Hey coon, I’m trying to write an original book and for some reason I’ve gotten bad writers block and everything I write I feel isn’t good enough and it’s putting me in a bad head space and really depressing me. Is there anything you do if/when you have writer block that you find helps you or maybe just give some words of encouragement? Sorry for the more sad ask It’s just been bringing me down. Hope you’re having a beautiful day. <3 Jaz
Hello, buddy!!!
First of all, don’t you ever, EVER again say sorry for a ‘more sad’ ask. If you ever apologize again for something like that IMMA BITE YOU >:( U NO SAY SORRY FOR BEING SAD! U NO SORRY FOR TALKING ABOUT IT WITH A FREN! U HAPPY AMIDST THE SADNESS BECAUSE U HAVE A FRIEND U CAN TELL UR PROBLEMS TO!!!!!!
Really, it’s more than just okay. I don’t know if you’ve seen it before, but I’ve said a couple times when someone asks or brings the subject up, this isn’t a happy and safe place because every ask is happy. Even the sad asks make of this a happy and safe place, because even when the ask is sad, you know what that implies? That the person behind the screen got a chance to vent their thoughts. Hence, there’s a little weight off their chest. Getting to talk about what’s bothering you is always the first big step for recovery. It may seem small, and it is, but it takes courage to take that step. And from that point on, it’s snowball effect; it was a tiny movement, yes, but if it wasn’t for that little first movement, we wouldn’t have the big ball of progress that happens later on.
And besides that, it implies some trust. You’re giving some trust on me, and isn’t that beautiful? And besides that, I sometimes can come up with some advice, or with at least sincere comfort. And isn’t that beautiful too??? So don’t say sorry. I’m here not just for the happy asks. I’m here for both the happy and the sad asks, because, I said it myself, didn’t I? Happy and safe place. And that includes safety to your feelings and thoughts. So don’t hesitate about it, don’t think that I don’t ‘like’ sad asks, or that I’ll be upset about it. And don’t you ever, ever apologize again. Aye?
Ahaha…I didn’t mean to rant about that!! I just wanted to keep that clear. Can’t let a buddy think they did wrong when it’s fine!!
Aye, I see the problem.
How to get over writer block, huh…
Well, okay, let me add a keep reading here! If anyone else is reading this and wants to see, go ahead. The only inconvenience is that I talk too much, so this isn’t a quick guide, it’s just personal rant trying to help a buddy, but if you’re curious, you click that link c:
OKAY SO FIRST OF ALL
Congratulations on starting an original book!!! WOW, BUDDY, THAT’S PHENOMENAL! THAT’S FANTASTIC!!! Holy moogles above, I’m SO excited and so happy for you!!!! :D
It takes something to start a project like that. Mostly because I know you care about what you’re doing, you’re not just one of those random people that write mere trash not knowing what they’re talking about. I think I’ve never read anything from you, but I don’t need that. From our interactions and the way you write even if it’s just in a conversation, I can tell for sure that you care and you’re GREAT at it. Besides, you wouldn’t be stressing this much if you wouldn’t care a bout it, right?
That’s your first big hint that should help you calm down and be happier about it; the fact that you’re putting a lot of you into it. All this stress and the way the block is depressing you, all these feelings and all these sensations, you wouldn’t be feeling them if you didn’t care. If it wasn’t something special for you. If you didn’t want it to turn out fantastically.
I don’t mean to say that you need to be stressed and depressed every minute as you work on this, no. It’s okay once, twice, every here and there, but every time that it happens, you take that negativity and you see it from the other side. Because, in the end, the fact that you feel all that is because you care, and if you care, don’t you think that that means that you’ll give the best of yourself?? And that because of that, the results will be AMAAAAAAAAAAAAAZING!?!??!
