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“Overthinking: Am I Doing Enough? Or, Too Much?”
We all have had a lot to think about in 2020. We are all juggling classes, work, extra-curricular activities, clubs, mental and physical health, and human connection while staying extremely cautious about our outings since the pandemic outbreak. The combination of all these stresses could cause us to feel overwhelmed—I know I felt that. In previous posts, I discussed a few ways to cope with stress in “Writing Might Save Your Life” and “Musical Escapism: The (Cheap) Stress Relief You Need.” If these options aren’t your forte, that’s okay. I have another surprising option to try. To preface, the questions that I kept asking myself for the past couple of…
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Podcasts To Listen When You Don’t Have Time
Source: Photo by Mohammad Metri on Unsplash. October is the month of stress for post-secondary students. You could be facing midterm exams and papers in addition to working during the long-weekend or preparing for Thanksgiving dinners with family and friends. While it seems there is never a dull moment, you barely have time to give your mind and body a break from everything. If you’re tired of pulling all-nighters and stretching yourself thin for all the tasks you need to complete, try this hack to manage your time and stress better. Developing a new habit may sound daunting, but it’s easier than you may think. My challenge for you is…
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Musical Escapism: The (Cheap) Stress Relief You Need
Source: (Edited) Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash. If you haven’t noticed online, musical artists, including Alison Wonderland at Digital Mirage and Lollapalooza, Porter Robinson and his Secret Sky Festival, and LIONE for League of Legends Mid-Season Cup (2020), continue to perform even with social distancing measures in place. While almost every industry suffers from the effects of COVID-19, musical artists and the music industry continues to volunteer their time to raise money for COVID Relief programs while trying to spread happiness to the fans. Although the performances and music festivals are delivered online this year, we feel connected and happy when we see our favourite bands and singers jam…
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Storytelling: The Skill Everyone Needs
Source: (Edited) Photo by Roman Bozhko on Unsplash. Sometimes we overlook the value of storytelling skills. I am guilty of this when I thought stories only existed in books, comics, manga, music, television shows, and films. We hear, tell, and share stories every time we communicate with someone. Whether if it is in our personal or work lives, we are always telling a story to exchange information and create a relationship with others. Now is the time you need to develop your storytelling skills. With shorter attention spans, we need to tell stories effectively in shorter time frames, as seen in TikTok videos. Let me explain why becoming a strong…
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What Should We Do with Henry’s Freedom Box?
We need to persevere, like Henry, to fight for a world where we can all live comfortably without the fear of being oppressed by each other.
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Coping with an Alien Lifestyle
UNCERTAINTY. ALIEN. COPE. Three words float continuously in Lilith Iyapo’s mind when she awakens in a living alien ship: uncertainty, alien, and cope. She struggles to adjust to her new housemates, the Oankali, who claims to have rescued the “best” humans from earth to preserve humanity after a nuclear world war. You may be wondering, other than the fact that Octavia E. Butler’s Lilith’s Brood, The Xenogenesis Trilogy (1987) is a book series you need to read in a single sitting, why should I care? LILITH IS HUMAN – LIKE US Lilith’s journey to learn to accept her new reality to survive mirrors our current challenge to adjust to the everchanging state of…
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“It’s Not Just a Dream, it Could be Our Reality”
The little things make a difference in the bigger picture. Global warming and climate change are not new concerns, but why do some of us continue to treat it as if they are topics not worth being proactive about? In Chris Van Allsburg’s Just A Dream (1990), Van Allsburg places the readers in the position of the protagonist, Walter, who does not grasp the problem about climate change. Instead of continuously telling Walter he needs to be a responsible individual on this planet, Van Allsburg shows Walter the devastating and unappealing outcomes of humans neglecting to care for the environment. Van Allsburg addresses our doubts and the dominant stigma about climate change…
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6 TIPS TO BEAT YOUR WRITER’S BLOCK!
