Thousands of Books

I don’t have many regrets. I’ve had a few. But then again, too few to mention. One thing that I do wish was a little tweaked was my reading capabilities as a child. I didn’t read a lot as a child. I would go to the library and check out books but only because they looked pretty and it was nice to carry them home. But the books just laid scattered around my house, untouched and unopened. I’m lucky though because despite having parents who do not like to read at all, I grew up a bookworm. The albeit few (not that few though, but not a lot) books that I’ve read, I’ve retained in memory–absorbing the characters and the stories, carrying them with me through life.


Recently, I’ve met someone who has read thousands of books, and it shows. They’re geniuses. It makes me wonder – would I be a genius right now if I had read a lot as a child? I’ll be honest, sometimes I feel like an airhead. Despite doing “well” in school, I do wish that I was smarter, retained information quickly, and understood things.


However, one should not dwell so hard on regret. There’s nothing you can do about the past – but the present is here for you to change. That’s why, one of my resolutions for 2015 is to read 100 books. I hope to read a wide range of books, but mostly I want to read more of the classics. I haven’t read Jane Eyre or Moby Dick but now that I’m willing to read these things, it might be better than having read them when I was younger and not really interested. I have this cooky goal of having my “read” pile to be in the thousands. Right now, it’s around 200. Goodreads is a great site to keep me motivated and document the books I’ve read, so that’s cool.


I guess the point of this post is, whatever you’re regretting of the past, there’s always always always time to fix it NOW. To improve. To broaden your mind.


Wish me luck!

Things To Write About In Your Journal

If you've seen my journal video on Youtube (link in the sidebar), then you know how much I love to journal. It was my first hobby since I was around seven years old and I haven't stopped since. But I'll leave my history of journaling for a different post. You're reading this because you want to start keeping a journal but have no idea what to write, or where to start. We're in the fresh beginning of 2k15, and your resolution is to "keep a journal" - and let me tell you: you couldn't have picked a more worthwhile resolution to keep! I mean, who ACTUALLY goes to the gym? Am I right?

Here are some ideas on how to get started. I hope it inspires you...

What's up. This is probably the most obvious thing to start with when writing in your journal. Simply put: what happened in your day? Who did you meet? What did you do? What did you eat? If you're like me, a normal day would be absolutely, overwhelmingly boring. That's ok. There will be plenty of moments that are going to happen in your life that you would want to keep in store somehow because if you're like me, you have terrible memory. I'm 21 years old, and high school is a complete blur to me, but I'm so happy that I documented what I learned in my English class, who pissed me off, and every detail of my senior prom. Trust me, you'll thank your past self too.

Instead of venting on Facebook, vent to your journal. Don't be that person who posts melancholy song lyrics as a passive way to let everyone know you're feeling down. Sorry to break this to you: but no one cares. But your journal cares -- your journal cares deeply. Vent out all of your feelings and frustrations on paper. Believe me, the tension will release from your chest and you won't get that embarrassed feeling you get when you check your Facebook hours later and see that you've whined to all your friends and friendly strangers through a long string of sad statuses.  

Catalogue your dreams. If you're like me, you get crazy dreams that people on LSD envy. Keep your journal by your bed stand and once you wake up from your dream about having a love letter business with Matthew McConaughey, jot down every detail you can remember before the adventure slips away. You won't regret it once you read it over later. You automatically have one up against your friends who claim they "don't even have any dreams." 

Write book reviews. Journals are a great way to document how you REALLY felt about that book you just finished without fear of the author or any die-hard fan finding out (of course, you could have loved the book too). Often times, when I'm writing a book review to post online, I hold back, because I don't want to actually share any of my personal stories that made me really connect with the book. But your journal is the place to write all of your raw, honest thoughts on anything. Be it book, film - anything.

"Quotes" Keep your favorite song lyrics, quotes, that funny thing your dad said, all in one place! I also jot down the song I have on repeat so as to give an extra detail as to the type of atmosphere I'm having as I'm writing my day's entry.

News Journals are a great way to look back to see how life was like three, five, seven years ago. Write down what's happening in the world and your reactions to them. You're adding more value to your journals by adding some history.

Keep people in their place. Remember that Friends episode where Phoebe writes down everything Monica and Chandler say, and when they have a misunderstanding, she can refer to her journal to settle the score? That's exactly what you can do! When people tell you "that's not what happened," you tell them "It's right here in black and white!" Again, it's all about having the upper hand amongst your friends ;)

Be generous. Document your family and friend's lives as well, if you want to. It'll be cool to tell them, "Hey remember March 15, 2001 when you had diarrhea? Good times, good times." I reminisced with my best friend reading back on the crazy things we did together and said, and we had the best time laughing at our past, stupid selves. 

Say thank you. If you have nothing to write about, it's always healthy to mention what you're grateful for, even if it's the small things like "getting a seat on the subway during rush hour after a long day of telling people that men's underwear is on the one and half floor and then having to explain how to get to the 1 1/2 floor." 

Keep track of your 'selves' Let's face it: we're constantly evolving. How we were two years ago was a completely different person - with different interests, values, world views - than the person you are right now. It's nice to sometimes look back on how you were and reflect on how far you've come. Because essentially, everything is temporary. It's nice to hold on to things just in case you need some past inspiration. I can't tell you how helpful it was for me as a 19 year old depressed college student to read the uplifting, hopeful words from my 17 year old self. It re-ignited something in me - something that I had forgotten. Journaling can save you.

On that note, don't be discouraged if you can't write in a journal every day. I certainly don't. Sometimes I can go for weeks without ever finding the time to write an update. But keep at it - eventually the entries will pile up and you'll have something to look back on, should you choose to (sometimes it helps to just dump all of your words onto the page and lock it up and never look at it again. I've done that as well). Your future self will thank you. 

Happy journaling! xx