Interests and Other Things

A couple weeks ago I was thinking about how weird it is that we, as humans, are born to parents (some good, some bad, some in between, I suppose) who all have interests, and in turn, we become interested or end up knowing a lot about their interests because they’re in our lives and we’re kind of surrounded by them. Granted, this isn’t always the case. But it typically is. Even if you aren’t particularly interested in your parents lives or hobbies or whatnot, you still end up hearing a lot about their favorite subjects, and then begrudgingly become somewhat knowledgeable about said subjects.

If I wasn’t born to my parents, I doubt that I would care about analyzing why people act a certain way or how a person’s childhood can effect how they grow emotionally. I doubt that I would like to write or even read. Create or decorate. Would I like to sing or listen to the bands I like now? Would I know that TCM stands for Turner Classic Movies and that there is not one Thin Man movie, but like, 6 or 7?! Would I like to dance and laugh at people trying to be serious? Could I spot a “good cut” in a movie scene? Would I make collages of all my favorite things and then admire them over and over? Would I still like animals more than people?

Perhaps. But probably not. I would be different because my parents would be different–have different jobs, hobbies, senses of humor, religions, struggles, incomes, etc. I like all the things that make up me. I’d like to think that we can see the best in our parents and the things that they like, we take and make them our own.

Or maybe not. Just a thought.

Also, don’t get all nature vs. nurture on me.

A Post About Nothing

I haven’t been feeling very inspired to write anything recently. Sometimes I feel like I’ve talked about everything there is to talk about. Sometimes I can’t even remember if I’ve written about a certain topic already or if I just dreamed that I did.

These days if you have writer’s block (or any kind of block at all really) you go onto Google and see what there is to write about. I typed “what should I blog about?” into Google, clicked on the first entry, and this is what it said:

1. What is your expertise? Readers want to read about what you know and your special experiences. Really!

Okay, geeze. I believe you. Problem is, I don’t have an expertise. Unless you count being able to name every Pokemon an expertise, I’ve got nothin. Are most people experts in a certain area? Is this some sort of life requirement that I missed out on? Should I look into something? I guess history would be my expertise because I got my degree in it, but we all know that’s a lie and I forgot everything I learned right after the final exam.

2. What’s the news? While you don’t have to necessarily be a news breaker, you can give your view on what’s happening in your industry and how it relates to your hobby, life, etc.

Am I supposed to have an industry? I don’t even know what day of the week it is, never mind what my industry should be. I feel like I break the news occasionally, but I usually sway towards celebrity gossip more than newsy news. Can we call it newsy news from now on? The reason I didn’t write about the newest celebrity news is because my heart is broken and talking about it just makes it hurt more.

I’ll give you a hint: It has to do with these two.

3. What is your personality? Do you like to take a stance? Are you funny? Do you like being a contrarian? These insights can help you to write about your topic.

Can’t I just be everything? Why do I have to choose just one of those things? Can’t I be a funny contrarian that likes to take a stance? Maybe I don’t want to be defined by one personality type. I think there are sides of me that are soft and kind and other parts that are funny and playful and other parts that are deep and thoughtful. Notice how I didn’t name any character flaws? It’s because I don’t have any, in case you’re wondering.

4. What are your hopes and fears? Things that you can’t stop thinking about or what keeps you up at night could be good things to share with others.

I would say one of my hopes is trying to live a good solid life. A life I can look back at and feel proud of. A lot of the time I get caught up in trying to make other people proud, but I think I should just be focusing on making myself proud. I try to be the best example to others that I can be.

My fear is that I’ll go to a restaurant and they won’t have my favorite thing on the menu anymore. This scenario has happened to me multiple times and it’s scarred me for life.

5. What are your hobbies? Things that you like to do on your free time are often great topics to discuss.

Um let’s see here. Sleeping is a big hobby of mine. Eating is also another big one. Going online. Driving and listening to music. Walking and listening to music. Just listening to music in general. Traveling to new places. Did I say eating? Um petting soft animals. Laughing at people. Laughing at myself. Not exercising. Shopping. Painting my nails (but only when they’re grown out). Going to movies. Eating popcorn. Eating chocolate. Eating.

I think that’s about it.

Were those prompts supposed to solve my writer’s block? Because I think they made it worse. And they made my self esteem plummet because I don’t have an industry or an expertise.

I guess technically you can’t have writer’s block if you’re not a writer, so I probably have nothing to worry about, right?