Category: About Myself

“Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful” (Margaret J. Wheatley, 2019). Literature has always been a part of my life and now with the help of reflection, I am able to see the impact literary and non-literary text has had on my life. Throughout high school, I have read many texts and watched many movies that have shaped me into the person I am today. Looking back on my high school journey I can see that the major lesson high school teaches is that people should be treated with respect. The literary and non-literary texts that impacted my life the most were “To Kill a Mockingbird” written by Harper Lee, “The World We Make” directed by Brian Baugh, “A Bridge to Wiseman’s Cove” written by James Maloney, and “My Sister’s Keeper” directed by Nick Cassavetes

“To Kill a Mockingbird” written by Harper Lee is a novel about a family who believes in equality. Atticus (the dad) teaches his children Scout and Jem that folks are just folks; ‘Naw, Jem, I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks” (231) When I first read this novel, it provided me with an insight into what racism is like from a perspective of a child. It also showed me that back in the 1930’s people were only treated by the color of their skin. “There’s something in our world that makes men lose their heads they couldn’t be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins” (131) “To Kill a Mockingbird” changed my perspective into what time was like in the 1930s because before reading this novel I had no idea how harsh people were. Growing up surrounded by people of color I didn’t know anything different. Now looking back at this novel, I am able to see how hard it was to be of color and that people should only be treated by their personality. High school is very similar to the situation that Tom Robinson was in and Harper Lee showed this with the use of irony. The irony was used to suggest the contrast of the literal meaning (Tom Robinson being prosecuted) to the contextual meaning (The discrimination against colored people) but in high school instead of being discriminated by the color of your skin, you are discriminated by the way you look (hair color, body size, clothes you wear and eye color). When looking into the future I can see that this novel will teach me that a person should only be treated by the way they treat others because if they don’t give respect, they don’t deserve it back. This novel shaped me to be the person I am today; a person who treats people the way they want to be treated and the way they deserve to be treated.

The movie “The World We Make” directed by Brian Baugh is a non-literary text that has touched my life. In this film, a young equestrian girl (Lee) falls for a colored footballer (Jordan) and their relationship is tested when racial biases are tested. Lee is unaware of what is happening so Jordan explains to her that racism is normal for him. After Jordan is attacked by jealous guys, Jordan’s father, Thomas (Gregory Alan Williams), warns him that Lee will break his heart, “Dreams can definitely die when white boys jump you because they’re jealous of a borrowed car or your white girlfriend” (84 mins). It was in this scene that their relationship comes to an end. Initially, this movie taught me relationships might come to an end, but friendships don’t. When they both are forced to give up their dreams, they help each other. Personally, I know what it feels like to have a person stay with you through the good and the bad. Looking back on the film I can see how it helped shaped me into the person I am today because it taught me that you may not be able to decide how people think, but you can decide how you react. Throughout this entire movie, you can see that Lee’s dad was there for her no matter what, “Couldn’t be prouder… I’m talking about everything you’ve done for this family” (100 mins). I can relate to this because throughout my entire life my parents are the ones who were always there for me, even when I did something wrong, they were still there. In the future, this movie will help me realize that friendships and relationships are not something that should be taken for granted.

Another novel that influenced my life is A Bridge to Wiseman’s Cove written by James Maloney. This novel shaped my life because it tells the story of a teenage boy who suffers from body image, grief, belonging, and loss of family. In the book 15-year-old Carl is used to his mother leaving however she has never really gone for more than a couple of months, “She’s worked out we don’t need her… she’s taken off forever” (23). When I first read this novel, I could tell that all Carl wanted was to be a part of a family. I really related to this because at the time of reading this novel my family was going through a rough patch. Carl feels that not everyone in his family loves him, and he “Wants to toss be like old baggage” (110). As the book goes on Carl starts standing up for himself. This reminded me of when I first started high school. I didn’t always fit in but as time went on, I only cared about how I felt about myself. Looking back at this novel I notice how it changed me to be a better person. It helped me become more confident in everything I do, it stopped me from second-guessing everything. This novel shaped my life because it taught me that the only opinion that really matters and counts is my own. In the future, I hope that this book continues influencing kids to stop judging people and to be confident no matter who they are. At the end of the book Carl finds out that his mum was coming back to him and that she did love him, “the crash happened only five days after she left home… it was the same as every other time… the bus was heading north, towards the city, north towards you” (291). This particular scene shaped me to be the person I am today by helping me understand the true meaning of actions speaks louder than words.

When I was just 12 years old, I watched a movie that impacted my life tremendously; “My Sister’s Keeper” directed by Nick Cassavetes. This is a movie about family, suffering, and isolation. Kate Fitzgerald played by Sophia Vassilieva is a teenage girl who was born with acute leukemia (a blood and bone marrow cancer). Kate’s younger sister Anna Fitzgerald was born as a ‘savior sister’ who would donate anything Kate needed. “Once upon a time I thought I was put on earth to save my sister” (60 mins) Paradox is used when the director is showing the relationship between Kate and Anna but at the end of the story, the paradox is explained when they find out that Kate asked her sister to do it for her. “Kate wants to die… She’s making Anna do all this ‘cause she’s not going to survive another operation” (70 mins). This particular scene was one that shaped my life because this is when I really knew that a sister’s bond is unbreakable and that nothing can and will ever come between them. Initially, this movie showed me how much family means and to never take things that are given to you for granted. The title of this movie “My Sister’s Keeper” is an allusion. In the bible Cain says to God; “…Am I my brother’s keeper?” this makes her text artistically deeper and semantically loaded. When looking back at this movie I can see that it taught me no matter what happens your family is always going to be there, it taught me to love and cherish those that mean so much to you and it also taught me that even when a person is gone that person is never really “gone”. This movie really hits home because cancer has always been a part of my life, but it wasn’t until I lost someone who was extremely close to me, someone who was like my brother to help me realise that family is the most important thing a person could ever have. When I look into the future, I can see that this movie will be one that will forever always teach me to love and respect my family and to never take anything for granted because once you lose someone so very important life almost seems unbearable.

“That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you’re not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong” (F. Scott Fitzgerald). Literature is a part of our everyday lives in high school. Some will impact you some will not. Some will teach you lessons, and some will teach you nothing. If there is one thing, I learned from reading books and watching movies it is that you’re the only one who can decide your future. Literature comes in many different forms; poetry, songs, novels, and movies. Any one of these forms has its own ability to shape or impact a person’s life.

Freedom may be defined in three ways: First, it is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint as when we say that we have the freedom to speak. Second, it is the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved as when one sat, “Finally after three years of my imprisonment, I had tasted freedom again”. Thirdly, it is the unrestricted use of something as when we say, “We had more or less complete freedom using our laptop whenever and wherever we wanted.” This was tackled in Day 11: Pondering Freedom. I choose Jean-Paul Sartre because according to him “Man is forever free” which I totally agree with because freedom for me is simply to live as you are, to do what you want to do, and to spend time the rest of your life with people you love. He made me realize something about freedom, that freedom of him is all that I need.

