Why we should be doing more of what we love

I started my blog exactly three years ago, at a time when the “I’m off on an adventure” vibe was wearing off and I had not seen my family or home once in the 4 months I had been living abroad. You could summarise the need for writing back then in 4 words: It felt like home. 

And it still does. In a lot of ways, starting a blog had brought me out of a time when I hated to share anything I wrote. When I used to cover my pages when anyone was too close. Other people’s scrutiny (that’s how I saw it) always made me feel less confident of what I was writing. Like it would never match up to their expectations. I confined my writing to my desk and when I gave up on it, and it happened more than once, I’d pack everything inside a box, every little note I wrote or map I’d drawn, and put it away for good. I didn’t necessarily feel bad about it – I would always move on to something fresh and exciting but it did give me a sense of unfinished business, something I subconsciously never forgave myself for.

But I kept on writing because, of all the other things I did, I felt I did it best. And feeling good about something inadvertently gives us more pleasure in doing it. I am grateful for this little cyber notebook of mine, not just because it helps me connect to people while doing what I love best, but because in the three years since I wrote the very first word, so many beautiful things happened and I have them all here. Maybe not explicitly written but they are there, somewhere between the lines. A lot of those good things I owe to these words too. I felt the need to write this little article not so much for the sake of wishing the blog a happy birthday, but to show people how the more we work on the things which make us happy, the better the things we attract.

So I made this little list of sorts, which I’ll probably stick to my mirror (I tend to look into a mirror in moments of self-doubt. Don’t ask). You’re invited to do the same. We all need to look at ourselves more, see beyond what makes us imperfect and focus on what makes us happy.

If you love doing something, then you’re good at it. Don’t let anyone stop you from doing anything you take pleasure in just because it doesn’t meet their standards. Because frankly, their standards are really no business of yours.