The Beauty of Failure

Failure sucks. When you are informed that you have fallen short of reaching your goals, you cannot help but feel the tremendous blow to your confidence and self-worth. As the antithesis of success, failure is a condition that we strive to avoid in all of our efforts. But by doing this, we may miss the beauty of failure.

Failure is beautiful? Say what?

It’s inevitable that in everything we pursue in life, we are bound to meet a bunch of trials along the way. That is just something that cannot be prevented. As desirable as smooth sailing may be, without the ups and downs of life, how would we encounter great adventure? We wouldn’t! Because of those bumps on the road, you will eventually uncover treasure in the forms of knowledge and opportunity. How else would we improve our skills, grow as individuals, expand our mindsets, AND be introduced to incredible experiences if it wasn’t for the challenges brought by failure?

Failure is the ultimate test of your inner strength, patience, and faith.

I failed my road test not once, but twice. I have spent a considerable amount of time sulking over the past month, but I realized that it’s not an effective use of my time to continue burying myself in shame and self-pity. Instead, I have chosen to remind myself of what I’m talented at (writing, music) and challenge myself to keep working hard to eventually add driving to my skill set. I will take the constructive criticism I received to build upon what I’m good at and become even greater. The day that I am able to prove myself as a licensed driver will be a beautiful day indeed, because it will be a product of my unyielding perseverance!

Next time, when you come face to face with failure, don’t fear it…embrace it.

Find the beauty in failure.

What is the Cure for Writer’s Block?

What’s the secret? How are some bloggers able to update all of their blogs (public, personal, and professional) and social media networks on a daily basis? How do they gather meaningful, interesting, and relevant topics; engage with their readers, AND still have time to go out, explore, and live life?

Though we’re only ten days into this new year, and I am already struggling with my goal of writing daily updates on all of my networks. Twitter is probably the easiest for me to catch up with (it’s times like these when I’m thankful for that 140 character limit). On the other hand, my Facebook profile is a ghost town with very minimal activity from me; I only go on Facebook to see what my friends are up to. While I want to write more substantial posts on Blogger, I just don’t have the time to sit down and brainstorm great ideas for enlightening and/or entertaining entries. When it comes to my paper journal and LiveJournal updates on what I did that day/week, I keep on postponing that task until the items are no longer fresh in my memory. I think I’m really going to implement that ‘write down every interesting thought and/or occurrence that you encounter down on a pad of paper before you forget it later on’ strategy ASAP. I’m constantly behind on my Tumblr dashboard (and by the time I get all caught up, my body and mind are telling me that it’s time for bed, leaving no more time for leisure until the next evening, when that cycle starts all over again…). When I’m lucky enough to have a few free minutes to just write it all out, I find that lack the inspiration and/or energy to produce anything longer than a paragraph in length.

I’m not even sure what the purpose of this entry is. A rant? A call-out for advice? A plead to the writing gods to kindly bless me with the gift of brilliant ideas and beautiful words?

Asking for the cure for writer’s block is just like asking what the meaning of life is.

I loved words. I love to sing them and speak them and even now, I must admit, I have fallen into the joy of writing them.” — Anne Rice

cat sleeping

Rapid Eye Movement

I have always been fascinated with dreams. The idea of entering an alternate dimension in your subconscious state that is a reflection of what you are facing in reality is a concept that I give great thought to. In my dreams, I tend to encounter several recurring themes, and after researching the deeper meaning behind the symbols I come across, they always bear great significance to whatever I’m thinking or feeling in the present state of my everyday life.

The three most common themes in my dreams are traveling, elevators, and hotels.

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Chapter 2012

I found this quote on Tumblr and immediately deemed it to be the greatest GPOY (internet lingo for ‘this is an accurate representation of who I am‘) of all GPOYs. From the moment I groggily wake up in the morning to the time I drift off into la-la-land at night, my brain is bursting with activity. But by the time I bring myself to sit down and try to translate these thoughts and observations into written form, those ideas have either been altered (due to the time lapse), or even worse, lost, never to be retrieved again.

It pains me to know that I’ve let so many potential blog topics fall to the wayside due to my tendency of procrastinating on initiatives that will help me develop as a writer. I have been placing my passions for writing and photography to the wayside for too long, and I will have no more of that!

In 2012, I will resolve to a) write more and b) photograph more. I will publish a blog every day on WordPress and write daily entries in my paper journal. I have also challenged myself to participate in a 366 Days Photo Challenge – I will be keeping track of the pictures I take in here: 366 Photos. I believe that these projects will strengthen my skills in writing and photography, as well as help me to discover more about myself and the world around me and motivate me to go and live life!

If 2011 was the year for personal growth, then 2012 will be the year for grand adventures!

– Elizabeth Rosalyn

Music is My Constant

Throughout all of the celebrations and challenges I’ve encountered over these first few years of my adulthood, music has been my constant, leading me to life-changing discoveries, everlasting memories, and some of the best friends I’ve ever met. I’ve grown a lot as a person and learned more about who I am and what I strive to be. I’ve never felt more hopeful and confident towards life and what the future holds in store, and I owe it all to the gift of song. This blog is a tribute to the music and the artists that have helped me get to where I am today.

You’re going to hear a lot about a little show called American Idol, the platform from which I gained a whole new level of love and appreciation of music. There are four musicians from Season 7 of the show who have a rather big presence in my life. Allow me to introduce you to them…

Continue reading “Music is My Constant”