I trust in that!!! Sometimes, the more excited you are and the more you care about a project talks about how much effort you’re willing to put into it. I know it’s just a fic, but look at Iggy and the Beast, for example. How I can so easily get nervous and anxious about it, and yet, how nice it is, how much effort and love I?m putting into it. It’s the same. You worry because you care, and if you care, it means you’re working and will work on it with every fiber of your body. And that, my friend, hard work given with all your might…that is half the way to your goal. :)
Now, as for advice as itself on what I do when I have a writer block, that’s pretty tough to ask…
Sometimes, it’s the things every internet page recommends you. Listen to music that fits the mood or scene you’re writing. Take a breath. Brainstorming (i was about to say ‘shower of brains’ ahahahhaha). And they work, they do sometimes.
But you know what I feel you need? The way you describe your block and how it makes you feel, the…essence or vibe or color that your ask as itself radiates. It sort of tells me of the one thing that took me so long to understand.
To get rid of your block, stop writing.
Sounds weird, doesn’t it? Like, you feel you’re too slow at running no matter how hard you practice, and the trainer tells you the best thing you can do is sit down and do nothing. Or you feel like you’re not doing progress with your new jutsu and Kakashi tells you the best you can do is go rest (AHA! Saw your comment on my Naruto post recently! <3). But wasn’t Kakashi right every time? I mean, I can’t in a mILLION LIVES, COMPARE MYSELF TO ALMIGHTLY LORD AND GOD KAKASHI BUT LIKE. IT WAS A WAY OF SAYING IT.
You know, Jaz…sometimes what we need to progress at what we’re doing is stop what we’re doing for one second. I don’t mean forever. I mean for one second, and by one second I don’t mean that advice of ‘go take a walk and take a fresh breath and then try again’, nope. I mean, three days, two weeks, one month. Not just a minute or an hour.
Creating isn’t meant to give you a hard time, and it definitely isn’t meant to depress you. Art is meant to be a way to express our feelings, not to worsen them. Art, indeed, has never meant to be a way to heal; what heals us is to vent out our feelings,w hich we do through art, but art as itself isn’t mean for the task. Same for the other way around, it can transmit great negativity, but it’s never meant to build it. And if you’re getting some out of it, then you need to stop.
We have limits. Physical, emotional, in every way we have limits. That includes the limits of our creative process. As much as we love creating, we’re not meant to do it 24/7. Nobody is meant to do anything 24/7 other than blinking and breathing and existing, but no activity is meant for such amounts of time. You tire yourself. And what do you expect to happen when you exhaust yourself but destruction?
Think of it like a physical challenge. Imagine writing is running, and you’re training to jump into the junior leagues or whatever the first professional round is called. So you, OBVIOUSLY, go to train, right? And what do you do to get better and faster at running? Well, you practice. You run. So you run and you run and you run. And then you hit your limits, that point where the muscles are at one movement of breaking and your lungs are all stressed and you as a whole are feeling terrible.
BUT RUNNING IS YOUR PASSION,R IGHT??? AND IF IT’S YOUR PASSION AND YOU WANT TO GET REALLY GOOD AT IT, YOU HAVE TO PRACTICE EVERY DAY ALL DAY, RIGHT?
So you keep going and going.
And I assume you know the whole mess that happens then,r ight?
This whole thing about how…when you keep going after you hit your limits, you start having a backwards effect. Instead of getting faster, you’re getting slower. Instead of running better, you’re starting to stumble. Instead of getting healthier, you’re damaging your lungs, heart, other organs, and your muscles. And when the time to race comes, you’re so worn out, that you don’t make it 5 meters past the starting line before you’re already wasted.
…same for writing and any other creative process, Jaz, my dear.
You can’t push yourself too hard for too long. There’s limits. Writing every day is super healthy, but not for too long that it starts stressing you and depressing you. Sometimes, writer blocks hit randomly or for this or that. But you know what I think is happening to you, specifically? That you’re over-worrying about the book, and you’re so nervous, and you’re working too hard in it, that your brain went “That’s it, I can’t take more. I need a break from this specific thing”, and of course, naturally, it shut your writing spirits down.
