Tag: writing

A Year in Review

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My last post title is so funny looking back at it. I’m back? HAH.

I just check to see when I last posted and the time stamp says AUGUST 2017.

THAT’S A YEAR AND FOUR MONTHS SINCE MY LAST POST.

I’d apologize for not writing more, but the truth is, I’m not. I’ve been out living a little instead of writing. However, I am sorry if reading my blog was something you regularly enjoyed reading (hi mom).

Since it’s been such a long time, let me bring you up to speed on my life:

  1. I’m a super senior in college getting ready to graduate in May (No. I don’t have a plan yet. Please don’t ask.)
  2. I’ve stage-managed three productions, house managed for two, artistic directed a Fringe Festival, assistant directed for a main stage production and created my first lighting design.
  3. I have a billion things on my to do list before the end of the semester.
  4. Number three is a lie, but I still have a lot on my list.
  5. I took a spring break trip to Colorado it was life changing.
  6. I performed for the first time in two years this summer and it was my own writing.
  7. I’ve had five or six oncology appointments since the last time we’ve chatted and I am better than ever. My oncologist told me in my last appointment that it was like the cancer wasn’t there in the first place.
  8. I can put my hair into a half pony tail now!
  9.  I am working in the scene shop at my university and it is by far the best job I’ve ever had.
  10. I had to put down two of my doggos this past month, so I’ve been pretty sad. But they’re in a better place so it’s okay.
  11. I’ll be getting to work as a Props Artisan on a professional show in January.

And this is just a small version of what I’ve done in the last year and a half. There have been really big ups and downs across the board, but that’s just life. My time has been filled to the brim and since this blog is something I do for fun, there hasn’t been any time for it.

I didn’t realize how much time I had to myself to be creative when I was undergoing treatment. I had time to heal, write and be creative as I could in my waking hours. However, the real world doesn’t work like that. You don’t always get that kind of time to pause and reflect. Even now, I don’t have time. I have four projects and a show I should be working on, but I wanted to give myself a moment to pause and talk with you.

I’m okay with being busy. I’d rather not have time. When I was undergoing treatment, it was like my whole life was on pause and the only way to make it move forward was if I filled it with something because I was forced to stop doing all the things I loved. It was infuriating to say the least.

And because I wasn’t doing anything, I saw the world was still moving without me. It was hard to watch. I felt like I wasn’t needed.  I know I’m wanted, but I felt as though I wasn’t needed and that was one of the most difficult sensations to overcome. But my dad reminded me of something that his teacher once asked him:

What are all the things you want to accomplish in your time on this earth?

Of course I have a list for that: write a play, direct, love, explore, travel, do all the other things every blogger on this platform talks about.

But then my dad’s teacher asked another question:

What would this world be missing without you in it?

The cynic in me says nothing would be missing. The world would keep moving as it does and eventually someone else would come up with whatever I created or contributed to society.

But that’s not true. If I weren’t here, the world would be missing an optimist. A writer. A lover. A friend. A sister. An explorer. And everything I am to become. Look at what I’ve done in the last 22 years alone! Who knows what I can do next! Without me in the world, we would never know! That’s one “What If” I don’t want to live with.

So now my life has been un-paused and it feels like it’s fast forwarding to make up for lost time. And I have a lot left to do. Get ready!

I’m hoping to write a little more than before, but I can’t guarantee anything. If it’s been a while, just know that I’m out living to bring back stories for you!

Thank you for waiting for me to live a little.

 

Until Next Time,

Dana Qualy

 

I’m Back!

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Hello you wonderful people! I’M BAAAAACCCCCCCKKKKK!!!

*Insert celebratory sounds here*

It has been SO LONG since I’ve written for My Bright Corner that I am rusty at even creating an engaging and fun opening. Oops. Sorry about that. I can’t help being awkward. It’s just my disposition, okay?!

I can explain why I’ve been away for so long. Okay, maybe I can’t. It’s not that I didn’t have time to write for My Bright Corner because this summer I spent it working a part time retail job and watching anime shows from my couch. So it wasn’t that.

It also wasn’t because I was unmotivated like when I first started. I thought about writing for My Bright Corner a lot. I kept a journal filled with blog ideas and rough outlines of the posts. So it wasn’t that either.

If it wasn’t motivation and it wasn’t time commitment, what could possibly have kept me from My Bright Corner for so long? It’s really easy, actually.

I didn’t want to share.

I didn’t want to share my life with the internet for a while. Sometimes I don’t want to share every thought escaping my brain or all of my opinions that I have. It’s as easy as that.

Please don’t take this as a personal offense or rejection. I think you’re all lovely people who like to read blogs and personal opinion commentaries. Hopefully you genuinely like reading My Bright Corner content and don’t just come here to hate on it with your friends. Maybe you do. To each their own. (If you do come here to hate on my stuff, you should totally make a drinking game and share it with me because that would be hilarious and sometimes you have to laugh at yourself and not take life too seriously.)

