As I mentioned here that I would be sharing something new with you guys, well, this is it. This project is something that I came up with suddenly and thought would be a good way to share my bookish life with all of you, so without further ado, I give you...Project Happiness.
Right. This is also going to be a loooooooong and personal post. Just thought to warn you in advance.
Right. This is also going to be a loooooooong and personal post. Just thought to warn you in advance.
How This Project Came To Be
I was thinking in the shower (showers are the place to get deep, people) about how books had changed me into a much different person in a very miraculous way. I never thought that I would be the person I am today last year, and because of books, the way I live my life now has changed so much over the past few months-in a good way. So in this post, I am introducing you to a new feature on my book blog. It is called Project Happiness, and if you read on, I'll tell you why I decided on this feature and how it works!
Life Before Books...
...was terrible. *shudders* Let me just rephrase that to 'Life Before I Became An Avid (YA?) Reader'. Yes. That sounds WAY MUCH better.
Before I started getting more interested in the book community, I was all negativity and little positivity. I would have all those negative thoughts and could be insecure at times, to the point where I couldn't get mysef to lift my head at school. I didn't have as much confidence as I would've liked to have - it was of those times where you learn so much about everything -how people treat you, how you should treat them back, etc., etc...and suddenly you're feeling like too much is forced upon you. My parents' occasional berating didn't help much too. I was at possibly one of the lowest points of my life, until I read a book, loved it, and looked it up online. It was then I discovered the magical world of books and fandoms -you could just say books and I just clicked.
Before I started getting more interested in the book community, I was all negativity and little positivity. I would have all those negative thoughts and could be insecure at times, to the point where I couldn't get mysef to lift my head at school. I didn't have as much confidence as I would've liked to have - it was of those times where you learn so much about everything -how people treat you, how you should treat them back, etc., etc...and suddenly you're feeling like too much is forced upon you. My parents' occasional berating didn't help much too. I was at possibly one of the lowest points of my life, until I read a book, loved it, and looked it up online. It was then I discovered the magical world of books and fandoms -you could just say books and I just clicked.
How Books Have Changed Me
It never ceases to amaze me whenever I think back to last year and reflect on how books have shaped me to become the better and more confident person that I am today. Reading has taught me to embrace my faults and be proud of my good traits, because not everyone is perfect. Books have always been a part of my life, but the moment I was certain that books are -and will always be- my source of happiness, my life started changing so much. As many book nerds out there, my first epic read was Harry Potter, and later, Percy Jackson. Twilight and The Mortal Instruments series have opened my eyes to more YA books and I started discovering this whole new genre(?) that I absolutely loved. I read and wrote -still do!- fanfiction and followed a bunch of fan accounts which made and shared awesome edits on Instagram and Tumblr, which I am so envious of. (I'm not good at making edits, people. If anyone would be kind enough to volunteer and teach me how to make a decent one...tweet me!) I started swapping book recommendations with one or two friends that I made online (I wasn't that good with making friends :P). After endless Booktube videos and book blogs, I knew that I wanted to play a part in sharing the love for books. One or two months passed, and I found a book blog that just inspired me. As I was never an internet-ny sort of person before books, I didn't read a lot of book blogs and thus the thought that I could blog about books never popped into my mind (shameful, I know). It was a Saturday morning when I started writing my first post on this blog, when I felt that this would also bring me happinness and confidence.
Some of the distinct changes in my life (in point form!):
- I have become a MUCH more confident person. I didn't care how much I weighed (eh, I'm not a very skinny person), how good I looked in clothes, and what people thought of me and my appearance. Although to say that yes, all of us will feel a little insecure sometimes, I'm not the girl who once was afraid to look into mirrors and feel bad anymore.
- I am now happier and more optimistic about things. Books are magical. They slip bits and bits of hope into ourselves. I now find myself looking on the better side of things and most of my negativity has drained away.
- I have become much more of myself. Before I started getting into books, I wasn't as opinionated as I am now. Pieces of myself are coming back that make me, me. Naturally the shy part of me is still there, but I now stand up for myself whenever someone says something bad about me or anything. I don't recoil into my shell. I found something that I'm happy to associate myself with.
- I've made friends that I'm so happy to have. There are A LOT of book bloggers that I haven't talked to much yet (I'm still trying out this thing guys!) but still, I've found nice people to converse with and I feel so glad to finally be able to share my bookish side of myself with people that share the same passion for books as I do.
- I don't feel like I'm wasting my life anymore. All those thoughts like 'the heck am I doing with my life??' or, 'I really need to do something with my life' have vanished from my mind -mostly. I'll admit, I'm an ambitious person. I want things done in my life, I'm not letting it go to waste. Running a book blog is one of the best ways to make my life better as I'm actually doing something that I like. I'm projecting my love for books by blogging about them, and I love it.
- Books have given me a sense of calm. Whenever I read, I enter into this tranquil state which only consists of me, the book, and the story within, which I'm fairly sure that book lovers are able to relate to. Everyone outside from that quiet bubble is blocked away. Reading makes me feel peaceful and relieved. It de-stresses me. Whenever I feel stressed, settling into a quiet spot and sinking into my oblivious state is the best thing ever.
- Also, I have acquired much poorer eyesight than before, but I'm not complaining. That's where the reading glasses come in.
And so, I feel obliged to do something for books and authors becaue books have helped me to get through the things in life that get me down, and I'm grateful for that. I can't thank books, authors, publishers, editors- everyone out there who helped in the writing and publishing of a book, enough. I've never been happier. Consider this feature a thank you for all the hard work you've done and the happiness you've given me.
How this feature works:
I don't really have a solid idea for this feature, but I can tell you this. Basically, I will be on the lookout for book-related things that have contributed to my happiness and tell you all about them in this sporadic feature. It can be anything as long as it's book related. It will even be personal at times and so I hope you guys don't mind. Project Happiness will, hopefully, evolve into a feature with more excitement as I go along with it, although I think that it's perfect the way it is. By keeping it sporadic, I get to share all the ideas and events and just things that have helped me or inspired me in my life. Of the time being, it's a project to remember the bookish things that brightened my day or made me warm and fuzzy inside, and to write them out on my blog. As I don't want to feel too pressured for this new project that I'm taking on, things'll be going slow. Baby steps, right? One thing at a time. I'll start a post when I see something bookish that inspires me. It's going to be my little project. I'm still working on making this blog a better place for everyone.