And if you keep insisting on breaking it yourself, you’ll only worsen it, because we CAN’T fight against the brain’s orders! Brain wouldn’t block something if it wasn’t for OUR health. And if you insist on trying to write and write and write and write, you’ll be hitting that metal wall your brain set, and when it weakens, brain will put a SECOND, thicker, stronger barrier, and a third and a fourth AND HOW DO YOU PLAN ON BREAKING DOWN FOUR UNBREAKABLE BARRIERS, HM?
Your brain knows you’re tired. It knows this is poisoning you…your brain is only trying to block what it’s started to identify as an enemy. Don’t insist on making it worse. And don’t make of writing your enemy. Writing is an ally, a friend, a sister, a mother, a deity of its own, and it needs respect and love. Not your brain’s hatred.
And I tell you all this from experience. Why do you think the Beauty and the Beast updates take so long in between? I’m rather fast at writing (my long asks show it), so 15k is a thing of 2 or 3 days for me. So why aren’t updates weekly?
Because I learned all this the bad way. Because I was starting to let writing, my dearest beloved art, transform into a poisoning monster that ate me. I wasted and exhausted myself worrying too much, writing too much, and giving too much, until I started doing it by force, like something that I feared but still had to do, until writing was not my friend but my owner. And no one owns no one here. You and your writing are friends. Should be friends.
Maybe you didn’t notice, because I didn’t say it explicitly, but the fic’s updates were relatively fast, and the one day I started playing Comrades and everything I talked about was Comrades, and then Dragon Age, and the updates were slower. It was because I learned that only when I stop can I continue, as ironic as it sounds.
And sometimes it happens to specific things. Right now I’m VERY motivated for the Corqi fic, but when it’s about my ask requests or Iggy and the Beast, I’ve got to take these breaks in between. Because my asks had that effect on me too. I would answer 12k to each, sometimes 2 a day, every day…of course I exhausted myself beyond the limits.
So that’s my current advice to you, because it feels like you’re on this one specific problem, Jaz.
I wouldn’t know when it’s the ‘right’ time to come back. I don’t think there’s one specific ‘right time’. So long you let yourself rest as much as you need, then you can go try take the computer and open the document again. If, even before you write one word, it weighs in your mood, you’re not ready yet. So go back to take a break from this project, then come back some other day and try again.
And I forgot to say, remember creators are always their greatest and toughest judge...and know that you can’t see your work as everybody else does, because you saw it grow. You remember its ugly stages. You can’t see the real beauty of it. It’s okay to correct as many things as you need to feel comfortable, but know that there’s not a thing like ‘perfect’. Not one thing is except math. But when it comes to art? Not a thing is perfect. Especially not to the artist/creator.
Remember, and I tell you this because many art and music and theatre and literature teachers told me in my high school, your art is always a thousand times more beautiful than you can see. It’s not advice or encouragement. It’s a fact.
And those are my advices to you, dear Jaz. I’m really excited and proud knowing you’ve taken up on such a journey, but I worry you may turn it into poison. Do not. Long journeys need good rests, or you’ll stay stuck in the middle and won’t reach the goal, right? So you take it easy. There’s no deadlines. There’s no pressure other than your own. Take it easy; create for the outside, don’t destroy on the inside.
Dear Jaz, I hope to hear from you again regarding this. And if this doesn’t work, you tell me and I try to figure something else out, because, as a reminder, I’m no expert and can only talk from experience!! But it’s okay. If the solution that works for me doesn’t work for you, it doesn’t mean you’re broken. We just operate differently and you need another sort of medicine, and we’ll look for it together if needed, okay? <3
Thank you for the good wishes and the trust, dear Jaz. And thanks for giving me a chance to put my thoughts in order (I just wrote ‘my orders into thought’ lmao) and to let me reflex!!
