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Turning 23: Celebrating Another Year of Life

23-birthday

I know this post might seem silly, but I wanted to do it anyway. My older sister Laney inspired me and I thought it would be a unique idea to write a blog post about turning 23 and talk about life and growing up.

My 23rd birthday was actually a couple days ago, on Thursday, January 14th.

As weird as this might sound, I still get excited about my birthday. Even though it means getting older and getting more responsibilities, I still get excited over my birthday because it is a moment that I find myself reflecting on life. On the life I’ve lived and on how quickly things can change.

Me After Zumba

Probably one of my favorite pictures of me that I can find. Which is kind of weird because I’m sweaty and gross in this picture after going to the gym to do Zumba.

Over this past year, a lot has changed for me. In February, I met the man I fell deeply in love with attending his band’s concert that my friend had invited me to because she was friends with him. Then in May, I graduated from Columbia College with my Bachelor of Arts degree in English Writing for Print and Digital Media. For the next couple months, I struggled without success to get a job in my field only to start working in my school’s dining hall once again while continuing my search. While searching for a job, I started this blog in July because I felt inspired to start blogging and wanted to continue writing while I continued my job search. I then began falling on hard times in October after the man I deeply fell in love with broke up with me, crushing my heart completely. I used this heartache in November when I began writing my novel for National Novel Writing Month The Swan & the Crow in the hope that writing about my experience would start me on the path to heal. And I definitely feel like it made a difference because it allowed me the opportunity to distract my thoughts from reality and get through the pain I was experiencing. However, I didn’t heal completely from it and am still working on that to this day, though I’m much closer to it now than I was then.

It wasn’t until December that I really felt life was finally turning around for the better. The time I had off from work for Christmas helped because I got to spend time with my lovely family and realized I have everything I need. I realized it was time to begin letting my anger, frustration, and sadness go and to forgive him, despite everything. To realize that being single is okay because I might not be ready to spend the rest of my life with someone just yet.

And as weird as this might sound, thinking about my birthday brought some of these thoughts on. Made me optimistic about the months to come and hopeful that life isn’t over for me just because I’m not in a relationship right now.

My birthday has a weird way of bringing out the best in me. Puts a light pep in my step and allows me to see what’s coming next in my life in a whole new light.

CC Graduation Image with Maria

A picture of me with my friend Maria after graduation.

I also get excited about my birthday because it is the celebration of life. Of getting the chance to live another year longer, getting to reach an age some people don’t necessarily get the chance to experience and being thankful for getting to this point in life.

Yes, being an adult is hard and I don’t have my life completely together just yet. I still don’t have a job in my field, getting the opportunity to write, but I do still have a job and a home to live in while I search along with a supportive family and friends who care about me.

But despite that my life isn’t completely perfect, I still have a reason to celebrate life. In the end, that’s what really matters and is a good reason to celebrate.

So Happy 23rd Birthday to me and may you all enjoy the month of January!

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Writing Prompt: You Are Your Own Worst Enemy

Look In the Mirror Thats Your Competition Image

This saying reflects a lot on society today and how people view themselves. But I also know that for me, this saying definitely stands true.

I am my own worst enemy. I am the biggest self-critic of them all. I am often too harsh, too cruel towards myself, always telling myself that I’m not doing enough, that I could be doing better.

There are moments where I experience a lot of doubt. Doubt about my life, my writing, my career choices, and even the relationships I have with the people I care the most about. I tell myself that I’m not good enough, that I don’t deserve the things I do have, and that I don’t have certain things because I don’t deserve them.

But that’s not true. Not at all. I tell myself these things because I believe them. BUT that proves that I am my own worst enemy because I’m the only person currently who is criticizing myself. I don’t have anyone else in my life who is criticizing the choices I make in my life, telling me that I’m not good enough, that I could be doing better.

I used to have someone in my life like that. In the past, there was someone who made me feel this way. Made me believe that I’m not good enough, that I don’t deserve to be here.

But since that person is no longer a part of my life, I’ve started to become that person towards myself instead. I often find myself  doubting all of the choices I make, telling myself that I’m not good enough. I find myself looking in the mirror, unsatisfied with the reflection in the mirror staring back at me.