What is freedom? I know we all will have a different definition for this single word. In very simple words, I will address freedom as a state of independence where you can do what you like without any restrictions from anyone. According to Jean-Paul Sartre, freedom is to be seen in relation to man’s defining himself. This means that no one can control something you want to do but yourself and no one is to blame for something you did but yourself. Moreover, freedom can be called a state of mind where you have the right and freedom of doing what you can think of. One event of my life that makes me feel like I had the freedom to live my life, as how I want to is when I have to move into the city for me to study there without the presence of my parents but only me. Starting that day I feel like I was a dog released from my cage because my boss released me. I have complete freedom because I can express myself for who I am. Starting that day, I can do the things that I don’t usually do without my parent’s approval because I am always dependent on what my parents want me to do. But being independent for a year is never easy. Yes, you have the freedom to do something you like, do go somewhere you want to go, to have friends with someone that there’s no need for your parents’ opinion, to go home late, but everything you do, everything the freedom you have at that moment you will still miss the care of your parents.

Based on personal experience, I would define freedom as the right to do what one wants, live where one wants, eat what one wants, learn what one wants, and choose which religion one believes in, without ignoring or harming other rights. To conclude, the small choices that we collectively make in our everyday lives make us independent from other individuals. That is what freedom means to me.

I want to be a film director when I grow up…

Can you imagine a world without films and television shows? Well, I sure cannot and do not ever want to try. Movies and television shows have always been a large part of my life. I did not have a childhood that looked like most others and the television set provided a constant that I did not receive in a broken home. The characters of Barney were my best friends that I could visit no matter which home I was in. As I grew older, my choice of shows evolved and my fascination grew. I spent every Sunday reading the classifieds hoping and searching for casting calls, as I prayed for someone to bring the film industry to South Mississippi. When that never happened, I settled for forcing cousins and siblings to take place in whatever theatrical production I cooked up. As an adult, the desire to make films remained constant. I worked as often as I could as an extra on set in New Orleans, just to be a part of the creative atmosphere. As an extra on set, I was able to watch first-hand how movies were made and the magic that goes into them. To say that my passion grew more in those moments would be an understatement. On the set of the movie Trumbo, I was fortunate enough to witness the greats Brian Cranston, Diane Lane, and Hellen Mirren in action. I internally squealed with delight, when the queen herself, asked how my day was. For me, it was witnessing the characters come to life and the dedication to the art that solidified to me that film production was a true passion and not just a childhood dream. Now that my daughter is almost grown and I have the time and resources, I fully intend to see this passion through as I pursue a degree in film and become a film director. I want to create characters that feel like family, write stories that captivate the imagination, and make films that inspire positive change.

A film director whose work I admire immensely is Ava DuVernay. She has effortlessly combined her love of film with her passion for activism. Like myself, she also started her film career later in life. In CNBC’s article, “How a Career Change at 32 led Ava DuVernay to Become the First Black Women to Direct a $100 Million Dollar Film”, Courtney Connely states, “It was not until 2010 when she created her first feature film, “I Will Follow,” that she realized she had stories that needed to be told.” There are an unlimited number of social issues that we fight today and I believe that sometimes the easiest way to get a point across or inspire change is through bringing life to stories in film. Through film, we are allowed an intimate glance into other’s lives and situations, which creates a space that cultivates empathy for one another. Instead of others’ situations being “their problem”, it becomes a human problem. When that happens, we learn how to rally together and fight for the changes that need to be made. These are the types of movies that I hope to create as a film director.

When most people hear the word film director, they can usually list a handful of blockbuster creators such as Steven Spielberg, Wes Anderson, or Quentin Tarantino, however, few actually know what the job of a film director is. To put it simply, film directors are in charge of every artistic aspect of creating a movie and seeing it through to completion. The film reference encyclopedia website (www.filmreference.com) breaks a director’s duties down into three categories, pre-production, production, and post-production. During pre-production a director must first decide how they want to interpret the screenplay, they often do this while working closely with the writers. Once a vision has been established, they then work with producers to decide on a budget and with casting directors, so that they may choose the casts that best fits their vision. Set locations, costumes, and timelines are also chosen during this time. While the film is in the production stage, the film director works to ensure that decisions made during pre-production are held up. The ability to multitask during this stage is essential because not only do they have to give direction to actors, but they must also work closely with every other department of the set, such as but not limited to the lighting and sound department, set design, and sometimes stunt coordinators. This stage for most full-length films last around a month and a half. Once all scenes have been filmed the movie then goes into post-production. Post-production is then where the film director oversees the visual and sound editing of the movie. As you can see, becoming a film director is more than just yelling action or cutting. It is up to the film director to decide and execute the look, sound, and overall emotion of a movie

There are many characteristics and skills that are essential for becoming a successful film director. According to The Los Angeles Film School Blog (lafilm.edu), Hope Swedeen states that “the five most important skills needed to become a successful film director are technological expertise, flexible creativity, written and visual storytelling, and communication…” Technological expertise is crucial to creating and seeing through the vision of the movie. By understanding lighting and scene framing, a film director can decide how scenes are set up and filmed and what equipment is needed. It is also important for a film director to have flexible creativity. Creativity is a given because without it, a director cannot create the executable artistic vision needed to drive the production of a film. Anyone that has ever worked on a movie set can attest that flexibility is also a must. During production, many things can go wrong and most likely will. When a director can be flexible, disruptions and problems can be solved more efficiently. Movies themselves are visual stories, so I believe the obvious and most important skill is the ability to bring stories to life, without that ability, movies become dull and uninspired. The last skill Swedeen list is communication. Excelling in communication is another vital skill needed for film directors because not only must they be able to collaborate with all departments, but they must also be able to clearly dictate their vision to actors and various departments.

Unlike most careers, the path to becoming a film director is not a set straight line. Aspiring film directors can either choose to work their way up through other various jobs on set or they can start by completing a bachelor’s degree in a related subject. Both options have led to extremely successful careers. Brian Fairbanks wrote the enlightening article, “Before They Were Famous,” for cinenmathread.com, in which he reports on the early careers of famous film directors. Quentin Tarantino and Alfred Hitchcock are two very successful directors that have never stepped foot in film school, so you can see without a doubt that school is not necessarily needed in order to have a prosperous career as a film director. George Lucus and Tim Burton, however, expanded their existing talents in film school, and judging by their success, that was the right call for them. As you can see no one path is greater than the other. For those who do choose to go to film school, once a film degree has been achieved, in order to obtain employment, most film directors still need to show the ability to direct and can do so by directing student films or by working underneath a more established director. I have decided to get a Bachelor’s degree in film, so that I may expand upon my knowledge and skill set before seeking employment. For myself, my success generally revolves around my confidence, therefore it is imperative that I take classes so that I can be confident in my skills. I also believe that I would benefit from the added perk of networking, while in school. My hope is to take classes in all areas of the film so that I will have a well-rounded understanding of all things pertaining to my career.