I wish the best for you and that original book. I bet it’s going to be phenomenal. :)
Greatest of success, dear Jaz! I hope you’re having a most beautiful night! Lots of raccoon hugs to you, my dear friend. <3
About DA:I, you know that I love Cullen, I really do.
The only flaw he has is that he wants to fix everything that doesn’t involve his personal life by SMASHING THINGS.
Seriously, sometimes I don’t pick him as leader of the missions of the war table because he’s so savage omg
Mission is like “There are some beasts attacking our soldiers because we’re in their habitat”.
Leliana is like “It’s partly our fault. We’re in their home eating their food. Maybe we can try to relocate the beasts somewhere they can thrive and live normally.”
Cullen is like “Holy gods of the heavens, that is TERRIBLE, let me send a group to slay those beasts.”
Omg Cullen, what did they ever do to you, hahaha
Mission is like “This king’s adviser is an evil wizard.”
Josephine is like “We have to make the king see the truth. Let’s talk with him.”
Cullen is like “Oh my god no, that’s TERRIBLE, let’s go ambush the adviser and then we kill him.”
Mission is like “Minor problem”, Josephine is “Let’s be kind”, Leliana is “Let’s be subtle”, and Cullen is “Let’s KILL IT”.
Every time I read his suggestions I want to grab him by that squishable face and tell him
Cullen, my dear. My ray of light. Feather of an angel, cutie pie, guest of my heart. You shy cute creature, wonderful human being, my darling and sweetheart. Adorable little stuttering potato. Chill.
Tumblr sucks and are my ask so! Did you know that after Ignis goes blind, if you press attack near him, he stumbles and then Prompto and Gladio yell at Noct? It makes me feel guilty whenever it happens but then Noct goes on to try and say it was an accident and? How do you accidentally swing a sword and hit a blind person? Poor Ignis has nothing to say in his own defense though :(
BAD, BAD Tumblr that eats asks! >:( Thanks for sending it in again!!
Ah, my. Yes, I had noticed, but even despite that, reading it is like a reminder and it’s like adding salt to the wound that I forgot I had, hahahah :’D IT BURNS.
I declare myself guilty for trying to swing a sword nearby blind Ignis in Cartanica on purpose, just to see what happened or if Gladio got mad. I wasn’t expecting him to really get mad, though. :’(
Also Prompto! It surprised me from him, to be honest. I knew Gladio was angry and so while I wasn’t expecting him to really get angry, it was not a surprise as it is. But when Prompto joined him and started complaining and nagging him, that really took me off-guard, and it sort of made me feel incredibly guilty.
Maybe it’s because Prompto had always been the sunshine boy all across the journey and never got in troubles with anyone; Prompto, the smiling boy, the weakest of the group so far, the happy-go-lucky cheerful sweetheart, nagging you. Getting upset at you. Angrily asking “what has Ignis ever done to you?” It was Prompto and his nagging what really got to me. I didn’t feel sad, but it made me feel very, very, very guilty… I felt suddenly so little in comparison and like I had done the worst thing ever, and that I would never be able to get out of their memories the once that I swung my sword at a blind Ignis and that they would forever remember about it, and even if they forgave me, just the fact that they would remember was enough to make me feel microscopic and like guilt ate me from the inside aklsjdflksgdjlskdjf
You know what the worst part is? Well, now that I’m writing it, thing is, I play with JPN audio, so I don’t know if it fits too. But the way I play, Prompto doesn’t sound…necessarily angry. He just sounds upset and like Noctis is behaving like a child. More than angry, Prompto sounds very mature. Which honestly just makes it worse; was it anger, you’d think he’ll cool down at some point, or that he just wants an excuse to yell at you. But no; Prompto has he head and mind cool, he’s not nagging you because he’s angry, he’s nagging you because you’re an immature and uncaring selfish little shit that doesn’t look twice. Hngnh… see, that’s why it got to make me feel so guilty. Because suddenly the guy that I saw as the puppy and the kid of the group suddenly sounds so mature, and that the child-like one of the group makes YOU feel like a child, that really weighs, ahahaha, ah…
