Real Shi

The idea of a blog came from a conversation I had with a friend while on a trip to Iceland. 

I was lamenting that I’d felt unproductive all year, which became very apparent to me whenever someone asked me “How’ve you been?” or “What’ve you been up to?” at which point my response was always “eh not much.” As the conversation went on, I realized that being unproductive was in large a mindset. Of course subjectively one can argue whether one thing is more “productive” than the other, but doing anything is technically a form of productivity. I had felt that way because I rarely shared in detail my default hobbies (i.e. travelling is an occasional luxury, on the regular I mostly play games, watch anime, and in the winter ski here and there). Most of my friends were from before COVID, and most of my default hobbies all developed during or after COVID, meaning my friends generally didn’t share the same hobbies–or at least not to the same extent. At the time, I was also at a phase in my life where meeting new people who might do so was difficult. As such, I saw no point in elaborating when people asked what I was up to when my career was in a lull and my hobbies took up most of my life.

On top of not talking about it, I never made anything of my activities either. I always believed that my hobbies were for my enjoyment, and that there was no need to share my thoughts to others when I have them for myself in my own head. The big realization from that conversation was that being “productive” didn’t have to be purely career-related. It could be about creating anything. Starting a blog isn’t neccesarily so that others will read it (though I hope you do, dear viewer, and find it interesting), but also for myself. While I may think the thoughts are in my head, they will fade over time, and without any “product” born from them, they will have meant nothing. 

And hence the birth of this blog!