Inspiration

The Most Dangerous Writing App

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Can you free write for a full 5 minutes? The Most Dangerous Writing App aims to help you do just that!

The concept of this app is that if you stop typing for more than five seconds, the entire thing will delete itself. If you erase stuff, it counts as you are wasting 5 seconds. So use the delete key sparingly.

It’s a frightening way to write. You can set it for 5, 10 minutes or even an hour. But who would torture themselves like that?

We all get writer’s block and this would be a useful tool to get everyone writing with less thinking. Often when we have unlimited amounts of time, we also have unlimited amounts of thoughts that lead self-editing, and less words on paper.

When I tried this app, 5 minutes seem like the longest amount of time ever. Every second is being counted down in the top right corner as you type. It’s legitimately insane. As five seconds near, the words become transparent, so it does have some warning that there has been some idleness in the production of words. Sometimes you just need to stop for a second.

I am currently taking the test by writing this article. This is scary. Will I make it to the end? If you ever see this published as a blog post than that is a confirmation that I have successfully made it to the end of 5 minutes. Oh my god I have 51 seconds to go. There are over 1330 words now in this document. The crazy part is that I actually can type 90 words per minute and am typing slower than normal just so I don’t run out of ideas. I type them faster than I can think of them and that is making this countdown clock even harder than it should be. I win. Yes. 5 Minutes have passed. Will you make it to the end of this writing test?

How Do You Unwind?

Categories Inspiration, Lego/Building, Life3 Comments on How Do You Unwind?
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Beautiful colouring book set I got for Christmas

When you need to unwind after a stressful day, how do you do it? Some run to Netflix, which works sometimes. Other times I have to feel like I am doing something productive so I like to colour (though depending on the complexity of the thing it can cause anxiety), or build things with instructions like lego. My favourite is reading fiction. It takes my mind away to an imaginary place, someone else’s story. I’m now 7 books into my 2016 Reading Challenge, which is 2 books ahead of schedule to read 52 books!

Letting Myself Be Distracted

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One of my favourite ways to inspire creativity is to let myself be distracted. It’s harder for me than you think because doing nothing makes me anxious. Some of my best ideas come when I’m not doing anything!

I loved this Kanye tweet so I put it up at my desk at work.

Adjusting my Photo Goal

Categories 30 Day Challenge, Inspiration, LifeLeave a Comment on Adjusting my Photo Goal

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I had previously set a goal to take a photo a day for 2016 and upload in tookapic. I did this for approximately 47 days in a row and decided that this wasn’t the best challenge for me. I wasn’t proud of my output and it became a game of quantity over quality.

Taking a photo a day isn’t as easy as blogging. With blogging you can have a catalog of ideas that you write later. Taking a photo a day requires going out and doing stuff often and something that is unrealistic when I work 9-5. Sure, I could take photos of things on my commute and at home, but that becomes stale fast.

Instead, I decided to stop uploading to my tookapic account. I pledge instead to take more thoughtful photos when inspired. Where I upload them shouldn’t matter, plus that’s what this blog is for. That way I only have one daily goal (which is to remain blogging every day) and still have enough time in my day for relaxation and exploring all other creative avenues. I’ll still take my cameras everywhere I go. Taking a photo a day was starting to stress me out and create work that didn’t inspire me.

At first I considered stopping a failure of my resolution but in reality, it’s perfectly fine to adjust your resolutions to fit reality.

Spark Planning My Life

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I added little tabs so I could keep track of months.

I love notebooks, but I’ve always been really bad with filling them in. I found a lot of planners didn’t guide life in a valuable way. Often they were full of schedules denoting what you are doing at every hour every day. The hours where you had nothing plan would just be a waste of half a sheet of paper. I gave up on purchasing daily planners for the past couple of years until I stumbled on and Kickstarted the Spark Planner for 2016.

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It begins with defining a 2016 theme and having a space to brainstorm all the things I want to achieve this year. There’s even a space to mark the dates you make those achievements on the next page. I decided that my main theme for this year is to be Brave & Creative. I’m still defining some top goals but I jotted down some weird ones.

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Along with your regular monthly calendars there is what is called a “Weekly Outlook”. I love this because you can plan your days without defining every single hour (a thing which I obviously hate). This gives you a general guideline of things you want done and is actually far more motivating. Plus, if you have nothing to write they make good doodle boxes.

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There’s also a weekly goals page and space to reflect and celebrate. Occasionally there are also random reflection questions that you can answer in point form or write an essay if you really wanted to.

I’m super excited for this journal and know that it will help me be the best me that I can be in 2016!

This is Post 365 in a Row

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I did it. This is my 365th post of the year- in a row. It’s a feat that in previous years I thought would be impossible. I had previously tried in other years to blog for entire months, but failed to get over that hump. 365 is an awesome personal goal and I will continue this streak. I have no intentions of stopping now!

How did I accomplishing blogging everyday? Well, there really isn’t any concrete tips on doing this besides: just do it. There were weekends where I was too busy, weeknights that I was too tired but if you really want to accomplish something, it will make it into your schedule no matter what. I blogged while I was travelling from music festivals, commuting, as dinner was cooking, any time I could find. I’ve documented so many adventures this year that I can’t wait to re-read the entries at a future date.

If you’ve been thinking of starting a blog, don’t think, just do it.

Upgrading Life

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November had me stuck in a rut. I wasn’t feeling myself. December is a little bit better. I don’t know if it just took me a bit of time to adjust to shorter days or something.

Sometimes, you just have to take time re-evaluate everything in your life and decide what’s important and ways to make change. For instance, I decided to see if I could cure my SADS with a mood lamp that emulates the sun. It’s on it’s way from Amazon world, so I’ll let you know how that goes. End of year is also a good time to look at all goals and decide on how to upgrade them next year. You’ll just have to wait to see what I come with!

Criticism Helps Growth

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I had a discussion with some friends the other day about Canadian music journalists who fear criticizing artists too much in album reviews because it may lead to loss of connections and other things. At Ride the Tempo, I let my writers say whatever they want. I believe that honesty is how people grow whether they are making music or if you’re critiquing a colleague.

Sometimes it’s scary. You don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings or sour a connection with someone but it’s what is needed to make a person or industry strong. Now head over here to read some of our album reviews.

I Love Autumn 

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I love autumn, the temperature is perfect and nature is so beautiful! It is also time to relax after a relatively busy summer.

I have been focusing on spending more time with friends and myself. It’s time to recharge.

Blood Moon Fail

Categories Inspiration, Life, PhotographyLeave a Comment on Blood Moon Fail

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Remember last weekend when everybody was super excited about a Super Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse that wouldn’t happen again until 2033? Well, I made my way down to Humber Bay, Park in Toronto only to find out that it was way too cloudy for any glimpse of moon. I stayed there for a good hour and a half.

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While I didn’t get to shoot the moon, I found a secret quiet secluded spot where you could see downtown Toronto beautifully from afar and it was super relaxing to just listen to the waves crash the shore. In 2015, it’s nice to have moments where we are disconnected and to just enjoy nature.