I think the dialogues are really meant for when it happens on accident; when you switch weapons and Iggy happened to be walking right behind you, or when you’re finishing battle and you miss hitting attack after it’s over, and Iggy happened to be nearby, etc. I guess it COULD be an accident, mostly if Ignis is behind and nearby; Noct could swing a sword and not notice him there, or in battle, when it’s all frantic and there’s like, almost no time to be like “Oh, yes, excuse me, I need to stand here so if you could move two steps to the left, that would be fantastic”. So I guess it can really be an accident,…which really just makes it even WORSE ahahaha :’D
Because Noct really didn’t mean it…but the bros are making it feel like he could have avoided it and didn’t. Hnghng, Prompto and Gladio really make a good team when it comes to make me/Noct feel guilty to the point of wanting to run away and do it all on my own while they wait sat there, but they also get angry if I get too far from them ahahah :’D
WHY ARE YOU MAKING THINGS SO COMPLICATED, CHOCOBROS, I’M JUST TRYING TO ACCEPT MY DESTINY AS A KING THAT HAS TO DIE AS SOON AS HE TOUCHES THE THRONE CAN YOU PLEASE BE A LITTLE MORE PATIENT THANK YOU.
I mean, Noct still doesn’t know about that sacrifice he has to make, but he didn’t need that; by that point I’m amazed none of the guys, mostly Gladdy, Ignis, or Noct, had a nerve and emotional breakdown and stopped functioning. It was too much stress! :’(
You know what I hadn’t noticed until I read your ask, though?
That Ignis says nothing…
I hadn’t noticed that. You know why I think it’s the saddest thing?
Because Ignis is conscious enough that those comments will make Noctis feel guilty, and he doesn’t want to add to that.
And even more. Ignis is probably too hurt by this sensation of being a burden to ask Noctis to be careful; saying that is admitting that Noct did hit him or was about to, and admitting that is admitting Ignis didn’t see it. Admitting that, then, would be admitting that he’s but an obstacle now, useless, that he can’t even avoid or stop friendly fire/accidental hits.
But knowing Ignis, it’s probably a more selfless thing, and I think it’s because he doesn’t want Noctis to feel guilty.
By this point, Ignis does know what Noctis’ fate is. Ignis has never tried to make Noctis stress out, but Ignis is often trying for Noct to not be lazy. Ignis pressures him not into stress, he just pushes him enough to motivate him to work harder. And yes, Noct can be annoyed and even angry at Ignis’ constant “do this”, “don’t do that”, “try doing this”, “remember to”, “did you already”, “have you yet”, “Noct, I must remind you”, etc. Ignis does it just because he wants Noct to become better, but he understands that it can annoy Noctis.
So now that Ignis knows what awaits for him, and after all Noctis has already been through… Ignis doesn’t have the heart to continue pressing him.
This is the point where Ignis stops telling him what and how to do it, and it’s honestly heartbreaking. In the past, Ignis did it so that Noctis would become better and do a good job as the Chosen. But now that Ignis understand what being the Chosen means… part of him doesn’t have the heart to put more pressure on Noctis…and, maybe, part of him doesn’t want to press him into being better, because maybe if he’s not better tomorrow, he won’t die the day after it.
:(
Gods, maybe I’m looking too much into it, but the idea is heart-wrenching. I’m mostly rolling, though, with the idea that Ignis just doesn’t want Noctis to have even more on his shoulders; Noctis has more, way beyond more than enough just with Lunafreya’s death and seeing Ignis in that state. Prompto and Gladio nagging him really just pushes him past the limits that are beyond the limits, that are beyond the first limits, of stress and guilt. Noctis must be to the very top of his head, his glass must be so full, at half-half a drop of spilling…the very last that Noctis needs is for Ignis to add anything.
