Inspiration and Motivation

Being the creative person I am, I find myself constantly weighed down by endless goals and projects that I plan to complete. These plans never seem to form actions and when I finally decide that "Yes! I will paint that picture of a seahorse" I have forgotten how to do a certain technique with the paintbrush or I've half forgotten my idea for the colour scheme. Then, there are other goals that are constantly going through my mind that I simply do not achieve because I am not disciplined enough. I've been looking into some tips for this kind of thing and I have a few tips of my own (not that I'm any role model). I thought I might share them with you guys.

Before I get to it, remember that these tips can be applied to all different kinds of goals and projects.

1. JOT THINGS DOWN:
If you've got an idea write it down somewhere. I normally carry a notebook around with me where ever I go. Writing things down can be very helpful so long as you know where you wrote it.

2. FRAME OF MIND:
Every horrible thing that happens to you, every boring task that you do can be fuel for creative thinking. Fuel your goal with emotion.

3. THINK MORE:
As well as having a good 'frame of mind' boring situations are great for thinking about your idea (I do this sometimes at work).

4. RECORD IDEA FIRST, JUDGE LATER:
You might think the idea is a bit iffy, but in a few years you might stumble across that old notebook and think that it's really good.

5. DO IT FOR YOURSELF, NOT OTHERS:
Don't create things for a certain demographic, don't worry about what other people will say. You are doing something for you, not others.

6. NO DISTRACTIONS(or not many):
This can be hard if your goal is computer related. During the writing of this blog post so far I have opened up tabs for youtube, facebook and my emails.

7. SET A DEADLINE:
This one doesn't work for me. At least not if  I set a deadline for myself.

8. LIST OF THINGS TO REMEMBER:
Rules you make for yourself, tips you want to remember, helpful websites...etc should be written in a list and kept somewhere handy. I wrote mine in texta on a piece of card stock that now adorns my wall. Hello poster. I also used pretty glitter pen.

9. YOU HAVEN'T FAILED YET:
Don't give up without starting (Mistake I make often)

10. APPROPRIATE SETTING AND EQUIPMENT:
Blogging was so much better once I bought a laptop and didn't have to share the family computer all the time. If you are going to do something that requires space, make space. If you are going to be painting and all your paint brushes are shotty, buy some paint brushes. Bet the picture yet?

Hopefully these tips will work for me. I hope this was helpful.

Your Favourite Blogger,
Natalie

No More IMM for me...

I've been a fan of a certain blogger for a while now. Not a huge fan. I didn't read every single post, but I ensured that I watched all of her youtube videos and put a link in at the 'In My Mailbox' meme. In every youtube video she smiled, looked us all straight in the eye and showed us all the books that she had been given to review. She was really quite successful with her blog. Until recently...

I don't get time to read all the posts I see pop up on my blogger dashboard. I don't. I am subscribed to over 200 blogs on here. I try to read my favourite blogs as often as I can and occasionally I will scroll down the list and decide to read a post that interests me. While I was a fan of this blog, other blogs often took priority and so I missed the big revelation. The big post admitting to plagiarism.

It wasn't until today that I got sick of reading vague introductions to "book hauls" mentioning that particular blogger and "controversy" that I decided to finally find out what had happened. Plagiarism! It is just so wrong. It really bothers me that people who receive plenty of free review books and have hundreds of followers take advantage of the blogosphere like that. When there are people like me out there who feel lucky to have 48 followers. People like me who spend time trying to get everything just right. People like me who worry that their reviews sound too vague or lack good vocabulary.

In her post the blogger mentioned the difficulty in articulating. I think we all know that it is sometimes quite difficult to get our thoughts to words. That is no excuse for plagiarism though. If you don't know what to say or how you want to say it jot down some notes and take a break. Give it some time. Use a thesaurus, do some more research on the book and yes find out what other people thought. Finding out what other people think is definitely helpful to bloggers. You want to know where the book stands with the reading community, what the major negatives were and the positives. What other people think and whether or not you agree is a great topic for discussion in your review. Don't copy what other people think and post it as your own thought.

And, what about all those review books? Was that an excuse too? Is she drowning under all of them? If the stress is too much. If you didn't even have time to read them all then learn to say no to more review copies. Yes, they might look pretty on your shelf, but book blogging is about more than book hauls.

