I have one question for you: “When did you grow up?”
OKAY, that is actually just the first question. Here’s the rest.
Do you remember that exact moment when you decided to stop having fun and start being serious? Do you know when your careless smile was replaced by a frown? Do you know when you stopped believing in your dreams and decided to become reasonable?
Maybe it was around the time when you stopped playing.
Until that point, the whole world seemed to be your playground!
There were no rules, no limitations. Everybody told you that you could be anybody you wanted to be. Nobody ever said no to your dreams; instead, they just encouraged you never to stop believing in yourself and just to keep striving for your craziest goals! It was still OKAY to believe in fairy tales, dragons, elves, Santa Claus, heroes, princes, and princesses. It was still okay to believe in magic! There was so much to explore, so much to see, so much to experience.
What is more important is that you thought you could do it all!
Nevertheless, one day you stopped playing.
It’s because everybody around you stopped playing with you. Just because you grew a little bit older, the “grown ups” decided that you should understand the world for what it “truly” is: a very risky place. Not only that, but taking risks should be avoided at all costs because of the possibility of failure.
Life showed it’s “true” colors all of the sudden: it was a mix of black and white. The other colors seemed to have disappeared somewhere. Being serious and being cautious became the norm. Suddenly there were rules! And they were everywhere. People started telling you to grow up, to do this and not to do that. It seems like there was a correct answer for everything: from how you should dress to how you should act and what you should think! More importantly, nobody wanted to play anymore.
But you do want to play and have fun, don’t you?
I do too!
Before we move on, remember this: life is a risky place. And, guess what? Risky life leads to a fun, rewarding and magical life if you are ready accept that you are going to fail. All you have to do is to remember how to have fun even while you fail!
That is possible only when you are playing.
It’s OKAY.
You probably forgot how to play and need a place to practice. Alright, let us practice together. Let’s go play at the ultimate playground: blogosphere!
The Ultimate Playground
It is a cool place, isn’t it? So many weird and interesting people play here.
Look!
There are so many of them and everybody is having fun! However, if you want to play here, you must know a couple of rules first:
- There are no rules (ironic, I know)
- You cannot possibly fail
- The rewards are limitless
- Nothing is serious
Indeed, it is a strange place. Blogosphere can be as real as you want it to be. You can make it your real life extension or you can start a new life on the blogosphere and make your real life your blogging extension. The only thing that matters is knowing where you want to be and what you want to become.
Playing in a blogosphere can be confusing at first. That is why I have put together the following guidelines for you to follow.
- Pick what you want to be.
If you do not know, it’s OKAY! You will learn what appeals to you as you keep playing in the blogosphere. If you do have an idea, it’s fine! It will make the process so much faster. Either way, every single person on the blogosphere is a creator. Some people write, some people draw, some people create music, and some solve problems. Ultimately, it does not matter what the specific definition is. What matters is that you will end up creating as well. Do you want to be a writer, a life coach, a consultant, a musician, a marketing guru, a dating guru, a comedian, a journalist, a social activist? The list goes on! Take your pick. - Start creating. |
It might be scary at first, but remember the first rule of the blogosphere: there are no rules. Did you ever have crazy ideas come to you that you were too scared to share with anybody? Did you ever think of things that you thought made no sense? Did you ever think of an idea and wanted to see how others would accept it? If you did any of the above-mentioned things, then you are in the right place. That’s why we are all here. Don’t think about it twice, just start creating. Whatever comes to mind, put it out there in the form of music, writing, drawing, a video recording! - Get help.
Blogosphere is a very friendly place because nobody ever fails. People are eager to help. Many of them will help you out for free! There are more resources here for creation than you could have ever thought. If you are stuck and having a tough time creating something – speak out and ask for help. You will always be answered. - Make friends.
Did I mention that people in the blogosphere are very friendly? Don’t be afraid because you cannot fail. People here are eager to meet new people and make new friends. It is much easier than you think! You can make friends by helping others, by commenting on their creations or simply by connecting with your already existing friends. Nobody will ever say no to a new player in the blogosphere. - Ask for feedback or NOT.
By now, you will have created something and you will want to know how you are doing or NOT. It’s up to you! If you want to create just for the sake of creating and expressing yourself, it’s great! Many people do just that. However, if you do want feedback, just ask! Sometimes the feedback will come to you anyway in the form of views, comments, tweets, time spend on the website and so on. Then you can use feedback to assess how you are doing and if you are creating something others enjoy. - Improve at your own pace.
There is no rush or need to improve. It is all up to you! If you want to improve to finally become what you set out to be, then repeat steps 2 through 6 as many times as you want. In no time, you will reach your goal all the while having tons of fun! The best thing is that you don’t have to stop there because the rewards are limitless. You choose how much fun you want to have.
Did you have fun playing in the blogosphere? I did too!
Since you are already playing in the blogosphere, why not play all the time and making your “real” life the extension of you blogosphere life? You’ve had so much practice and learned so much. Why not take what you have learned in the playground and apply it to your everyday life? You already know how to do that!
Since your real life is the extension of your blogosphere life, then the same rules apply as well:
- There are no rules
- You cannot possibly fail
- The rewards are limitless
- Nothing is serious
Heck, you can even use the same guidelines for playing in the “real” life as for playing in the blogosphere!
So the next time somebody asks you: “When did you grow up?” you just tell them that you are still growing.
Image courtesy of Pixabay