So he doesn’t; Ignis stays quiet. Noct may have hit him on accident, or almost, and he does need to be more careful, he does need to look behind and around him before doing his moves, he does need to remember Ignis is not in conditions, Noctis does need to this or that.. But Ignis keeps quiet. He knows Noctis is feeling guilty to the point he can’t even look at the ring without having a breakdown. Ignis doesn’t have the heart to press him more, not even a tiny bit. Noct is suffering, and as much as Ignis may have something to say, he doesn’t. He can’t. It’s too much for him, Noctis’ own suffering…
In some way, Ignis is not complaining about being hit by accident, because he would very much rather be hit with a sword, than put Noctis into more stress and pain.
Oh, Ignis, that selfless creature… :(
So yeah. I hadn’t noticed that Ignis stays quiet. I mean, it’s one of those things you notice but you only really notice for real, as in the weight of it, until someone else words it. And it’s amazingly heart-breaking.
Whether it’s for fearing to admit to himself that he couldn’t see the hit coming, for not having the heart to nag Noctis because he knows Noct is already stressed and guilty past his limits, or because Ignis can’t dare push Noct to become better because Ignis now knows he’s really just pushing him to his grave…
That last bit, though. The possibility that Ignis knows what Noct has to face in his future, and Ignis doesn’t have the heart to advise him as he used to do in the past because now he knows where all of Noctis’ hard work is leading him…
That’s maybe the most heartbreaking of possibilities, because Ignis isn’t even thinking about the fact that HE’s getting hit, he’s just- thinking about Noctis. As always. But in the worst of ways this time; knowing he’s to die sometime soon… :’(
AKSÑJDSJTSÑKFJSDKFJSKGÑSLDJFÑASDKJSDÑKFJFS
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME, DEAR ANON, WHY WOULD YOU POINT OUT SOMETHING SO HEARTBREAKING AND HORRIBLE I LOVE IT.
Aahkjsadksajfdkfjslkgs… seriously, this is so sad ;A;
I hadn’t noticed it this way, aah :’(
But anyway, yes!! Those are my thoughts. C:
Thanks a lot for dropping this ask in. It really put me to think and it made my perception of the Cartanica dungeon even wider and more vast, and makes it even sadder. Ignis and Noctis truly are very tragic characters and they touch very fragile heartstrings within me.. :’(
Thanks as well for checking the Did Coon Get My Ask list! And thank you even more for sending your ask back in. I want everyone to know it’s fine to send it again if it’s missing, and it really is a huge relief to me that you do send it again. I’m not ignoring anyone. :)
Thank you LOTS for this amazing ask that will definitely make my next gameplay, whenever it may be, absolutely better and sadder (in a good way of experiencing it) because now I have a wider way to look at it.
Thanks a LOT for choosing this raccoonie to share your thoughts with, too! It’s an honor and a pleasure to me. ( ˙꒳˙ )
Thank you, dear anon!!
I hope you’re having a MOST FANTASTIC day or night!! (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ
The other day I learned that one of Shiva’s form (as in the Indian God, not the Final Fantasy Shiva) has three roles; he who destroys, he who creates, and he who preservates.
And to represent that, he’s usually found holding a trident.
So it made me wonder if Luna, always in company of Gentiana, having the trident was mere coincidence and looked good, or if they thought this through.
Nice cultural symbolism easter eggs in there, Square Enix.
Omg half a page later I find that another form of Shiva is usually accompanied by a dog.
Final Fantasy, I know you’ve always done good references but what are you doing omg I love you
So you know how the things you obtain along the story all stay in your inventory in Lucis of the past?
Imagine the chocobros knowing that the things that appears randomly in their stuff come from their future actions, like, they know Future Them got them and that’s why they, in the past, have access to them even tho they’re not supposed to.
“- Yo, look. A cactuar statue sold in Accordo. Nice, let’s give it to Talcott :)”
“- What is this card? Looks like belonging to some Niflheim base. Eh. We’ll see.”