We are approaching that time of the term when we scramble to find the perfect words to use for our term papers. It could also be the moment when you’re struggling to find a way to silence the cursor on your screen that continuously taunts you every time it pulses on the blank page. Fret not! I have gathered a few sweet time-saving tips that will help you push past your writer’s block! 1. Create an Outline If you’re feeling lost but you have a bunch of ideas in your mind, write them down first! Taking all the information out of your mind and onto a page makes the ideas feel tangible. You…
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Writing Might Save Your Life
Why do we watch movies, listen to audiobooks, and write poetry, songs, and stories?! What makes storytelling compelling to all of us regardless of our knowledge, social classes, and our wide variety of interests? In Jen Sincero’s book, You Are A Badass (2013), she shares personal anecdotes reflecting on her journey to finding her “true self” or “higher self” by changing her perspectives of the world we live in (35). Sincero addresses internal battles we may all have with ourselves about feeling overwhelmed, stressed, frustrated, and feeling “not good enough.” Providing many brief and insightful “how-to” lists to tackle each one of the obstacles, the key point that Sincero continuously emphasizes—and does so…
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The Power of Texts and Images in My Chemical Romance’s The Black Parade
NB: The metaphors are shown in capital letters as indicated by Barbara Dancygier and Eve Sweetser’s Figurative Language (2014) text. For every song a musical artist publishes, the artist creates an album cover art to represent the theme and messages conveyed in the music. In The Black Parade (2006) album, written and sung by the American rock band My Chemical Romance, the artwork produced for the vinyl copy of the album captures and communicates the artist’s message through multiple inputs blended together. The message the album is addressing is the mental health obstacles that the lead singer of the band, Gerard Way, was combatting when they were writing the album. Gerard’s ‘battle’ is represented through the…
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The Polar Express: The Train You Need to Ride Every Year
Many of Chris Van Allsburg’s books have been projected into a motion picture film such as Zathura (2005) and Jumanji (1995). Van Allsburg’s most memorable book to film project is The Polar Express(1985) which has gained the status of being a Christmas film played each year like Frosty the Snowman (1969) and Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964). But why? The Polar Express (1985) is structured for young children to understand the gist of the plotline easily in addition to the simple, yet magical illustrations Van Allsburg creates himself. The story appeals to children with elements of magic and wonder and to adults as a form of nostalgia reminding every adult of their imaginative days as a child. The…
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LITERATURE TO LIFE: WE EAT TOO MANY PAPER PLATES
Thinking beyond ourselves has become a dominant theme in my Canadian Environmental writing course that influences my decisions on a day-to-day basis. It is annie ross’ collection of poems from Pots and Other Living Beings(2019) that inspires me to reflect on my consumption of food, clothing, and other materialistic items. I am not insisting to start living a minimalist lifestyle, but to become more mindful about buying another pair of shoes and thinking twice about purchasing another tube of mascara. With the holiday season coming up, almost everyone, including myself, will be in the gift-giving spirit. Before we fumble for our wallets, I want to discuss the significance of annie ross’…
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Literature to Life: Three Timeless Must-Know Gift-Giving Tips You Need
From my previous post “Literature to Life: We Eat Too Many Paper Plates,” I analyzed annie ross’ Pots and Other Living Beings (2019) to continue ongoing discussions pertaining to recent climate strikes. With the upcoming Black Friday sale and holidays next month, I want to suggest a few alternatives for everyone to think about when planning their purchases. Since many of us are students and want to ensure we are making a valuable investment in the items we find for our friends and family members, I have a few tips to help you make valuable purchases that are friendly to the environment and your bank account! Note: I am using…
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Society’s Biggest Joke: Put on a Happy Face
Both heroes and anti-heroes share a common goal in life to find his or her form of happiness by conquering any problem he or she faces to achieve his or her goal. In Todd Phillips’ film, Joker (2019), the audience is challenged to perceive the protagonist Arthur Fleck, a party clown and failed comedian, as an example of an anti-hero. Arthur struggles to keep his job as a street advertiser who holds and flips signs on the sidewalk for local merchants while dressed as a clown. He works hard to keep his job and to maintain a positive mindset to afford to live in Gotham City with his mother, Penny Fleck. He…
