty-somethings to sit down and pour out our thoughts on the Internet? We don’t blog to give our problems a microphone, we blog to connect to one another. I’ve “met” or connected with people from all over the world. I mean I am guest posting for Kelvin who lives in Tennessee! Kelvin and I probably would’ve never met had it not been for blogging.

This might sound like a far out comparison, but I often like to compare bloggers to a hockey team. Often people don’t recognize why people blog. They don’t understand the commitment and passion that goes into blogging. Just like I’ve never really understood hockey players waking up at 4 am to skate in a freezing cold ice rink. Hockey players and bloggers alike have a deep routed passion and the support from their teammates or fellow bloggers is key. We keep showing up to our blogs and to the rink because we’re getting this high and rush from the support and feedback of our peers.

Just like a hockey player, bloggers need to be tough. They need to show commitment and show passion. Use your blog to broadcast your commitment and passion. Who knows who will stumble upon it from Google one day? Commit yourself to your readers and your network; blogging is all about supporting one another. Your thoughts are more valuable if they’re out there, available for people to react, agree, and disagree. What good are your thoughts locked up inside that brain of yours? Trust me, we want to hear them!

So yes, maybe I did just compare blogging to hockey, you’ve probably never heard that one before, but I really liked how in Kelvin’s post, “The World of Blogging,” he stressed the importance of staying committed to your blog.

So, I have not written anything lately in this space. On the brighter side, it will be the weekend and tomorrow is Friday! 20 Something Bloggers sent out e-mails for their 6th 20SB Blog Swap to those who are participating, letting us know about our partners. This is my third time joining the fun and swapping posts with other bloggers. It’s a thrill to see what random person I will get partnered up with. So on next Monday, the 26th, you will get a chance to see Jennie’s (her blog is Generation You) post on this blog and mine will be on hers.  You can find both of our (awesome) posts on next week!

I’m noticing a trend of comments from anonymous people. I’m not saying that there is nothing wrong with that, but I would like to know who they written by instead making a connection of the authors being random people. Sometimes I find it interesting to read comments from others. I would have to say that. But I think they tend to not want to be known. Sometimes I write things and not think, one some topics, about editing a post. Blogs… if you have one and most do, you have to make it your own. No matter what way you blog, in whatever writing style. It’s your account, your space, make it your own. I believe that a lot of people, from what I read from 20SB, have their own feelings and thoughts when it comes down to reading blogs. But I am not going to talk much in depth about blogging because I’m sure you may have read and talked with others all things blogging. People tend to blog for different reasons and you know the whole deal with that. I do tend to try to blog each week. Even more so I like the conversations and the comments that are left because they help to spark new ideas and perspectives. Not everyone read blogs will comment. Only when they feel needed to comment. There are conversations out there about people leaving useless comments that do not contribute to the conversations. Sometimes the comments may strike up a hardcore debate; whereas others just want to leave their remarks.

You may be wondering exactly what I’m talking about. I’m really not talking about anything specific. Overall, blogging to me is like being able to write and keep an electronic journal publicly or privately-for yourself or those select people. I may not be a complete expert, but I will surely enough give you a best and complete answer to any question that may be asked. But I think my perspective of blogging has changed and still is changing.  From classroom blogging in the English Composition class to just continuing blogging on my own.It’s like almost everyone is blogging. Some have been blogging for 4 years while others have started within the last year or few months. I will say that blogging may not be for everyone. Some start off blogging, but then all of a sudden they stop writing and disappear. And this may happen to those who really have a unique style and we enjoy their blog. And the next thing we know, they stop posting and we only get the few posts that are still up to read and cherish. I even have seen this happen a few times. Where the good bloggers stop posting and I wonder where they have gone off to. Johnonline has the statement “Blogging is not a habit. It’s a lifestyle” on this blog. I think that is quite interesting that he makes that statement. Could blogging be a lifestyle and not a habit? A hobby? Or something we think would be fun?

Well, you may notice that there has not been a post written in a couple of days, more so a week or two. Don’t worry, I have not fallen off the cliff of a mountain.. not yet at least (laughing out loud). But there will be a post soon. So much has been going on over the last few weeks and another week until Fall Break. Woohoo! I’m excited. I hope you all had a wonderful week and the weekend is going good for everyone. There have been a couple of guest bloggers that have accepted the invitation to guest blog for me. Sometimes the blogger needs a bit of creative boost and go away from the work space to muster up the next best thing to write about. To put the cap on this quick update post, here is a video for you to enjoy… It’s one of my favorite.

 

It's been awhile since I've sat down and watched TV. Maybe a year or so. But, from when I did, I remember a commercial for Audi. Clearly, this commercial was posed for the young, up-and-coming gen-y. If you don't remember the one, let me give you the run-down:

Behind a stark, stoic desk sat a stark, stoic man. In front of him: a younger man, much less comfortable in the office filled with deep mahogany furniture.

The elder of the two dogmatically laid out the other's life for him.

"You will attend one of these three [Ivy-league] Schools"

"You will enter one of these three [high-paying, upper-echelon] professions"

"You will drive one of these three luxury cars..." and, of course, this is when the Audi pulls up providing the perfect option #4.

What Audi did well was identify a foundational paradigm shift in the mindset of this generation: we're willing to take the chance behind door #4. We are making choices that dumbfound our elders, but seem natural to us, albeit a bit risky from time to time. But that's what excites us. We know this is our life, and we're set on living.

One year ago, I walked - or rather flew - through my door #4. I left the comfort of my hometown, my friends, family, managerial position in retail, roommates and culture to fly to the other side of the world and teach English in Taiwan for a year.

What I learned in that year I will carry with me the rest of my life. My view of culture (both mine and foreign), and my view of myself altered entirely. The details of how and what are chronicled on my blog, but I'm not here to bore you with that.

What I'm here to say is this: the rules of the game have changed. Door #4 is not only a more viable option, but a more accessible one.

On the rise in the US, and already widely accepted in much of Europe and Australia, is the gap year. This is the idea of taking a break from life and doing like I did: getting out. It's generally before entering university, after graduation, or occasionally in between (though the "adult gap year" is on the rise as well).

As the world gets smaller every day, and technology makes life and communication more mobile, leaving for a year (or 6 months, or a month) becomes easier.

There's increasing research that the "gap year" has unseen benefits that employers are taking notice from. Economist.com reported on researchers finding an association between those who have lived abroad and an elevated level of creativity.

But here's my beef with the "gap year" mentality. It leaves the traveler with the idea that the year is a "break" from her/his life.

Let me tell you, that year is as much a part of your life as your 4 years in university. Or getting hired at your dream gig.

Over at The Drift, we have a saying: The Journey is the Destination.

We've been programed to think our life is a succession of events: High School; University; Career; Family; Retirement; Death.

That's boring.

Really.

If I can encourage readers to one thing, it's this: Don't be afraid to do something different. Something you never thought you'd do. And when you do, remember what you do along the way to your "life goals (or "destinations")" is just as much of your life as those big events. Because Life isn't about the big events; life started yesterday, and yesterday is gone. Don't wait for some far off event to start living.

More than any point in history, any generation before us, the door on option number four has blown wide open. The rules of normalcy have changed, and the rise of information and technology have given us the keys to our life. Take them and use them. Find what you're passionate about through your door #4, then walk, no, fly through and live your life.

Because Life is a Journey, friends. And the Journey is the Destination.


[Photo found here through Flickr's Creative Common]