If there’s anything we’ve learned since starting this My Bright Corner journey it’s this:

1. I’m an inconsistent blogger and I should probably work on that.

2. I am really really REALLY good at procrastinating

3. If there’s an opportunity to share a picture of my dogs with you, I will. My doggos are really cute and deserve more internet time.

 

4. If I don’t want to do something, I’m not going to do it.
(Unless it’s lifesaving. In which case, I will begrudgingly agree to it and make a blog about it.)

For the last two months, I didn’t want to share on My Bright Corner, so I didn’t. I haven’t been a blogger for very long nor have I been very good at it so to go from never sharing on social media to sharing some very personal parts of my life with the internet on my very own website is kind of exhausting and, since I’m being honest right now, a little invasive. And I know! I decided to open myself up in this way to the internet and blah, blippidy, bloppidy, blah. But sometimes and don’t want to be so personal and I am not obligated to! And since I am human, I sometimes need to go back to not sharing with the internet. It happens. This time it just… happened for two months straight. 

So where does that leave us? I recently learned that there are regular readers of My Bright Corner who want more content which is really cool! Hi! Thank you for reading my stuff! I will do my best to post more often than once every two months, but I can’t guarantee every new posts every week. School is starting up again and I’m already a huge procrastinator so I need to be honest with myself and with you. Maybe I’ll post twice a month or something like that. I’m not sure. I’ll keep you in the loop. Maybe I’ll add a calendar to My Bright Corner and add the dates I’m going to upload new content so even though the new content is inconsistent, no one will be sitting in a silent void wondering if the site is dead. That’s definitely a smart option. I should be taking notes.

Long story short, more content is on its way and I will keep you more informed of when it will be up! And if you think of new ideas for me to write about or have thoughts about My Bright Corner in general? Share them with me! I want to read all about it and maybe learn something along the way! You can either send me a message from the “Contact Me” page or any of my social media sites.

It’s good to be back and again, sorry for the gap. I’m a human who makes mistakes and I’m working on being better about it.

 

Until Next Time,

Dana

My Bullet Journal

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I was a procrastination queen for years. No matter what I did, I would put everything off until the last minute. I’d do it eventually and it would be completed on time and done well, but it would take forever. Why was I like this? I don’t know. Maybe because I don’t like being forced to do things or because I’d rather read a book than finish that 10 page paper. The answer still remains unclear. But then my sister introduced me to this thing called “the bullet journal” a few months back. At first I thought it was kind of dumb. Why not get a planner? Why not put it in your phone? Why not do literally anything but this journal? It will take forever to set up and that will just trigger my procrastination. But Layne used her big sister powers and pressured me to make one until I caved.

I owe Layne an apology. Just a second:

Layne, I’m sorry. You were right. Yes, write that one down for the history books. I admit that you were completely right about the bullet journal. It is amazing.

Bullet journal 3

Okay I’m back. OH MY GOD. I am obsessed. I have never been so organized and prepared in my life. For those that don’t know what the bullet journal is, it’s an organization system designed so you can track any and all of your latest projects and events. Basically, the bullet journal consists of four major components: Index, the Future Log (or the Year in Review), the Monthly Log, and the Daily Log. These four components come together so you can maintain every single aspect of your life all in one journal and not in multiple planners or notebooks. You can see more about it in this video that the creator of the bullet journal made here.

I have kept up with mine and I can’t stop. Every morning I sit down for breakfast and plan my day using the bullet journal. I have trackers for assignments, bills and other miscellaneous goals. The best part about this system is I have complete control over how I organize it. I can use whatever notebook, designs and concepts I want. I can make it as decorative or as simple as I want it to be.

Bullet Journal2

Yes, I’ll admit it. It does take some time to set up, but I’m proud of it and I want to keep up with it! I get my tasks done with less stress and I have been accomplishing my goals at a steady rate instead of the night before. My favorite parts of my bullet journal are my trackers and future log. The trackers provide a lot of structure and give a sense of accomplishment when I finish a project. The future log allows me to put all of my future dates in one place so I don’t double book myself.

If you’re nervous about starting a bullet journal because you don’t know where to start, there’s also a whole community of people who bullet journal where you can share ideas so you literally can’t run out of ideas! All you have to do is type in “bullet journal” to your google search, pinterest, facebook, instagram or pretty much any other social media site out there. I’ve made a Pinterest board that is slowly growing full of Bullet Journal pins if you want to check it out: https://www.pinterest.com/mybrightcorner/bullet-journal/. There’s also a website that the founder created to help beginners start their journals and seasoned journalers keep themselves in check with it.

So if you see me in person and we get onto the subject of bullet journals? I will fawn over mine like a grandma does to their grandchild at Christmas. And I’m just not sorry about it. 🙂

Basically what I’m saying is y’all need a bullet journal in your lives. What do you use to plan out your lives? Are you bullet journal obsessed like me or do you have another approach? Let me know in the comments!

 

Until Next Time,

Dana Qualy