But at the same time, my own unsatisfaction has also driven me. I tell myself I can’t do things that are impossible to do. And then, I do them to prove myself wrong. To prove to those who might doubt me that I can do things, that I can be who I want to be. That I can achieve the impossible even at times when it seems difficult to do.

I am my own worst self-critic. But at the same time, my self-doubt is the best motivator to push me to succeed at everything I do.

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Writing Prompt: Once Upon a Time

Once Upon a Time Image

Once upon a time, there once was a young girl and her cat. The girl’s name was Wendy and the cat’s name was Luna.

Wendy and Luna were the best of friends. Wendy found Luna outside her house, sitting on the porch, begging for food. They became the best of friends after Wendy started feeding Luna.

But Luna was a stubborn cat. Gray with white fur, she strutted her stuff around the neighborhood outside as if she owned the place. Wendy idolized her and talked to her about her real life problems.

Because Wendy’s life wasn’t perfect. Oh no. Wendy’s parents were mean and cruel to her. They barley fed her and gave her hand me downs as clothing.

For Wendy once had an older sister named Charlotte. But Charlotte died after their parents beat her for misbehaving very badly. But what Charlotte had done even Wendy didn’t know.

So she tried the best she could, to be the best little girl her parents could ever want. And for a time being, it worked. Her parents started being kinder to her, allowing her to do whatever she pleased as long as she stayed in the yard and didn’t talk to any of the neighbors.

But once Luna came, everything changed. Worried that Luna would somehow destroy everything they had, Wendy’s parents allowed her to go outside less and less. She was once again locked up in her room, where she was once again barely fed until she had to beg to be given food.

The world was cruel to little Wendy. But the world was even crueler to Luna. Once Luna realized her friend was nowhere to be found, she went in search of her, wondering where she went. For days, she searched high and low, looking everywhere a cat her stature could look until she realized that Wendy was nowhere to be found.

Sad and alone, completely heartbroken, Luna stayed outside on Wendy’s house porch and cried little meows until she was able to fall asleep every night.

These meows tortured little Wendy who was inside, very close to Luna yet so far away. She wanted to reach Luna, to wrap her arms around her and hold her close, to let her know that she was okay.

But it was not meant to be. Because as the months went by, Luna waited outside of Wendy’s house less and less until Wendy saw her no more.

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Writing Prompt: Winnie the Pooh Quote

Winnie the Pooh Quote

The reason why I’ve added this quote to my collection of writing prompts is because it has become one of my favorite quotes from Winnie the Pooh.

Winnie the Pooh is one of my favorite childhood memories. Along with reading the book, I watched the show a lot as a child. Pooh Bear and all of the other characters in the Hundred Acre Wood were someone I could relate to.

Like the quote says, Winnie the Pooh is one of the many things from my childhood that I have close to my heart.

And that’s what this quote makes me think of: everything that I have close to my heart. People I care about that I don’t talk to anymore and aren’t close with anymore because of certain circumstances. Though I can’t be with these people anymore, I keep them closely in my heart.

This quote makes me think of them and of loss. Of losing those you love, but still holding them close to your heart. Makes me think of everything I’ve recently been through, but in a different light.

That even though you say goodbye to someone who you can’t be with anymore, you can still hold them close to your heart. And that person will always be a part of your heart, even when you don’t care about them anymore. Even after you’ve let that person go and moved on.

This quote from Winnie the Pooh is really powerful and I love it.

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Writing Prompt: Night Time, the Moon

Night time is my favorite time of the day. I like it because it is one of the only times really during the day where the sky is perfectly clear and the moon is out. You can see the stars, glistening in the darkened sky like a beacon, pointing your way home.

I love the night because everything is eclipsed in shadow. Everything becomes darker, harder to see, but hauntingly more beautiful than ever before.

Most of my dreams I have during the night happen at night. Whether I am dreaming about taking a night stroll through a densely packed forest or thinking about life and everything else going on in life, most of my dreams take place in a world full of shadows.

I love the night because of the stars. I like looking at the stars, blinking at me as if to greet me and ask me about my day. They look friendly to me, like familiar friends guiding me into the heavens.

The night time is a moment of truth. It is the time when reality blurs and everything you think is impossible becomes possible.

I love the night time at Christmas because of all the lights. People put up their Christmas lights and they are beautiful to look at, but they can only be seen when darkness overshadows the world. They are packed full of brightly lit colors that brighten the night with happiness and hope.

At night time, I have many dreams. I dream of being one of my favorite animals, a wolf. I dream of hunting my prey, stalking them in the grass and watching them shrivel in fear as I hunt them down.

Night time is my favorite time of the day because to me, it is really beautiful to behold.

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Writing Prompt: “Happiness in the Darkest of Times” Quote

 

Albus Dumbledore Harry Potter Quote
Image can be found on Kites Quotes.

Yay, I get to talk about one of my favorite quotes from Harry Potter! How exciting!

Anyway, I think this quote strongly speaks to me on so many levels. It reminds me that even when things get really bad, there can be happiness in the moment, you just have to go and look for it.

When things seem rough and you don’t know what to do, you have to think about the things that really matter to you. These things are what will brighten your day, make everything that seems horrible disappear. For me, these things are writing, reading, coloring, video games, family, friends and music. Whenever I feel down as if nothing in my life will ever get better, I do one of these things to keep my mind off what’s bothering me and my mood immediately shifts.

I start to feel like myself again. As if every matter that’s bugging me isn’t important and that everything will be alright. Even when I try and tell myself over and over again that it isn’t okay, that I’ll never get better, I push through. I make the most of every moment and try my best to stay away from the negative thoughts clouding my head.

This quote makes me believe again. Believe that there is magic in the world, you just have to go and find it. That even in the darkest hallways, there is a light that just needs to be turned on to brighten the place. That happiness might seem impossible, out of reach, but once you are able to find a moment that makes you laugh, you will be alright again.

In the end, you need to see the good in everything, even if the bad tries really hard to take over. Just think of the things you love and you’ll be alright.

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Leaping Into a New Year

2016 Image
Image can be found on Odyssey.

Welcome to 2016 everyone. It is finally upon us once again; a new year full of new beginnings. As 2015 comes to an end, I’m excited to see what the future holds in store for me.

I would also like to quickly thank you all. I want to thank you for following my blog and reading my posts. I just started this blog in July and really appreciate all of the people who take the time to read it. I hope you’ve enjoyed the posts I’ve written so far and hope you continue reading my blog in the future.

I never thought I’d get this far with my blog. That I would create a blog people want to read and people want to follow. But I’m really proud of what I’ve accomplished here so far and can’t wait to see what’s next.

Since 2016 is finally upon us, I would like to quickly wish you all a Happy New Year. I hope 2016 is a good year for you all and that it’s everything you want it to be and more.

I would also quickly like to talk about what I hope will come with this new year, with regards to my goals for Vook: Books + Video Games. I’ve just started this blog but I hope I can make it an even bigger and better blog that people will continue enjoy reading.

For the new year, I hope to write more posts. I don’t want to publish blog posts every day, but I want to put up more posts on here for you to read. I want to become more active on my blog by publishing at least two or three posts a week with content that you all will enjoy. I know there’s no one hundred percent guarantee of that happening because of how busy daily life can sometimes get, but I want to be more active with my blog posts so that you have more content to read.

I also want to write about a variety of topics too. While book and video game reviews are going to be the main content of my blog, I also want to share more and more of my writing with you too. Blogs are a personal space where the writer needs to share a part of themselves with those who read their content in order to make a connection with their readers. I know I’ve started doing this through posting my writing prompts, but I hope to find other ways of doing this as well so that you can see a variety of interesting writing on my blog you will enjoy and want to come back to.

I also want to become more active on interacting with my followers and the bloggers I enjoy reading as well. I know I’m not always the best at interacting with people in the blogging community so for this new year, I want to do the best I can to change that. I hope I can do that by commenting more frequently on blog posts in a way that invites more conversation.

2015 has been a roller coaster of a year. I’ve had many ups and downs through the year but have also learned a lot about blogging since creating Vook: Book + Video Games. I enjoy blogging and hope that 2016 will bring with it many opportunities to continue improving my writing and becoming the best blogger I can be. I know I still have a lot left to learn, but I know the journey is far from being over.