“- Leviathan appeared! Means we’ll have success with her at Altissia, no troubles! :)”
“- Isn’t this Lunafreya’s trident? Noct, we’ll get to meet her! And she gifts it to you <3 “
“- Luna’s and I’s notebook! What a pretty drawing there is on the last page :3 “
“- Oh, look. My dad’s ring. Seems like we’re recovering it no troubles :)”
“- Hey, Kingsglaive uniforms! Noooct, we’re getting to be your Kingsglaives! How cool is that!?
- And my King attire. Cape and all. I’ll look so damn handsome sat on the throne after all this mess is done, eh?”
“- Wtf, look, it’s a cane. What do you think we’ll need it for? So when we become old we can walk?
- I don’t think so. It seems more of a blind-helping cane rather than fitting for the necessities of an old person.
- Betcha it’s for you, Iggy. You’re the only one that can’t see without glasses.
- I’ve told you my vision is passable without lenses. I don’t see any reason I’ll personally require of this. Perhaps it’s a symbolic gift?
- I guess. Who cares. “
From the way they describe him everywhere, and the way his official description is written, it makes me kind of feel like his parents had him only for the sake of serving the royal family rather than wanting to form a family.
Kind of like “Yo, the king and queen are planning to have a child soon. We won’t last forever: the future heir needs a new generation of servants and companions. We need to have a kid that serves for that purpose”.
Like they had him because they had to, not cause they wanted.
And it honestly makes me kinda sad?? Have a child and have all of his life traced and planned before he’s even born? Like, never teach him he can actually have his own dreams and goals because it’s more/only important to fulfill those of the prince.
And he actually doesn’t mind because he doesn’t notice his life’s whole about Noctis and not his own?
I just realized; maybe that’s why he behaves like some sort of mom to the three guys; cause that’s how he’d have liked to be treated?
He’s my absolute fave, so I’ve been thinking about this and it kind of makes me sad about him, thinking on what kind of childhood he had and if his parents ever treated him like a son rather than just “the prince’s future adviser”.
how do you have so much positive energy asking for a friend 🤔
I haven’t slept in two years!!! (ノ*°▽°*)
Hahahahaha, kidding. But I’m going to answer you honestly in a lecture that you probably didn’t want, but I feel like sharing c:
I don’t, indeed, have much energy. I have 5 artworks gifted to or dedicated to me that I haven’t answered to, 13 personal messages, and 44 asks yet to answer (yours is 45th), 5 messages in AO3, two large fanfics, and homework from my real life activities. If I had more energy, I would have half the things yet to complete, but here I am, having this kaload of things I haven’t answered to, and without the energy.
It may seem like I have a lot of positive energy because I reply to a lot of things in my happy way, but for each I answer, there’s 10 waiting. And after 4 I reply to, I’m drained. Exhausted. Mentally dead. I don’t, as it seems, have a lot of positive energy. It just looks like that because I never complain.
But you know? I never complain because I don’t think it’s annoying or a bother.
I don’t have as much positive energy as it may seem, but I do have a lot of it. And even when I’m drained, I’m still positive. You know how I do that? Here’s the magical moon raccoon secret to how to be mentally healthy and positive: I don’t think of my responsibilities or activities as a burden. :)
I always try to look at things in their good side, even the bad things. Because it’s not about not thinking negatively, it’s about realizing that even negative is good.
A kaload of homework? I acknowledge I’m stressed, but hey, homework leads to good notes, which leads to my progress as a student, which will let me approve the exam to university! The lots of tag comments I add to my reblogs? They drain me like FUCK and I stress over it, yes, but I also make the artists and other people happy! The 44 asks? How could I ever consider a burden that people like me and take the time to write to me? That’s phenomenal! A bad thing happened? I have rights to be upset and cry, yet I mustn’t forget I’ve learned, and I will recover and when I do I’ll be wiser! I’m sad? I’m sad, and it means I have empathy, and feelings, and I care, and that’s beautiful! <3
And so on and on. It’s about not ignoring the bad sides of things, but seeing through them until finding something that makes them good. That way, I’m not ignoring the bad things, which is unhealthy (pretend that nothing bad ever happens), but I’m not letting them bringing me down either, and if they do, I remember it’s not forever.
