Life – Page 29 – Tiana Feng

A Month of Being Mindful

April 30, 201530 Day Challenge, LifeLeave a Comment

Happiness is this Oreo Iced Capp at Timmies

Today is officially the last day of my 30 days of no complaining challenge. While it was literally impossible to eliminate all complaining the month taught me to be more mindful of other people as well as play a more active role in solving problems. Honestly, I don’t know if it was the climb out of winter depression or this exercise but I had a very happy month of April.

I had less worries, but as a person that has suffered from anxiety/depression, being worry-free is simply impossible. I just focused my energy into getting things done or allowing myself more time to relax when needed. There was less of that in between period of pondering to myself or someone else whether I should or should not be doing something. Relevant to this, I read the following phrase in Amy Poehler’s Yes Please and instantly fell in love:

“The talking about the thing isn’t the thing. The thing is the thing.”

It’s the best because it implies dealing with the problem head on rather than complaining. It’s a phrase I need to write on a piece of wood and hang on the wall.

This was a great exercise to have for a month, but I am unsure if I am going to continue the same way. I will for sure be mindful and determined to find solutions but the occasional bout of unloading is not only satisfying, I believe it’s healthy. It’s day 30 and I am having the biggest tension headache and I think the biggest cause is not being able to actively off-load some negative emotions for an entire month. I’m sure I can sleep it off and tomorrow will be a new month and mark the challenge’s end!

Anyways, I tried that ridiculous Microsoft thing and I got 20 so no complaints here…

Prints from Origrami

April 23, 2015Life, Shopping, Social Media, Technology4 Comments

As much as I love the ease of digital photography, I still love the feeling of holding a photograph so I printed some of my Instagram photos through Australian site, Origrami.

They were delivered rather quickly by mail (considering I live in Canada). The photos came in an adorable camera shaped box with a branded tag inside.

I ordered the Squareprintswhich were $22.95 AUD for 36 photos. The back of the photos had either a map (if a location was tagged) or a colourful camera logo along with your Instagram likes and comments. I really loved that idea as a backside since it provided a way to make my digital memories analog!

Let yourself have cake

April 16, 2015Inspiration, LifeLeave a Comment

View this post on Instagram

Accidentally sent everyone in Toronto a link to cake so eating my feelings in cake.

A post shared by Tiana Feng (@tianafeng) on Apr 15, 2015 at 12:41pm PDT

Every day there are trials and dumb things that happen and things that are beyond your control. Don’t forget to reward yourself every once and a while that you’ve survived.

15 Days of No Complaining

April 15, 201530 Day Challenge, Inspiration, Life1 Comment

Being mindful of others is important, just like in a game of Chinese Checkers!

As you know from my previous post, I am trying not to complain for the entire month of April. I am only half way into the month and it’s been a long and arduous journey. Complaining is so natural in our nature. Sometimes I don’t even notice it until after. I realize some relationships with other people are built entirely on complaining and this isn’t healthy.

I’ve observed how much myself and others complain on a daily basis. In the course of an hour, this can be hundreds of times. I haven’t completely eliminated it but I’ve become more mindful. Instead of complaining about someone, I’d consider other people’s perspective more when they did something that annoyed me. I’d also became more aggressive in taking actions to prevent things I’d later perceive as problems.

I participated in less gossip and in return people gossiped to me less. At first I felt a little bit left out, but keeping a positive outlook has actually made me a much happier, better (in my mind) person.

100 Days of Blogging

April 10, 201530 Day Challenge, Inspiration, Life2 Comments

I can’t believe that I’ve been blogging for 100 consecutive days in 2015 so far! It’s a goal that my best friend and I have both achieved together. In past years, we tried blogging for a month but always failed. Now to reach 100 days is definitely an achievement. We’re not quitting either. Let’s see if we can hit 365 (or more)!

I’ve learned a lot in these 100 days. I’m now less critical about what I put out. Having to post things occasionally leads me to take a bit more risks, and not be so worried if others will think it’s dumb or stupid. I’ve also become quite efficient at writing. The written posts don’t take more than 10-15 minutes. That’s not to say they are hastily done or sloppy by any means. The words have just come easier. I second guess myself a lot less. This skill has also translated itself when I sit down to write album reviews on Ride the Tempo.

I love blogging and I don’t think I could ever stop. It’s a diary. A place to air my thoughts. A place to experiment. A world that has helped me through some hard times. To know that one person is reading means the world, let alone the fact I now have over 400 subscribers. Thank you all.

Now let’s continue exploring the world together.

Video Round-Up: Mammoth Cave Haul, Turtle Bath and Pork Chops

April 7, 2015Life, VlogsLeave a Comment

Been a while but here’s another video round-up!

First I show you my Mammoth Cave Records haul:

Then I found these weird turtle bath things:

Lastly, I cooked some pork chops:

How to Have a Long Distance BFF

April 6, 2015April 8, 2015Inspiration, Life, RelationshipsLeave a Comment

Recently, someone asked me how I have such a great relationship with best friend who is in another province. We actually didn’t even see each other for almost 3 years prior to her wedding in October. While it feels almost natural for me, I’d like to offer some tips for people who’s friends are moving far away and how to best keep that connection.

Talk frequently, in whatever channel works conveniently for both you. It might be a phone call, text message, FB chat, Snapchat.

Be willing to listen. Just because you’re far away doesn’t mean you can’t listen and talk your friend through life’s problems. Don’t wait until everything is fine and dandy to chat.

Be there when they need it. This sort of relates to the last point but a friend will always value those that make an effort. Also if they really want you there for a serious life event like a wedding, you do whatever it takes to get on that plane/bus/whatever.

Take challenges together. Do you have a mutual goal you’d like to achieve? For Laura and I, it’s currently blogging everyday. Having a common goal can help strengthen the bond because you can also talk about that goal or hobby together.

Make sure the feeling is mutual. Long distance friendships aren’t for everyone. An important question to ask is why the other person is moving away. Some people just want to move away for a fresh start. In that case, the friend may not want to keep touch. But you can always offer them the chance to connect if they change their mind.

Spring is Such a Tease

April 5, 2015April 5, 2015Life, Photography4 Comments

It’s Easter Weekend here in Toronto. The weather was quite nice Good Friday and Saturday leading us to think Spring was coming.

Even Teddy was out enjoying the weather.

But surprise! It snowed during the night:

When will Spring finally be here to stay?

Photos: 85mm Teddy

April 2, 2015Pets, Photography, Teddy1 Comment

Tested my new Canon 85mm 1.2 on the dog. Wide open aperture is hard to get used to on a moving subject. Despite these photos, he does’t really stay still!

April: The Month of No Complaining

April 1, 2015March 31, 201530 Day Challenge, Inspiration, Life2 Comments

In February, the Complaint Restraint project took place. For 28 days people signed up to simply stop complaining. Jessica Hullinger of Fast Company wrote about this experience and provided some great tips.

I missed the month of the originally challenge because I read about it after the fact but I really wanted to take this challenge for a month and learn from it. I’ve had a hard couple of days and this will be very difficult to start and keep going but it’s worth a try to change my current (and future) mindset.

I will start by defining what I consider a complaint to be.

Observations will not be considered a complaint. Ex “It is cold.” Exempt also will be reviews of restaurants and music etc that make it onto blogs. These are considered observations/constructive criticism.
A sentence that contains the following words will be consider a complaint: “hate”, “don’t, fuck, shit, jerk” etc.
A statement that ruminates beyond a simple observation. (Telling 10 people it’s cold)
Gossip, (non-constructive) criticism, whining, grudges, hurtful jokes

This might seem like an impossible task as complaining is inherent in our nature and sometimes we do it subconsciously. It’ll also be difficult depending on the people I surround myself with. Other people love to complain as much as I do. I will do my best to reconstruct negative “complaining” thoughts into more positive and productive ones or simply drop them if they are unimportant. I hope to be more mindful of each situation

Example of looking on the bright side:

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Forgot my lunch but then I found this at work #vscocam #easter

A post shared by Tiana Feng (@tianafeng) on Mar 31, 2015 at 5:38am PDT