How Tumblr Is My Life

It's been a crazy, hectic couple of weeks and Tumblr has been one of the big things that have gotten me through. Here are some GIFs that accurately describe my emotions.

There have just been some things these past few weeks that I don't know how to deal with. And what do I do when I'm unsure? Naturally just fall over. 

With the uncertainty comes exhaustion. Between working, spending time with friends, solving personal crises and working some more, sleep tends to fall to the wayside. And how would I possibly solve this except with.......

COFFEE! I have lived almost solely on iced mochas and chai lattes for most of college, and I'm not stopping now! There is nothing that a good caffeine buzz can't fix. 

Lastly, I'm just proud of myself for continuing every day to strive to be a queen, just like Beyonce. If you have a bad day, week, month just look at her and think, how can I make Beyonce proud today? 

Stay beautiful,

Toto 

NYC Wise Words

If you remember, this past spring break I took a trip to the beautiful, bustling city of New York. On that trip I had the opportunity to meet with and pick the brains of some amazing journalists that write for all kinds of publications including: Time magazine, Wall Street Journal, Esquire and several others. I don't know if I have ever been more inspired to write than on that trip. So, whenever I need a little bit of a push to write (and I don't feel like being on Pinterest for hours) I have taken to turning to my notes from those meetings. I wanted to share some of the advice that they gave me with all of you! Some of it is very specific to writing and being a journalist but some is just solid life advice.

Here are some of my favorites:

You can learn something new every moment if you pay attention.

Good stories are always in demand no matter the state of print journalism.

Make something uninteresting interesting. 

Open yourself up to stories and you will open yourself up to people. 

You don't have to ask anyones permission to do journalism. 

Everything is interesting, everything is a story. 

So many of these encourage us to just be more open, observant human beings and I'm always all for that! Sometimes we just need to be reminded that nothing is boring or mundane unless we let it be. It is our job to make the world an interesting, wonderful place. So make it a point to notice something different today, or notice something that's been around a while in a new way.

Stay beautiful,
Toto

Living With A Writer's Confidence

“I think it’s fairly common for writers to be afflicted with two simultaneous yet contradictory delusions—the burning certainty that we’re unique geniuses and the constant fear that we’re witless frauds who are speeding toward epic failure.” –Scott Lynch

Honestly, this describes my daily life. There’s something about writers, or maybe it’s just creative people in general, that make us think that we are God’s gift to the world and also will never make any difference. We (or at least I) spend most of the time trying to ignore the latter thought and focus on the positive, overly confident one. Let me tell you, it’s a rollercoaster way to live. But it’s kind of a great way to live too. You are able to be confident with your work and also get the much needed reality check that keeps you grounded.

However, I’m not really certain, but isn’t this how everyone feels? Maybe not on that level, but isn’t there always a dual feeling of confidence and uncertainty? I don’t think anyone is ever completely in one or the other regardless of his or her passion and occupation.

If you don’t produce these feelings in your own mind I think that you should have people in your life that do it for you. I’m not saying get a friend that will bring you down, but get a friend that will keep you humble in a positive way. Also, get a friend that will always support you no matter what the crazy idea might be. That is how to live a balanced life, in my humble yet always right opinion.

Stay beautiful,

Toto