Some major events have given me a very open and positive view of life. And I mean major events as in, the high rate of kidnap and murder in my country and yet how I’ve always come back home every day, an earthquake that killed thousands and literally destroyed many buildings, and yet how I lived, and being told that I was going into surgery and only during it while I slept would doctors know if I had a terminal disease or not, and yet, I didn’t.
You know, after some stuff like this, you learn to love life and be positive. Because I’ve realized that things like homework, many conversations yet to answer, troubles with a crush, they’re all on a second plane of life, you know? And that with those aside, I have a roof above my head, food in the fridge, my four limbs, my 5 senses, my family is healthy, and I live. With all that, I have a million times more than others do.
So that’s probably my main source of all this positive energy I’m always radiating; from my love to life. Because even when bad things happen, I’ve learned to see the good sides in it, and I’ve learned that I’m blessed and covered in gifts not everybody has.
So the least I can do is try to spread and share it, you know? Many of you people out there struggle with things like a harder life, or depression, or anxiety, so that I give you more of that. Life has blessed me with this appreciation of life itself, then I should share it and not just keep it, because not everyone goes through an earthquake or an almost-terminal-disease announcement, so not everyone is shaken like I was, so not everyone has yet learned to love life like this, so to save them stuff like that, I can try to share by word and example, see if they can grab some of it.
I think I’ve ranted a lot by now, but you put me to think, because I don’t consider I have a lot of this positive energy. I have it, I just don’t think of it as “a lot”. Just as…”very sincere”. Quality over quantity :)
But yeah. What I mean to say, I think, is that I don’t have a lot of positive energy, and I’m not always a happy bouncy little ball of fluff, I too have my sad and angry and upset moments. But life’s bad sides have ironically taught me the good, and that I could die any day, so why let my last days be sad or empty if I can spend them being happy and making others happy?
And I mean, it’s not just the philosophy, I also try to sleep good, have water, and remember to not overdo things. Sometimes I may have the time to answer to 2 or 3 more asks, but I decide instead to go grab my PS and play for the rest of the evening if possible. Good sleep, take breaks in between, and remember that the world, or my life at least, won’t end because of 1 or 2 trivial things, so I can take a moment to breathe and rest from my activities. Will they pile up? Probably. But I’d rather work on stuff one by one and make them happily, than make all of them at once but zombified and out of energy.
Quality over quantity! It’s not how much energy you have, but how you use the one you do have! :D
Besides, there’s already a lot of negativity going through the world, and I don’t blame people! But why add to that negativity if it’s in your power to add a bit to the positivity? It’s as I once said in a fanfic: it doesn’t matter if your light is small, it will always win and outstand in the dark, as thick and as vast as the darkness may be.
So burn. You don’t need to be a galaxy, a sun, not even a torch. Just a little flame, even if it’s like a matchstick, that will still outstand among the darkness this world has drowned itself into.
It’s not on you (or the friend you’re asking for <3) to have a lot of good nergy. It’s about taking the one you already have, be it as scarce or as vast as it may be, and make it happy, let it rest when it’s drained, and remember you’re alive and you don’t want to die upset. Cheers, and hakuna matata! ❤
((adding a little gratitude note under the keep reading))
Thank you for this lovely, wonderful ask, buddy. That you think I have a lot of positive energy to give, that’s so sweet of you!! ( ´ ▽ ` )
I’m happy that you view me in such a way. I hope that some of the positivity sticks to you and has made you smile even if only once. :D
I hope you’re having a MOST BEAUTIFUL day or night!! (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ
