Fakin' It

Have you ever heard the expression, "Fake it 'til you make it"? You know, the idea that if you pretend that you are capable of doing something, or if you pretend that you have a certain quality, eventually you actually will be capable, or will have said desirable quality.

I always thought the idea was bull. Because if I could pretend to do something, I wouldn't be having such a hard time doing it, right?

Well, not right.

One of my resolutions this year was to become more self-confident. I've always been extremely self-conscious, both of my actions and my appearance (although the latter started much more recently than the former), so this was something I wanted to change about myself.

But how do I work on being more self-confident? Well, if you ask anyone on the internet (and I do mean anyone), they'll tell you, at one point, the same thing: "Fake it 'til you make it."

But how are you supposed to fake self confidence?

One of my favourite speeches was one made by Neil Gaiman, at a university graduation ceremony in 2012. Towards the end, he said, "So be wise, because the world needs more wisdom, and if you cannot be wise, pretend to be someone who is wise, and then just behave like they would."

If I had known that acting would be a required life skill, I would have invested more time and money in some drama classes.

Earlier this year, I finally caved. "FINE!" I screamed. (Mentally. God, I'm not that crazy.) "I'll do it! I'll play your little make-believe game!" And so I did. And it worked.

As it turns out, after saying things like, "I am so hot damn gorgeous," so many times, you actually start to believe it. When I first started saying it, I was, to an extent, joking...until one day I woke up and decided, "You know what? I am hot damn gorgeous!" (This revelation can be made evident by the fact that my phone is filled with more selfies than I ever thought I would take. Not as many as my sister, but eh, I'm still a work in progress.)

It's no different from when we were kids, and we pretended to be super heroes or princesses or whatever. Make-believe isn't just for kids, y'know.


Until later,

- Justyne

10 Quotes That I Absolutely Love

Every now and then, I come across a quote--be it from the internet or a book or whatever--that I love oh-so-very-much that I just HAVE to write it down.

I now present to you ten of these quotes, in no particular order.

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"...and I decided that I would do my best in future not to write books just for the money. If you didn't get the money, then you didn't have anything. If I did work I was proud of, and I didn't get the money, at least I'd have the work." - Neil Gaiman, Make Good Art 

"I know you're not perfect. But it's a person's imperfections that make them perfect for someone else." - Stephanie Perkins, Lola and the Boy Next Door 

"Writing isn't about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends. In the end, it's about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life, as well. It's about getting up, getting well, and getting over. Getting happy, okay? Getting happy." - Stephen King 

"The truth is this: successful writers don't have more time than you. They MAKE time to write." - S.J. Scott

"For any one of us our forever could end in an hour, or a hundred years from now. ... If your forever was ending tomorrow, would this be how you'd want to have spent it?" - Sarah Dessen, The Truth About Forever 

"Life is full of screw-ups. You're supposed to fail sometimes. It's a required part of human existence." - Sarah Dessen, Along for the Ride

"Writing is the only thing that when I do it, I don't feel I should be doing something else." - Gloria Steinem

"Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten." - Neil Gaiman, Coraline 

"I am here to tell you that if you don't feel ready for university at the age of eighteen, there is always time to go back should you ever want to. I am here to tell you that having a well-paid job that is so often glamorised by the media and 'career advisers' at school is not the answer to happiness if it is not what you want to do." - Emma Blackery, YOU ARE NOT YOUR PARENTS

"All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them." - Walt Disney

What's your favourite quote?

Until later,

- Justyne

Back to the Start (Part II)

The following is a continuation of last week's post. If you missed it, you can go back and read it here.

It all started with Sailor Moon.

No, that was not a joke. It will not be followed with some snide, sarcastic remark, or a sentence that provides much better context to it. As silly as it may seem--and I am very much aware that it sounds extremely silly--it did all start with Sailor Moon.

To say I was a huge fan was...well, a bit of an understatement. I watched it religiously, every day--even if it meant waking up at six in the morning. When it was cancelled, I cried my poor little eight-year-old eyes out. I borrowed the two VHS tapes that the local library owned continuously, watching them constantly until they simply wouldn't work anymore.

When I was around nine years old, I got a tiny little locket for Christmas. Lord only knows where it is now, but at the time, the very first thing that went through my mind was the locket that Sailor Moon had used (that's what they had called it in the English version, anyway) to transform. With this locket, I could be a Sailor Scout, too.

I was nine when I wrote my first real story. It was a story about a group of girls, who used magical lockets to transform into superheroes. Sound familiar?

For me, that story was more than just a story. Just like that show became more than just a show. It was a way for me to be something more--more than just an ordinary girl. That stupid little story, the one I wrote all those years ago, that was my way of being a Sailor Scout. That was my way of saving the world. I often complain about how badly written my first writing attempt was, but really?

That story is my favourite.

Back then, there were no dreams of publication. There were no terribly unrealistic fantasies of becoming rich and famous through writing. (Well, not at first, anyway. Trust me, those came quickly.) There was only me, and the daydreams I spent saving the world. It was the first time, the very first time, that I was excited to write, and live in a fictional world all my own.

That is what I need to be looking for. Not stories that will make me money, but stories that make me excited. Excited to write, to feel, to live. One of my favourite quotes is from Neil Gaiman, who said, "I decided that I'd do my best in the future not to write books just for the money. If you didn't get the money, then you didn't have anything. And if I did work I was proud of, and I didn't get the money, at least I'd have the work."

I heard that quote a couple of years ago, in a video I stumbled upon while browsing the web. I've carried it with me ever since.

I'm not saying that I shouldn't aim for publication. And I'm definitely not saying that I'm going to stop aiming for it anytime soon, either. I will not rest until I can walk into just about any Chapters or Indigo bookstore in the country and see my book--my story--sitting on the shelf.

What I'm trying to say is that, for a moment, I forgot why I started. I forgot how wonderful it felt to be truly, genuinely excited about writing; to not worry about whether it was good, or whether people would like it, or how much money it would make.

To write for the thrill;

To write myself into the person I always wanted to be;

To write for the sake of writing;

That is my goal.


Until later,

- Justyne