Hello world! It’s me, Briana.
It’s been a minute since I’ve updated this website. The end of the year often feels like a whirlwind. One minute, you’re in October; it’s your birthday, and you’re posting the things you’ve learned in the past year. The next minute (that actually feels closer to 30 seconds), it’s December, and you don’t know where the time went. I never really like to feel like I’m rushing through life, but I often feel like I am. My thoughts often move quickly, and I feel like I’m slowing down if I’m not keeping up with every racing idea. This is my attempt to slow down and relish the things I’ve been doing.
October
October is always special, and this October was no different. I celebrated my birthday with strangers who became acquaintances because most times real life is not like the movies. The movie version of events would end with me having a trio of ragtag friends who dragged me on wild adventures. Along the way, I’d stumble through the streets, trip, and fall into the arms of a handsome stranger who happens to be exactly my type. By December, we’d be gearing up for our happily ever after (it is cuffing season after all). Instead, I went to a comedy show, got several free drinks, and had a grand old time talking to strangers. It was fairytale like.
I don’t really remember much else about October, but near the end, I ended up stumbling upon a coffee shop called Simple Hut that has now become a favorite.
November
In November, I attempted National Novel Writing Month for the second year. I was thrilled to be trying it again, and I knew I was going to make it to 50,000 words. Reader, I wrote 40,176.
NaNo made me feel a lot of different things. I really felt like a writer, going up to my room every night with hot chocolate, lighting my writing candle, and most nights sprinting away. It was a lot of fun.
Later in the month though, the excitement waned a bit, and writing was HARD. I started off writing out of order, jumping from scene to scene and drafting whatever called out to me. The jumping around came back to bite me. Sometimes, I couldn’t really remember what I wrote, and I wasn’t sure where to pick up. The second guessing and honestly the fact that I was writing so much honestly made me feel scared. Ultimately, I think that fear caused me to slow down in the last 10 days. I wanted to win so badly, but I was scared of having a really bad draft to look at and deal with. It’s weird how fear can do that to you.
Despite it all, I’m really glad I did NaNo again this year. I met some really cool people, wrote a couple cute lines, and though I’m not at shout it from the rooftops level, I can whisper that “I’m a writer.”
December
Now, we’re in December, and the one thing I can say definitively is IT IS COLD. I’ve been cold almost all this month, and I’m still cold 🙁 This December I’m focusing on reflection so I can make 2023 my best year yet (each year is supposed to be my best year yet, so if you’ve heard me say this before, well that’s why.) Maybe that’s why I figured it was time to pick up the electronic pen and give you an update. Here it is!
Just kidding, but almost. A big thing I did this December is enter my first “media” competition since college. In college, I submitted my senior seminar web series to exactly one film festival. I did not get in. Even though I started my YouTube channel last year, this year I felt like I was getting closer to they types of videos I ant to make. In the spirit of putting myself out there, I entered the “Expats Eye GBA Short Video Contest”. I heard about this contest earlier this month, and I told myself I had to enter, and don’t wait until the last minute! Reader, what do you think I did? Well, guess what I didn’t procrastinate, at first, then I proceeded to wait until the last few hours to edit. In the end, I emailed my video a minute after the proposed 11:59, but I hope they’re lenient.
That’s it for me, for now! Hope I get to see you in the new year! Stay warm!