Tag: writing101

Procrastination.

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I’m a professional procrastinator. You can ask anyone that has ever been close to me, and they’ll tell you exactly the same thing. This is why I chose this tweet for today’s Writing101 assignment:

To be honest, even to write this post is to procrastinate. I should be studying for all my classes (Especially Physics. *gulps*) … So in theory, procrastination is enhancing my creativity right now, while probably killing my grades. Oh well. Then again, when I am relaxed and do not have anything else to do, I tend to put off my blogging for later… I could even spend months without it. I am aware of how counterproductive procrastination can be, I just cannot stop doing it.

So I completely understand what our friend Grant is talking about on this tweet. I just found an essay I wrote about this topic during my freshman year… And I found this quote:

Life goes on, though, and if lessons are not learned, there will be repercussions. Getting fired from jobs and drifting away from people are some of the many things that could happen if this behavior is not corrected on time.

I still believe this (I might have written this to force myself to be productive during that school year), but it is so hard to break out of this cycle. During the week, I think: “All right, this shall be my weekend. I’ll be productive”, but when Fridays arrive, I just want to sleep and relax. This is a common feeling, but I don’t usually do anything about it. It worries me to no end.

Procrastination is somewhat of a defense mechanism, until it becomes horribly stressful. For example, I have around 3 exams these next two weeks, plus my association’s activities. I should be ahead on my classes. I don’t know why I do it, I don’t know if I’ll ever get over this, but I know I should do something about it. I just hope I do it in time… Preferably before I graduate. xD

Do you have any advice on how to overcome procrastination? I would seriously appreciate it!

This hasn’t been an easy year.

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These past few days I’ve been focused on Writing101, and it has been amazing, but I haven’t talked about what’s happening in my life since the beginning of the school year, or even before that…

I promise I will post my Writing101 prompt later today, but I had to write this. It’s important.

If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you know these months haven’t been easy for my family, ever since last December. Some months after we thought everything was over, one of my aunts informed us that my grandma had hidden the fact that she had an abscess in her abdominal area. She got surgery –I was around that day, but I didn’t write much about that… Her surgeon informed us that it could be cancerous, and that she needed to check herself just in case.

After her initial radiotherapy, we all thought it all was over… but then she started complaining about pain on her shoulder –I’m pretty sure you know what comes next on this tale. We all thought it was all due to the remains of the radiation on her body, but we were wrong, we were so wrong. Her doctor asked for a chest X-Ray, and they found something on her lungs. It had spread. That was last month.

Right now, she’s at the hospital. I found out she was taken after I got home from Uni yesterday. Seeing my dad go through this is heartbreaking, especially as he had to get a job in Texas and he has to leave on the 26th. –My heart is just praying nothing serious happens while he’s out there… but my mind knows that it’s highly probable. And I hate that.

I know I can’t be selfish… We can’t ask her to stay if she’s tired. I just want her to be in peace. She has gone through so much this past year…

This post was to vent as much as to inform people.

Please, go to the doctor. Please, go and get checked regularly, especially if you feel there’s something wrong. Please, ask your family to do so. If not for me, then for them. :’)

Some burned CDs and a map.

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For assignment #4 of Writing101 we had to write a story –or anything we wanted, really, based on any of these four pictures:

I decided on the map. For a while I wanted to choose the city and write about my own experience, but I wanted something different, so I wrote a short “story” about a road trip… (I wouldn’t call it a story, but I had fun! I wish I can do this someday :D)

We decided to go on a day-long road trip. But it was not a normal road trip, not how it’s done these days. We forbid the use of any cellphones, cameras or any technological device –apart from the car and the radio, of course. Our phones would be here, off, in case of emergency, but not within our reach –We just wanted to enjoy our day, isolated from everyone else, without checking in anywhere. Someone suggested it to us, and it sounded like such a fun idea, so we went in for it! We did not know how long it would take, not without the GPS we were so used to have… So we bought a road map and began to trace our route. The road trip had not started yet –we did NOT cheat! –so we found some places to visit on Google.

At first we were so confused. How would we able to even find where we wanted to go on this tangle of roads and places without Google after we turned our phones off? We would surely get lost… And we wouldn’t be able to call anyone for help unless it was absolutely necessary. That was rule #1. But then we started figuring everything out; we found familiar places to work with, and marked the ones we wanted to visit and the most likely routes we would use. We chose places where we would do some sightseeing, and a beautiful beach where we planned to spend some hours at. Burning some CDs with the music we wanted was a must. We made hours-long playlists with all our favorite songs and organized them so no one would have more than the others.

After three whole days of planning and getting supplies, the day finally came. We got into our car and began driving with our trusting map. Sadly, or not so, we don’t have any photographic evidence of the beautiful places we visited or the fun we had, but they’re all there, imprinted in our memories. The evidence is there, in our skins, burned with the sun… in our smiles, that haven’t left our mouths even a week after the trip. We had an amazing experience, and we’re the only ones who know all about it.

My precious… TREASURE!

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You guys are going to get used to me writing everyday… You’ll get spoiled! (Not that my writing is that good, but I guess some people would want to know what I think about things. Oh, well. I’ll have to manage!

Today’s assignment for Writing101 is to write a prompt about one of six words they offered, and I chose the word treasure, even if another one of them kind of slipped into my writing. (oops? :D)

When most people think about the word “treasure”, they think about money, jewels and pirates.

or this song:

A treasure is something that should be valued, that’s important to you. To me, memories are the most important treasure. Being able to recall perfectly a moment when you were truly happy, or perhaps a time when you were sad and someone lifted your spirits with a joke. These things cannot be stolen from you and you can’t get them by force, which makes them infinitely more precious than a trunk filled with gold… or a ring that can rule them all.

Another thing I consider as a treasure is time. Time comes and goes quickly, and sometimes we do not realize how ephemeral we all are. We live our lives and we take them for granted, so we spend our time in our rooms, in our cell phones, isolated from everyone else.

When it’s time to let go, though, we realize how much of that treasure we actually lost. And how much we wasted. How is it possible that we don’t appreciate the time we spend with our families? That most of the time we’re with them we are attuned to our cellphones/technological devices? I say this because I’m absolutely guilty about this, even this very second as I am writing this in a separate room from my family.

Time is a precious thing, and it will go on, no matter if we waste it or if we spend it right. So why do we treat it as it will go on forever? We’ll die sometime, someday we’ll lose the people we love… And yet we keep on ignoring this. And someday, we’ll regret it. We’ll regret not giving love to that special person, to the people who made you happy when you needed it the most.

And all we will have in that very moment… are memories. So we should cultivate them, have fun and be with the people we love.. because that is all we will have left in the end.

Things I *insert heart emoji*

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Reading posts like this always make me happy, as sometimes it is nice to be reminded of the things that we enjoy in life. I love going through the words knowing that the person is really excited about what they are writing. It’s one of the things I love the most about Tumblr, for example, or at least the fandom side of it -until they start fighting about things that don’t make any sense…- but I’m rambling now.

My second assignment for Writing101 is to make a list -of things I love, of things I have learned, or things that I wish. I planned on writing a post of things I wished I had told my younger self, but I decided on keeping it simple for today. I also wrote a post like this last September, so it’s nice to revisit it! This one is way shorter, but I have been busy… and I am already a day late on this assignment, so here it goes! *goes back to the study cave after this*

  1. How books make me feel. It might seem like a cliché, but it is true. For some hours, I can become someone else, learn new things and just immerse myself in new things. (Or even better, to reread a book I have loved for years. I could list some books like Graceling and Harry Potter in this category). This is  why I hate reading slumps so much -they take a really important thing from me, for months, sometimes.
  2. How awesome my family actually is. Kudos to them for helping me become the person that I am. My parents have always wanted me to make my own choices, and if they didn’t agree or I just couldn’t do it they talked to me and helped me understand. Plus, my love for the natural sciences and reading is mostly due to my mom. My dad has always worked for us to have a good life, and I will always be grateful for that. Last but not least is my “little”, annoying brother. Sometimes I just can’t stand him… but he has always wanted the best for us. He has the best intentions. Oh, well. xD
  3. My friends, however few they actually are: Seriously, these are people that can actually stand me in my good and not so good days, AND there’s no blood relation between us (unless we’re talking about that one blood oath… but shhh xD). But really, it’s impressive, and I appreciate those people, even if I don’t deserve them. AT ALL.
  4. College (And I’m not even kidding here). It’s hard as hell and sometimes frustrating, but it’s one of the most satisfying things I have ever done. And I’m not halfway done with what I want to do, so I hope I can keep on feeling like this for however long I stay.
  5. This blog: Lately I don’t post as much as I used to, but this course is definitely sending me on the right path. SB&ST has helped me through some hard times, and there are people who I know will always be there for me. I also consider those part of #3 on my list!

Writing? Why?

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Hello, everyone! I just joined Writing101, and this is my first assignment. I hope to be able to keep myself all caught up with my writing… and I think this is a great exercise.(And a nice way to procrastinate). Wish me luck, people!

If I’m really honest, I don’t write for one specific reason –I write for many. I write when I want to vent about something… I write as a diary, and to organize the huge mess that is my mind. This is why I keep this blog. I do realize I’m not a really good writer –in both my native language (Spanish) or English– and yet I do it anyway.

Why, though? I haven’t given much thought about it, to be honest. Most people have told me that if I am a good reader writing will come to me naturally. That, sadly, hasn’t happened to me yet. Don’t get me wrong. I can form coherent thoughts, but I can’t seem to do it beautifully, as many people happen to do naturally. I appreciate that talent, and I sometimes envy those people’s ability to express themselves in such a way that I don’t ever want them to stop. I wish I could make someone feel like that about my writing.

Writing is not just about knowing the big words –it’s about knowing how to use them, the cadency, the rhythm. As a Biology student, I sometimes forget to think about the beauty of language, (not any language in particular, just being able to communicate yourselves in any way is amazing by itself). For example, there are many ways to describe a beautiful sunset, than those two words, “beautiful” and “sunset”. You can concentrate on the colors, on how they mix, on how they make you feel. It’s amazing to know such beauty can be derived from such a limited amount of letters –I don’t know the exact numbers, but I once read a whole blog post about it, and it was amazing…,–and that the whole world can inspire you in endless ways.

I guess in the long run, I write because I want to create something beautiful someday, and I believe the written word is the path for me, even though I have a long way to go.