Similar to there not being a set way to become a film director, there is no set salary. The amount of money a film director is paid is reflective of many things such as experience, success, and project budgets. Another large factor that dictates the salary of a first-year film director is the state that one works. For example, according to payscale.com, the starting salary for a film director in Mississippi is a little above $41,000.00; whereas in the state of New York the salary jumps up to $96,0000.00. Luckily for me, my family and I have already started planning our move to New York City following my graduation. As far as taxes go, if I were to file as a single individual 24% of my income would go towards taxes, which would be around $23,000, leaving my take-home income close to $73,000. This income combined with my significant others would be sufficient to comfortably live. The starting salary and job outlook of 5% growth (bls.gov) give me the confidence I need to pursue my career as a film director.

For me, art is everywhere, anything or everything that surrounds us is a masterpiece-a work of art indeed, whether it’s an appliance, person, gadget, and all things, that is an art that was made by people, through the talents that god gave us. God gave us these talents in order to showcase our skills, emphasize the meaning of every artwork, and also to improve it. I’m going to make a confession sir. When I was younger I really hated art because, every time my teacher wanted us to pass a drawing or a painting about a certain topic, I was not satisfied with it. Simply because, as I can notice, my classmates’ work is more beautiful than mine.

But I started accepting the reality that we are unique in our own ways. Instead of hating something- I began loving and appreciating every artwork. And also art has been a part of my life. One of the reasons why I started loving the arts is through music. I love listening to music because it calms me and helps me when I’m experiencing stress, because of so many activities in school that I needed to comply with. Listening to music helps me to relax and focus on the things that I really want to do. When I’m experiencing an exhausting and busy schedule, I use art to escape the constant chaos and pressure. I will just sit in a quiet place and write a story on Wattpad, well that’s a form of relaxation for me, I love to read what my readers feel and thoughts in every chapter that I create, and most especially I love seeing them getting angry in a character in my story because in that way I can feel that they really appreciate and love my story. I guess one of the applications of art that I love to do in my everyday life is photography. I love capturing an image that depicts a wonderful story, which is considered one of my hobbies.

When I’m thinking that my artworks are ugly, I will just think that my work is unique in my own way because that’s how I express something, or if someone said something bad about my work I will not mind them, because if I consider something is an art, while others can’t, maybe because they can’t appreciate it, or they don’t really know the meaning behind it. Because everyone can be an artist, a doctor can make wonderful sketches, and an engineer can be a great music writer, so there’s no reason to say that you don’t have talents in terms of being an artist. And also for me, art is therapeutic you can express something using it, and art itself can heal you mentally, it will not give you problems, unlike in solving mathematical problems you need to find the right solution, or else if you don’t your head will just throb painfully, because you can get a zero score. So my only advice to those aspiring artists is don’t be afraid if you faced painful judges because by that you can be the best version of yourselves. Don’t think that others’ judgment can drag you down because even those kinds of people can be your inspiration to make a tantalizing artwork so that everyone can be speechless.

Feeling or showing pleasure or contentment – the literal definition of happy I believe many can agree that happiness determines if one is leading a well-lived life, at least it does for me. Though I once believed that the importance of happiness was overrated, I have come to a realization that I am constantly chasing and yearning for happiness. Through various encounters in life, I have learned that happiness comes and goes and that having something or someone to hold on to is what will keep one alive. “We are all lost souls, wandering in the night, trapped in our own minds. Free your racing mind from anxiety and inner peace in a world of chaos.” this has been a saying that really spoke to me and nudges me to find joy in the simplest things in a world of chaos. Therefore, I have decided to design a well-lived life based on factors that make me happy which include having a purpose, a relationship with peers, and the capability to love and receive love.

The first factor to a well-lived life is finding a purpose in life. This factor might sound the simplest, but it is indeed one of the toughest objectives to be fulfilled in life. You make the decisions you want, feel what you want to feel, and choose the direction to proceed in life. Do you find yourself questioning your purpose in this universe? Fear not, some people spend their whole life figuring what their purpose in life and I would say one is lucky to have it figured it. However, I do think that people can develop a temporary purpose in life with every phase of their life. Personally, I found myself developing a kind of small and temporary purpose in life and for instance, I would determine my purpose in life to be learning. Learning every small thing I can from school, work, and people whom I interreact with, understanding the works of life and excelling in school. This might sound shallow to certain readers, but it works for me, it keeps my life on track and has a goal to work towards. Having a purpose in life serves as a checklist for me and I experience happiness every time I check something off the list.

With a purpose in life, I will then be able to love what I do which is also an important factor as one would often their life seemingly resembling a broken tape with repetitive routines and patterns that cannot be broken which often refers to one’s livelihood, social circle, living habits and train of thoughts. This makes life repetitive and even boring in some sense which causes life to lack excitement and anticipation. However, if one were to love what he does, he will be able to see the smallest spark a routine can create, he might not even feel like his daily life is a routine. Everything is interesting and exciting for that individual and that is what you need to lead a well-lived life – being able to feel the excitement in the things you do and the feeling of fulfillment every time you achieve something despite it circling around the same job.

According to a study by a team of Harvard School of Public Health researchers, it is said that if you feel you have a higher sense of purpose in life, you are more likely to remain healthy and physically strong as you grow older (Feld, 2017). This shows that it Is indeed an important factor in having a purpose in life such that it is even linked to one’s health condition. A positive psychology instructor at the University of Pennsylvania Emily Esfahani Smith said “Purpose is less about what you want than about what you give.” and explained that the key to purpose is “using your strengths to serve others.” (Smith, 2017). It has been proven that having a purpose in life gives one a reason to move forward, a direction, and something to strive towards. There will be multiple instances in life where you will feel lost and helpless but having a purpose in life will serve as a guide to keep you on track and find yourself back.

However, it is said that there are limitations to finding a purpose in life and as mentioned earlier, not many people truly find their life’s purpose and live by it. As mentioned on the site, purpose is everywhere and as time goes by, we stray away further from the possibility of even finding some sense of purpose in our life (Mirchevski, 2019). Furthermore, we live in a world with endless competition which makes happiness harder to achieve today precisely because we have advanced in many aspects throughout the years and choosing to live dishonest life to impress other people (Mirchevski, 2019). For instance, people often only show the positive aspect of their life on social media platforms as such Instagram which is unrealistic but might cause you to be influenced to aspire to the same lifestyle. With the decision to live a dishonest life to impress others, you can be unknowingly influenced to achieve something similar causing you to find an unrealistic purpose. Despite the limitation of finding a purpose, one can start by learning to be content with who they are and what one has at the moment. Being satisfied with where you are at currently, with who you are now, maybe be your purpose right now. It can be everything, as long as you are happy with your decision (Mirchevski, 2019).

The second factor to a well-lived life is my relationship with my peers and the people around me. The feeling of belonging links closely to this factor and it comes from “being in relationships where you’re valued for who you are intrinsically and where you value others as well.” (Smith, 2017). My friends have played a very crucial role in my life as my companion at different stages in my life. Being an only child, I have always relied heavily on my friends and opened up to a certain few whom I can connect with. These people made me realize how important it is to have friends in my life. They are the ones who would lend their helping hands when you are at your lowest with no one to go to. Friends are people who provide you with physical and emotional support, people who go out of their way to help you, and people who genuinely care about your well-being. There is a saying that “you are who you surround yourself” and that spoke to me when I started observing who I surround myself with and the different kinds of decisions made or activities we choose to do. These are people who make me feel like there are hopes in life, shape me into a better person, and people whom I can hold onto for a period of time. These factors also include people who I surround myself with such as

Personally, I have been through a very tough period of my life when I experienced a loss of a person and felt lost for a period of time. My then-boyfriend had just broken up with me two days before my graduation and that left me broken and lost. In addition, graduating meant that I had no goals temporarily, and lost my daily routine and something that kept me occupied for the majority of the time. At that point in time, my friends made time and ensured that I am not alone in these difficult times. With my friends, I was able to go through with it, come out strong, and learned to be more appreciative of the small things in life. It was a dark period of my life where I felt very lost and empty, not knowing what to do, and having to experience the loss of someone whom I held dearly to. However, the end of the relationship made me learn to be more appreciative, and value what I have and the people I have.

A recent Harvard study concluded that having solid friendships in our life even helps promote brain health (Tara & Pope, 2009). Rebecca G. Adams, a professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro said “There are just scads of stuff on families and marriage, but very little on friendship. It baffles me. Friendship has a bigger impact on our psychological well-being than family relationships.” (Adams, 2009). I was able to strongly relate to Adams’ saying as I always felt that my friends could connect and relate to me better than my family due to age and cultural differences. A study even suggested that spending time with positive friends actually changes our outlook for the better which basically means we are happier when we choose to spend time with happy people (liveaboutdotcom, 2017). A 10-year Australian study shows that people with a large circle of friends were 22% less likely to die than those with fewer friends (Giles, Glonek, Luszcz & Andrews, 2004). In addition, a large 2007 study also showed an increase of nearly 60% in the risk for obesity among people whose friends gained weight (Tara & Pope, 2009). All these findings could back the importance of this factor up and prove that relationships with friends are indeed important.

However, there are limitations to friendship and relationships with the people around me as well. Life is guided by principles and instinct, not emotions which is a big factor in friendship and relationships with people. As much as friendship and who you surround yourself with are both important factors in your life, you cannot rely on and depend on these people all the time. Everyone has their decision and life to fulfill, and while an individual set out to fulfill them, you cannot expect them to prioritize you all the time in this case, you should prioritize them and give them all the support and strength they need. I have always believed that my relationship with my peers and the people around me sets the foundation of myself, my mental state, and my personality to a certain extent. Nevertheless, I always remind myself to always depend on myself before turning to my friends and family for help which you should too.

The third factor to a well-lived life is the capability to love and receive love. Love is always in the air and love has been an important factor in many people’s lives but what happens when you are unable to love and receive love? This has been a troubling thought for me since I had an encounter with the disability to love and to receive love. Love does not only apply to your romantic partner but your friends and families around you as well, or even self-love.

Personally, love basically means unconditional, sacrifice, and blind. Unconditional means that there are no expectations or limitations set which is a difficult thing that not all humans are capable of (Morgan, 2015). Ted Mosby, a fictional character in the U.S. television sitcom How I Met Your Mother once said “If you’re looking for the word that means caring for someone beyond all rationality and wanting them to have everything they want no matter how much it destroys you, its love!” (Mosby, 2014). The saying from Ted Mosby truly enlightened where I realized that I was capable of loving someone when someone’s happiness felt more important than mine. Sacrifice is another characteristic of love as well when one goes out of his way to ensure the happiness of someone else despite having to suffer from it. It is common to prioritize the other party and place the party’s well-being before your well-being which will even cause you to give up comfort willingly. I am sure you have heard of the common saying, “Love is Blind”, which often refers to one being blinded by love, not being able to see reality and the point of view of others which is generally considered as something negative. According to Thought Catalog, when someone looks at new love, the neural circuits that are usually associated with social judgment are suppressed which meant that in a way, love really is blind (Nelson, 2018). However, I view this behavior positively at times when a significant one occupies your entire mind as if it is your world and have everything to revolve around them which is a characteristic of love as well.

With all these, I do believe that negative and tough experiences in life convert into baggage in life which hinders one’s ability to love and receive love. I have personally experienced it and have since been doubting my capability of loving and receiving. After a tough experience, I felt as if I could feel nothing, but sadness and I could not reciprocate the love my friends and families showed me instead, I pushed them further away from my troubling thoughts. This disability has haunted me ever since and to this day, I am still struggling to regain my capability of love and receiving love where I question myself if I am worthy of the love shown by my family and friends. Like how many of you have experienced, love allows you to experience happiness and happiness has been the main factor in a well-lived life in this essay. This can be considered the most important factor in a well-lived life as it is something that can be experienced by everyone in the world. However, the disability to love and receive love would lessen one factor of happiness and decrease the chances of a well-lived life.

As mentioned in a blog post in GoodTherapy, “Love is something we get more of by giving it away” (Munoz, 2017) which backs up my three factors of love namely unconditional, sacrifice, and blind. The well-being of Humans Studies has proven that if it were not for love, people would have been sick not only physically but mentally and emotionally as well (Romance Ways, 2013) which showed the importance of love such that it is linked to an individual’s health. In addition, as mentioned in Thought Catalog, through a 75 yearlong study conducted by a group of Harvard researchers, it is shown that love is really all that matters as the participants’ lifelong experiences prove that happiness and life fulfillment revolved around love or simply searching for love (Nelson, 2018).

Unlike the first two factors where I listed out their limitations, I think that love has no limitations and boundaries. Love is a universal language and one can act freely and speak freely in it. “Love knows no reason, no boundaries, no distance. It has a sole intention of bringing people together to a time called forever.” (Fowler, 2015) which made lots of sense to me how love brought people together. Love does not mean exclusively in romantic terms only but to everyone around you as well. Though it’s so cliché, I do believe that love can conquer anything in the world and heal people. Love is something that can be spread to anyone and is a language that anyone can learn to understand.

With the three factors of a well-lived life listed out, the real question is, can one really plan their life? I do see the need and benefit of designing a well-lived life, but on the other hand, I do not think that life will always turn out the way you planned it to. I am a strong believer in “Things happen for a reason” and that one should take life as it comes. There are things we can and cannot control, and life is something we cannot control. No one except god knows what will happen in the future and the best way to look at life is to view things such as designing a well-lived life as a sense of direction or something similar to a checklist. Designing a well-lived life allows you to discover what you truly want in life and what makes you happy. With that, you know what to seek in life and that creates a path for you that might be filled with obstacles and uncertainty, but at the very least, it gives you a sense of direction and perspective on life. As quoted by Marilyn Monroe, “I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they’re right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.” (Monroe, n.d.), I strongly agree with her quote that we should learn to accept things as they happen, believing that they happened for a reason and that things will fall into place naturally. Embrace whatever comes your way and be ensured that tough times don’t last but tough people do and that these unfortunate or undesired events happen to shape you into a better person and that you are on the exact route to a happy life. Life is filled with uncertainty but by designing your well-lived life, you have things you can fall back on knowing that these factors are what will work for you and that these factors mentioned above are proven legitimate. One can truly experience happiness by accepting what is and letting go of what one cannot control (Fahkry, 2017). Psychotherapist David Richo wrote “We can learn to accept life on its own terms. We can even find in terms satisfactory. We do not have to shake our fists at heaven. We do not have to demand an exemption or take refuge in a belief system that muffles the wallop of the givens by promising a paradise without them. We can craft a sane and authentic life by saying yes to life just as it is. Indeed, our path is “what is.” (Richo, 2005) which is true and something everyone should read on.

“When someone isn’t talking, my brain tends to fill in the blanks with how I feel about myself.” (Whitney Cummings). We have probably all experienced getting caught up in our own thoughts at some point while communicating. It is when those thoughts interfere with our capability to communicate that you begin to run into problems. In my life, I have experienced significant hardships. Consistent traumatic events plagued my childhood causing a fundamental change in my perception of self. Consequently, my attempts at socialization have been riddled with significant communication apprehension and at times complete stagnation of social endeavors. Living with PTSD has dramatically altered the way in which I communicate, the greatest change in my verbal skills when synchronous communication is the focus. My cognitive processes are diminished greatly by anxiety and hypervigilance when attempting to speak in person with someone. The result of this looks like timely gaps between the message and my response, and sometimes even an inability to respond at all. This can make me seem disingenuous or indifferent to the communicator which in turn creates greater distance between myself and an authentic connection.

Although the effects of trauma on our systems create unorthodox issues within one’s ability to communicate, I will focus on self-monitoring as a starting point to decrease social anxiety in attempts to become more confident in my verbal skills. When I was younger, saying or doing the “wrong” thing could have dangerous consequences, as a result, my self-monitor grew out of control as a means of survival. The ability to navigate fragile situations by anticipating and calculating negative responses was of vital importance back then. Now that I am no longer in danger, my excessive selfmonitoring only interferes with my ability to move forward in gaining meaningful connections with others. I will attempt to explore self-monitoring to better understand the role it plays in social anxiety and create a list of tools one can use to regulate excessive self-monitoring.

Self-monitoring, within the context of communication, is an attribute considered to be a pillar of competency. According to author Traci Pedersen, “High self-monitors readily adjust their behavior to the situation at hand- Low self-monitors tend to regulate themselves according to their own internal beliefs and are typically less concerned with social context.” (Pedersen). While being a high or low self-monitor is not regarded as being either good or bad, excessive self-monitoring can drastically impede one’s ability to communicate. Friedman and Miller-Herringer discuss the impact emotional expression has on social interactions stating, “Deficiencies in proper emotional expression can have detrimental effects on social interactionunexpressive people may be seen by others as less likable.” (Friedman, Miller-Hanniger). In my case, my flat affect can come across as uninterested or even unfriendly. This has highlighted the fact that my body language is communicating a message that I do not intend to send.

Recognizing my body’s inadvertent messages led me to the concept of impression management and the role self-monitoring plays within it. Impression management guides us toward appropriate interpersonal interactions by organizing the presented self in accordance to the particular situation. On researching the role self-monitoring plays in impression management, Turnley and Bolino wrote, “We believe that selfmonitoring may play an important role in determining whether impression management attempts succeed or fail.” (Turnley, Bolino). Excessive self-monitoring can often cause me to become paralyzed in communicating, while completely focused on my inner thoughts, perhaps I am neglecting impression management altogether. Although impression management can be a powerful tool in maintaining relationships, it can at times be subject to our own self-perceptions.

Discovering the correlation between our presenting self and our self-perceptions was key in highlighting the mechanisms behind excessive self-monitoring. It is understandable that someone who survives a great deal of trauma experiences altered self-perceptions and low self-esteem as in my case. Yet negative selfperceptions can exacerbate social anxiety, which can lead to unfavorable social interactions that only perpetuate negative self-perceptions. As Alden and the other guy suggest, “In the interpersonal realm, feelings of inadequacy and emotional distress are likely to lead to poor interpersonal behavior, social failure, and so on.” (Alden, ). He furthers his point by stating, “In terms of self-monitoring: A growing body of research has demonstrated that self-focused attention and perseverative selfappraisal contribute to depression and anxiety.” (Alden,). This reiterates the spiral effect where poor self-conceptions precede poor social interactions that in turn create a more negative self-image. This concept can be illustrated by examining the self-fulfilling prophecy. An individual who has low self-esteem with expectations of poor social interactions stalls in a cycle of missed connections and negative selfimage while the belief of being a failed communicator is reinforced.

Those with a low self-image are often susceptible to depression and anxiety, which as stated previously can have serious impacts on social interactions. Beatty and Beatty examine anxiety as a learned response to negative stimuli stating, “the body prepares itself to cope with the anticipated reaction by increasing adrenaline flow to generate more energy. If unchecked, the anticipation response eventually becomes so strong that it is triggered prior to the actual communication encounter.” (Beatty, Beatty). This helps to illuminate the impact self-talk has on our image and emotions. Before social interactions, I become quite anxious. In my mind, I’m applying feelings from past social encounters to the one ahead and measuring my own self-worth accordingly. Once the social interaction begins, I self-monitor excessively to avoid negative interactions. However, these adjustments I make during conversations do not apply to the present situation, but rather focus on past interactions that created the anxiety in the first place.

After investigating the role “self” has to play in social anxiety, I am beginning to see that I have more areas to work on than previously thought. Most days I do very little if any face-to-face communication. My unique life experiences have caused me to lead somewhat of a hermetic lifestyle. It is far more comfortable for me to spend a day at home than to expose myself to the multitude of triggers that exist out in the world. There are relationships and instances although, where I desire deeper connections than my current communication abilities allow. These interactions are the ones I care about improving and will be focusing on. It is in these particular interactions that my excessive self-monitoring becomes paralyzing. Often times I will stress over the correct response relentlessly in my mind until I am unable to speak at all. In researching my project, I realize that there is a lot of self-talk management I could be doing outside of social interactions. Learning how our self-image interacts with the way we communicate has been enlightening. I already know that I have anxiety and find it difficult to verbally communicate which adversely affects my self-esteem. But recognizing that there is indeed an opportunity to alter my communication competence before socializing by the way I anticipate the event seems of most relevance. So, focusing on enhancing specific relationships, I will attempt to develop a method of self-talk both before and during interactions.

Denzi Sidali, M.A., describes excessive self-monitoring to be, “detrimental to one’s performance as well as their psychological and physical well-being and it can promote or maintain social anxiety.” (Sidali). She continues to suggest that setting realistic and defined short-term goals is a means toward healthier self-monitoring. I have deemed the most appropriate approach for me to address this issue, in short, is preparation. Before a social interaction I will ask myself a series of questions to prepare myself for more competent and genuine communication: 1.) What does this person mean to me and what do I want the outcome of this relationship to be? By focusing on my relationship goals, I immediately draw my eye from myself to the relationship. 2.) Has this person given me a reason to be fearful of our future interactions? This will help me separate past social anxiety experiences from presentday experiences. 3.) If I could say anything to this person without judgment what would it be? This will help me pinpoint the emotion I genuinely want to communicate in my interaction with this person. I believe meditating on these questions beforehand will give me a better chance at a positive interaction by focusing my thoughts while diminishing apprehension. Once I am face-to-face with this person I will attempt to do several check-ins to try and regulate any excessive self-monitoring. 1.) I will remind myself of the importance of the relationship and my goal. This again is my starting point to pull the focus away from myself and redistribute it. 2.) I will ask myself if I have communicated according to my goals to this point. This will help me identify any excessive self-monitoring behaviors and allow an opportunity to correct my course.

It is my hope that by maintaining this ritual my self-talk/image will improve, my social anxiety will decrease, I will be able to communicate my genuine thoughts and feelings and strengthen my relationships. While there are many aspects I could improve, I believe a focus toward strengthening current relationships by regulatingexcessive self-monitoring is the best place to start. By communicating more competently in my current relationships I hope to build on that confidence and eventually expand myself socially.

The morning I woke up with a feeling of anxiety, hollowness, and emptiness in me. I was dejected and lost. Something was missing and wrong. I felt like I didn’t belong in this world. My mind was perturbed with a lot of questions. What’s the purpose of my existence? Why I was even born? Why am I alive? Am I wasting my life? Was I any mistake of God? All negative thoughts and negative self-talk weigh me down and make me paralyzed and miserable. Sometimes we become our own tormentors and refuse to let go of what hurts us. And play the same picture again and again in our minds and torment ourselves by reliving the pain over and over. If someone hurt us we can’t help hating. But when we inflict pain on ourselves we don’t even realize that. We are either angels or vampires of our own life. Sometimes our negative thoughts become our own enemy. We allow the pain or worries to gnaw on us or feed on us. When we are trapped in the net of worries we are not different from a wounded animal that is trapped in a steel trap and in the struggle to free itself, it worsens its wounds and became aggressive. At times we handle our pain very unwisely. Instead of being fighting with our inner enemy, we start to blame others or situations for our suffering.

Whenever I inflict pain on myself by having negative thoughts, I also become aggressive and worsen my wounds and feel pity for myself then the only thing that consoles me and heals me is nature. Nature always has a soothing effect on my soul. In the stillness of the early morning, the chirping of birds and rustling of the leaves in the cool breeze transports me to another realm, the realm of imagination, where life seems so perfect and beautiful. Letting everything slip away and overcome by a feeling of pure bliss, I felt so light and weightless. Nature is like a best friend to me because of my inability to share my inner feeling with anyone. I don’t know how to express myself properly. But Nature seems to understand my plight without my utterance and radiates some sort of energy to keep me alright. Whenever I have depressing thoughts what I do is take some time for myself and spend that precious time close to nature. At that moment I silently witness the beauty of nature and get mesmerized by it and accept things as they are or recognize myself again.

So, In order to silence the questions in my head or pacify my mind, I decided to go for a morning walk. A morning walk is like a ritual to me and it helps me to calm my agitation it was around 4:50 A.M. when I went for a walk. At the eastern horizon, the sky was smeared by the myriad hues of the mild-orange sun and silhouetting the houses and trees. A few minutes later I saw light, filtering through wisp-like clouds, floating on the blue sky like icebergs on the river. The way nature was unfolding effortlessly her treasures was so amazingly beautiful. But this time my inner storm was more violent than nature’s power to heal it. I could not find any solace even in the lap of nature. I felt disconnected from the very spirit of life. I feel that I was not participating in life but reacting to life. But how can I know what is reacting to life if I won’t experience it? We know what light is because we have experienced darkness (absence of light). We know what happiness is because we have to go through sadness (the absence of happiness). I realized that if I am having questions then there might be answers too (absence of questions).

I had been searching for my answers for months but I was not able to get them. Unable to find any answer to my queries, I decided to ask one of my friends who always have all of the answers to my questions, what’s the purpose of her life? Her answer was what I expected that our purpose of existence is to strive to earn Allah’s love and heaven after death. We live for the love of Allah. He created us and gives us all of his blessings. Her answer seems unsatisfactory to me. As it’s said that if you try to find something the whole universe conspires to get you there. This time a universe conspired in favor of me and a twelve-year-old girl showed me a ray of light that led me to my answers. A girl who was working at my uncle’s house she wants to see her younger sister get an education. Her dream of education was shattered because of poverty. She was broken inside but she want to see her sister get an education.

That day I realized that having a purpose in life is something a relative concept. The search for discovering the purpose of life is essential. personal and we ourselves have to discover the answer to the question of what the purpose of life is. We have to find, by the process of experience and introspection, what counts as meaningful in our eyes or what is the purpose of our life. Not any theory, philosophy, or book can only help us to navigate our way in its search but cannot provide any map to show us exactly where we can find it.

The purpose of life varies. from person to person. Some people believe that their purpose is to make God happy by living a religious life and some people are ready to sacrifice their life to make their life meaningful. Some say that their purpose in life is to make it meaningful through some doings or acts that give them inner satisfaction and happiness. Some people like Mariah believe that they are sent to this planet for a reason or purpose to help others and they learn of their suffering and grow spiritually. Saints and prophets also had a specific purpose to fulfill. There are also some people who live under the illusion that they have a divine purpose and do horrible things on earth. Some people like Julian Baggini believe that there is no specific purpose for life and that human beings don’t have any significance except that the genes are passed on and survive

Greetings, my name is Jaquelyn Nino, and I live in Houston, TX. What I want is to become a physical therapist. My career plan to achieve it includes getting my associate’s degree, then my bachelor’s degree in biology, a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree which takes between 3-4 years to get, and finally getting licensed as an official therapist. The thought of becoming a physical therapist came to me last year. It was largely influenced by an accident that my uncle had in a 4-wheeler that left him with a stroke and unable to move properly. After seeing the therapist giving him therapy and taking care of him it inspired me to want to become like them and help other individuals. Majoring in Biology or any natural science will help me obtain my dream job. Therapists focus on helping patients with movement and pain for illnesses, chronic conditions, and rehabilitation in most cases. I think the qualifications I have for that career are being friendly, knowing how to work together, and being happy to brighten up someone else’s day. Another thing that is different about my background is that I am bilingual, and I don’t give up easily.

The VARK Learning Styles Assessment that I took suggests that I learn better as a visual, aural, and kinesthetic learner. I think that being a kinesthetic learner will help me succeed in my career choice because being a therapist requires a lot of hands-on work. Being an aural learner is beneficial when entering my career since most classes and directions will be given vocally. Being a visual learner can also help me with models and other things about the human body and how it works. Therefore, I believe that the results I get will benefit me in my career.

According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, the annual salary for a physical therapist is $89,440. Rates regarding physical therapists from 2019-2029 Are expected to grow by a factor of 18%. This is largely due to aging baby boomers and obesity along with injuries. What these therapists do is help with movement and manage pain. Some responsibilities that these individuals have are reviewing patients’ reports and overall cases, developing plans for everyone’s recovery, and using exercises like stretching and hands-on therapy to help deal with patients’ pain. Another thing they do is record the individual being treated progress on recovery and inform patients’ families on what can be expected throughout the process of recovery. The level of education needed to fulfill the tasks is a doctoral or professional degree in physical therapy. As a result, my educational goal is to get my associate’s degree in two years. Then hopefully I will get my bachelor’s degree after 4 years continuing with a master’s degree after 2 years. Then getting a doctorate in therapy and getting licensed. I am planning on getting scholarships or saving up to pay for my college tuition and be able to know necessary to become a therapist.

Therapists in Houston salaries often range from $36,070 to $128,520. Job opportunities in Houston are likely to increase. Having a certificate helps you be more likely hired and promoted. 3% of therapists in Houston have an Associate, 29% have a Bachelor’s, 25% Maters, and 42% of therapists have a doctoral or professional degree which means that a Doctoral will be needed to become a therapist. Responsibilities for this profession include planning, participating in rehabilitation, helping patients with their health, and many other things that were already mentioned.

The amount of money that I need to live a comfortable life in Houston, Texas according to Texas Reality Check is a minimum salary of $84,180. I want to be able to live a life where I own my own house, I can provide for my children, have a pet, and have some breaks occasionally to have some fun as a family. My goal is to become a physical therapist and with my career, I will be able to obtain the lifestyle that I am looking for in the future. A physical therapist earns $43 per hour and has an annual salary of $89,627, therefore it will help me obtain the lifestyle that I am looking for.

The cost of living in Orlando, Florida is about $48,742. Living in Florida decreased the amount of money needed to live the life that I want compared to Houston. Some expenses that help reduce the amount needed to live in Orlando include housing, utilities, transportation, and Health Care. Therefore, it is cheaper to live in Orlando, Florida. On the other hand, living in San Diego, CA can be a bit pricy. To live in San Diego a salary of $74,738 is needed for me to live the life that I want which is more than it would be if I were to stay in Houston. The main reasons that make living in San Diego pricy are increased prices in groceries, housing, utilities, transportation, and Health Care. Living in Houston will cost $84,180 which is not that bad. Therefore, living in Florida might be a considerable offer.

Volunteering at TIRR Memorial Herman will be an excellent opportunity to gain expertise in the physician profession. The TIRR Memorial Herman requires volunteers to be 15 or older, have no criminal background, and fill out an application. TIRR Memorial Herman specializes in rehabilitation and when volunteering you will be able to work with patients who have experienced injuries like strokes, amputation, brain injury, trauma, and so on. This program needs volunteers who are willing to help patients get back to their lives like it was before the injury or accident by using a treatment personalized for them. Helping in the program will allow me to have an insight into a physician’s daily job. It will also help me improve my interaction with patients and staff allowing me to start networking. Another place that I can volunteer at is the Houston Food Bank. Helping at the food bank will help with teamwork, citizenship, and friendliness which will be great transferable skills to have when working with others in any job. Responsibilities that will be given to volunteers at the food bank include sorting out items, packaging the items, and giving out food to the ones in need. Therefore, volunteering at the food bank can be beneficial and exciting. Being easy to work with, cheerful, and on task are characteristics that I have that can enhance my success in this career. My goal is to help groups of individuals that need help even if it’s not with therapy. I want to make a difference in people’s lives overall.

To add up, my long career goal is to have a doctorate by 6 to 10 years from now. I want to accomplish it because I will have an opportunity to have a better future and obtain my dream job. To reach my goal I will first work for my associates which I am doing currently. After that, I plan on doing my Bachelor’s. I will probably take a break after those 4 years and then go back to college to earn a master’s degree and doctorate at the same time. I will work hard to get provided with scholarships and get free education free of debt. Another thing I may do to accomplish this goal is to ask my family for their patience and comprehension. Acknowledging that I might encounter obstacles along the way, I will try to save money for future expenses, go out less, and study ahead of time along with asking for help when I need it. I hope to live my life to the fullest by enjoying my job, being with family, and always having work. Once I reach my goal, I will look back and be proud of myself for how far I have come and that my hard work paid off. Hopefully, in 10 years I have a stable job and a beautiful family.

My passion for physiotherapy grew when I experienced Osgood Schlatter and shin splints. Also, understanding the positive outcome that this treatment can deliver. However, I was restricted in taking part in athletics and other sports I enjoyed because I was not able to undergo physiotherapy, so I had recurrent injuries causing my progress to decrease in athletics. This experience has inspired me to pursue a career in physiotherapy for the satisfaction of working with people who are struggling with poor quality of life and the close link to the role it has in sport.

Working at Stones End Day Care Centre, I was able to work alongside a physiotherapist instructing joint mobilization exercise sessions. The purpose of the activity is to increase the strength and mobility of the joints for older adults. This means giving them more of the chance to live independently for longer and freedom to take part in their daily tasks they enjoyed without the fear of the fragility of having an accident. I was able to see first-hand how the therapist carries out their role such as motivating the clients. The exercises the physiotherapist instructed were mostly anterior, lateral and rotational movements to increase the range of the movement at the ball and socket joints. This experience has allowed me to build several skills such as collaboration, teamwork, and communication. For example, I used collaboration when working with the physiotherapist to deliver the sessions for the clients. During my time at the center, I talked with older adults that had a variety of different conditions that required more of my attention and persistence to receive a response, such as individuals with dementia or hearing impairments. Communicating with the individuals with dementia I had to speak clearly and naturally in a calm voice and refer to people by their names when conversating with them. For example, “Hi, Steven. It’s me, Jade”. The two most used prescribed medicines to treat dementia are cholinesterase inhibitor and memantine to treat the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. It helps to prevent the messenger chemical in the brain from breaking down, as it is important for the learning, memory, and mood of the individual.

During my studies I’ve gained an understanding of the structures and functions of the key body systems, the few are skeletal, respiratory, cardiovascular and the energy systems our cells use to function. When learning about the cardiovascular system, I have noted the type of people that are most likely to have coronary artery diseases such as, those with obesity, diabetes, lack of physical activity, high blood cholesterol and pressure. Exercise referral schemes can be used to help and prevent patients suffering from this condition which are prescribed by physiotherapists considering the person’s lifestyle and ability otherwise it can fail to work. The outcome of a successful exercise scheme enables the patient to perform activities with less effort, fewer symptoms like shortness in breath, more confidence and an enhanced quality of life. In Psychology for Physiotherapists by E.N. Dunkin’s book, it illustrates, ‘Physiotherapists spend a great deal of time trying specifically to influence other people’s behavior, with the underlying intention of improving the quality of life of their patients.’ From this, I understood a physiotherapist plays a role in changing an individual’s drive (motivation) towards their satisfaction of completing a goal or need such as reducing depression, anxiety or bad eating habits and so on.

I’m an active member of the community where I volunteered in coaching assistance for after school sports clubs and regional competitions for UEL basketball competitions. These experiences have molded me into a determined and disciplined individual. My coaching experience allowed me to develop collaboration and leadership skills. For example, I had to prepare and demonstrate targeted sessions for young people. It was also my responsibility to consider the potential of hazards and risks that I could minimize for health and safety purposes. Also, I have officiated in regional competitions such as long jump and track events for my school regional competitions. Here I developed my leadership skills further in this experience because I must be attentive and inclusive of the students participating in the event because of the diversity of the group.

A few weeks later, I started a journey in earnest to restart a hobby that I had abandoned a long time ago: baseball card collecting. Up until recently, I hadn’t opened a pack of baseball cards since probably 1994. However, I have always enjoyed the idea of collecting in general, and recently with some of the work that has gone up here at Talking Chop plus my general desire to be involved in Braves baseball in as many ways as possible, I had gotten the itch to start collecting cards again.

For the last few weeks, I have been very busy exploring this vast (and really fun) hobby, so here is an update on my progress so far. The video below highlights some of the cards I am happiest about from the last few weeks as well as some random observations I have made. If you all would subscribe to the YouTube channel that said the video is from (it’s free, just have to click a button), I would greatly appreciate it. I want to do cool mail day/mailbag videos and pack openings on that channel (plus prospect footage and the like as well) and if I can get enough subscribers, it would allow the series to expand into more and better products and sweeter cards which sounds like a lot of fun. I am already aware that the video didn’t stitch together properly which I will fix next go around and I’m working on the lens distortion from the GoPro as well.

Anyways, on to the written portion of today’s program

Getting Started

It is easy to say “I am going to start collecting Braves cards”…but I have found that it is not that easy or inexpensive at all to do so. Also, we are talking about some vast swaths of Braves history that one could dip into if you so desired and that turns into information overload in a hurry. With that, here are some decisions that I have been loosely holding myself to:

Focus on recent prospects/young players – Don’t get me wrong, I have fond memories of the Braves run of division titles and I have a lot of love for Braves historical figures like Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews, and Dale Murphy. However, I have to start somewhere, and not only did I desperately need to decrease the scope of things to get started, but I have a track record of loving prospects, in particular this group of young players that have debuted in the big leagues over the last couple of years or are making their way through the minors right now. As a result, that was a starting point for me. Others may want to hunt down Chipper Jones rookies or go after vintage cards and I could end up down those paths eventually (and honestly those sound like a lot of fun, too), but for the moment my primary focus is on the young guys.

Not restricting myself to buying singles – There are going to be hardcore collectors out there who are going to say that I should just hunt down the individual cards I want on eBay or COMC and then enjoy the results. Honestly, that may be the most efficient way to go about things. However, my goal is to not just buy the things I want and show the results because, well, that would be pretty boring. I genuinely want this series to be an exploration of this hobby. I also want to share the thrill of getting lucky with crazy pulls out of packs or in a razz (more on those at a later date…but they are raffles) or in a group break (more on those coming here in a bit). That was some of the most fun I remember when I was a kid and I wanted to experience that again not just for myself, but also to share with you guys. Don’t get me wrong, I have been buying single cards and I will share the fruits of that labor soon enough, but that isn’t as interesting to me to start things off with.

Not throwing a ton of money at cards – I know this will shock many of you…but being a Deputy Site Manager is not making me rich. I have a day job and I also have a family of four to support, so chucking a bunch of money at a hobby isn’t feasible especially if I don’t want to come home one day with the locks changed and my stuff on the front lawn. Moreover, I want to try to focus on ways to make this hobby accessible to a lot of people…not just those who have the means to get whatever they want. Yes, if you throw a few thousand dollars into buying cards over two weeks, you will assemble a pretty neat collection. There are some CRAZY high-end baseball products out there that are awesome, but not exactly accessible to just anyone. However, I have found that there are ways (if one is smart about it) to get to the same point without spending obscene amounts of money and you can have a lot of fun along the way doing so…..although I freely admit these ways take longer and require a good bit of research.

Focusing primarily on licensed products – I have already broken this rule a few times, but I am focusing mostly on Topps products. They tend to hold their value better since the Panini-owned companies cannot display team names or logos due to not owning a license with MLB. Don’t get me wrong….a lot of those cards look awesome and I have acquired a few, but since I have been buying sealed products, I want to be able to turn sweet cards from other teams into the Braves cards I want. As a result, the focus for now will be on Topps stuff, although I imagine after the 2019 draft I will dip into some Panini stuff as well.

Collect what I like – This has been the most prevalent piece of advice I have gotten from a LOT of people over the last few weeks. Obviously, I have a predisposition towards prospects, but I already have a pet card that I am pursuing all of the variations of (I will disclose that in another article once I get a bit closer to my goal there) and I am keeping an open mind as to what catches my interest. I expect that I will find some young players that are not Braves that I will get into as well, although for the moment I haven’t dabbled in that quite yet.

One note that I wanted to mention before we get to the good stuff: a few people have expressed a willingness to send me cards to help with my collecting as well as have let me know what they have available to trade just so I knew about them. I did not expect that response and frankly, it is super flattering and humbling. I like the idea of creating a lot of interaction with folks with this series, so here is what I will say about this. If enough folks have genuine interest, I will open a P.O. Box solely for Re-entering the Hobby stuff and every couple of weeks, I will check it and everyone that sends in cards will be entered into a drawing to win stuff that I will send back. I don’t have all the details of what that stuff will be yet, but I want to make sure I give back to those who help me out. If there isn’t interest, that is fine as well and the series will go on as normal.

Cracking Packs

Remember when I said that I liked opening packs of baseball cards? Yeah…it turns out I still REALLY like opening packs. However, it has been a bit disappointing in the sense that it isn’t nearly as easy to find them as it used to be. Most drug stores don’t carry them anymore nor do most grocery stores. You can find them at Walmart and Target, but you are at the mercy of their selection which can be dicey. However, when a new base set comes out, those are your best bets to be able to find them. Oddly enough, Dollar Tree also has sports cards most of the time, but their baseball card selection is a bit rough in my experience. You can order boxes of packs online readily, but buying whole boxes and cases at a time is expensive and doesn’t guarantee you will get the autograph or parallel you want. I will likely expand to that point later just because, again, I like cracking packs, but for the last few weeks, I have stuck to opening retail packs and blaster boxes here and there.

Honestly, my luck with packs has been pretty amazing. Thus far, again in terms of retail products from 2018, my favorite set has easily been Topps Update with Topps Heritage being up there as well since the design has a cool retro look and it has lots of prospects and rookies. I expect that the upcoming Bowman sets will get my attention in 2019, but Update has all of the rookies one would want including Acuna, Albies, Soroka, etc. (plus Ohtani, Soto, and Gleyber for trading and selling purposes) and I like the way a lot of the inserts and parallels look. Oddly enough, my best pull out of retail (the products you can get at Walmart, Target, etc.) came from a Topps Heritage blaster box that I found on the floor at Walmart. It contained a redemption (a card that gives you a code for a specific card that Topps has to mail to you) for a uniform patch autograph of Paul Goldschmidt that was limited to 25 copies (or to /25 for those that already speak the collecting language). I redeemed it successfully and it was very cool, but I traded it to an awesome guy to bring in some Braves autographs I wanted. More on the trades I have done here in a bit.

However, my biggest pull by a mile was out of the 2019 Topps Series 1. I was initially excited about Series 1, but found myself leading up to the release underwhelmed by the design of the cards, and that, combined with fairly poor odds that come with these inexpensive base sets, dampened my excitement. As a result, I did not plan on investing a ton of money or effort into the product. However, I also really wanted to support my local card shop, The Sports Odyssey in Douglasville, GA, and I knew that they were going to be getting hobby boxes right around release day. So, I went down there, picked out a box, and just for kicks, I opened my box in the shop while chatting with Dave about the design, the rookies in the set I was looking out for, etc. Well, then this happened.