So thank you for sticking with me since I’ve created my blog and I hope you all enjoy 2016.

 

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First Impressions: Okamiden

Okamiden 2

Okamiden is an action-adventure video game published by Capcom. Released in 2011, Okamiden is the sequel to Okami and takes place nine months after Amaterasu’s defeat of the Dark Lord Yami.

After Amaterasu defeats Yami, she goes to the heavens and Issun becomes a Celestial Envoy. Nine months later, after defeating Yami and all of the demons in Nippon, they return. The Konohana Sprite Sakuya senses the danger and tries to summon Amaterasu but summons her son Chibiterasu instead. Since Issun is a Celestial Envoy, he is unable to go on this journey with Chibiterasu and so Chibiterasu is tasked to help find other partners to help him rid the world of this evil.

Okamiden 3

Just like Okami, you play as a wolf with the Celestial Brush techniques. And being able to use these brush techniques is one of my favorite things about playing Okamiden. I like using them even better in Okamiden than I do Okami because the brush techniques seem more interactive to me. Part of that is due to Okamiden being released on Nintendo DS, which allows the player to have more interaction in the game.

And like in its predecessor, Okamiden has beautiful graphics that amaze the gamer just as much as in Okami. The village where you start off in the game looks amazing and seeing all of the familiar places that can also be found in Okami brings back a lot of fond memories I have of the game.

A feature of Okamiden I enjoy that can’t be found in Okami is the ability to use your partner to help find hidden objects and progress through the game. One of the Celestial Brushes you obtain in Okamiden allows you to direct your partner to hidden objects and switches so that you can get things that are far away from you. This adds a unique feature to the game that still makes playing it a challenge and allows your partner to be a more active participant in combating evil.

Okamiden 4
Watching as your partner crosses over to collect an object or step on a hidden switch is a challenge I never get tired of. Image can be found on Hooked Gamers.

Another feature in Okamiden I enjoy is that even though nine months have passed since the events that’ve occurred in Okami, a lot has changed for the Gods who you get the Celestial Brush techniques from. In Okamiden when you get the brush techniques, the children of the Gods in Okami are the ones who give you the brush techniques. I find this to be really cool because it shows that time has passed in the game.

However, there is one thing in Okamiden I don’t like as much as I did in Okami. Personally, I don’t like the controls when playing Okamiden in that walking around in the game doesn’t feel the same because it’s a lot harder to look around as you walk.

But like Okami, Okamiden is such an amazing game to play. I love playing it just as much as I did Okami that I can’t wait to see what more of the story I have yet to unlock.

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Writing Prompt: “If You Are Not Willing to Learn” Quote

If You Are Not Willing to Learn Quote

I agree with this quote completely. I believe those willing to learn will do whatever it takes to learn, including receiving help from others if that will lead them down the path of learning.

However, those who aren’t willing to learn will never be able to get the exact help they need. This is because if they don’t want to learn but have to, no matter how much help they try and get, no one will be able to help them.

I feel like this quote can relate to a lot of things in life too. For example, if you are in a bad relationship and are determined to get out, nothing can stop you. The same is true if you aren’t determined to get out of the bad relationship.

I also feel like as a recent college graduate, I can relate to this quote. Throughout school, I struggled with my grades. Not because I didn’t want to learn but because I didn’t test well. Whenever I took standardized tests, I did horribly even when I spent time preparing for them.

But I was still successful in school. While I struggled with taking tests, I did well in school on everything else. I understood the material being taught and did the best I could to continue my learning. And while I struggled with testing, I never gave up. I tried the best I could to do well and succeeded because I paid attention in my classes and did everything I could to understand the material being taught to me. If I had any questions in class or there was something I wanted to say, I didn’t hesitate to raise my hand and receive the help I needed.

And I graduated from college, despite my struggles with test taking. I even made it on the Dean’s list a couple of times too. But in the end, those who want to learn will always be able to get the help they need. Those who don’t want to learn will never be able to get help, no matter how hard they try.

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