Also, a few small problems with the revelation:

-It was quite obvious that she only admitted to plagiarism because she had been called on it. Would she have done it on her own terms? Doubtful.

-She mentioned that the reviews she copied were ones that she thought sounded like they could have been written by her. Not true. If they had been written by her, then she wouldn't have needed to copy them.

-Where was sorry?

-Where did she mention the people she copied?

I'm un-following. I'm not doing the meme ever again.

And, If someone ever copies my blog posts (Not that they are really smart enough to get copied) I will jump through your computer screen like a ninja and shoot you in the face. Well, I wish. Just imagine it anyway.

Your Favourite Blogger,

Natalie

I am a collector. I live in a Museum.

Your Favourite Blogger discusses the differences between hoarding and collecting. And, possibly rambles a bit...

Some people like to collect things. A woman I used to work with had a stamp collection, there was a lady featured in Frankie magazine that liked to collect Christmas themed deer and elf ornaments and I, I like to collect a lot of things. Collecting is not always looked upon as a nice hobby. Some people confuse it for hoarding, while others think it is just as bad. Are both hoarders and collectors doomed to spend a lot of time and money becoming attached to objects that they don't need for their survival? Or are we different?

This is where I decide to get really technical and look up some definitions. According to TheFreeDictionary.com the definitions are:

Hoarder- a person who accumulates things and hides them away for future use.

Collector- A person or thing that collects.

So yes, dictionary's are not always very helpful...

In my opinion a hoarder is one of those people that you see on DR Phil. The one that buys all these things with price tags still on them that they never use. They throw all these things in a junk room because they can't bear to get rid of them and the room becomes a disgrace. Nothing is looked after and the person obviously needs a guy with a bald head and thick accent to help them get through the emotional distress that caused them to create such a big pigsty.

I believe collectors are more civilised than that. I think collectors are people that like certain things and decide to collect only those things. Collectors look after their possessions and try to keep them tidy. Many collectors have their collections on display for guests in their house to see; In a cabinet or on a shelf. I think the major difference between collectors and hoarders is the selectiveness and care that collectors have towards possessions. Because collectors take care of their possessions they value the items more highly. In my experience I think that collectors are more careful with their money because they pay more attention to the finer details of an item such as the cost. I am biased of course because I am a collector myself.

So what do I mean by Selective? When I said that collecting was selective I meant that people who 'collect' only collect certain things. Collectors tend to pick one item and focus on collecting that rather than just hoarding everything. Some people do have more than one collection growing in their house(like me) and as long as it doesn't get too out of hand money-wise or start to take over the house I don't see any issues with that. Not only are collectors selective about what types of things that they collect, but they are specific about which items will make it into the collection. Reader's might collect books, but they don't just collect books in general. Often the books will fit a certain category/s. For example Fantasy novels and Classics might be the only books this particular reader collects and they might not like Charles Dickens, so his books wouldn't be included.

Not all collections should have to be spick and span or organised in alphabetical order, but should be in some way orderly. I think in a way my room is like a museum. There is a bit of dust here and there, a few things lying around that have been pulled out of place, but nothing major. I can still walk to the door without tripping over anything, I can still see the floor and I don't have a TV crew looking around my room while that bald guy tells me to let go...

Obviously collecting isn't too far from hoarding. For all I know it could possibly lead the way to it. There are a few times when I go to the $2 store and see something cheap (like say notebooks or imitation perfume) and I think "That's only $3.50 and I could get one in each colour for this much" or "If I bought 3 perfumes it would still be cheaper than going to the chemist and purchasing the real thing". The thing is that sometimes you feel like you want to collect everything and you have to reason with yourself. Maybe you just saved yourself some money buying 4 perfumes. They were cheaper than the real thing. But, if you didn't buy any then you would have saved even more money...

Overall, I think my opinion is pretty clear. I am a collector and I like to collect. As long as you manage your collection well and keep it as dirt and clutter free as you can then there shouldn't be any problems. Once I got called a 'hoarder' after someone saw my room. Yes it wasn't clean, but I wasn't exactly expecting them either. It was a little messy, but not OTT. I am a hoarder. I live in a museum. That museum just happens to get a little messy sometimes...

What do you think about Hoarding vs Collecting?

Your Favourite Blogger,

Natalie