For the love of writing

I've been blogging for a longtime, and I wonder sometimes if anything I write matters to anyone. My posts are a mix of politics, entertainment, encouragement, and information to help people realize that if they're struggling with various issues, they are not alone. There have been times when I just wanted to quit this blog. 

Recently, I ran into an AI artist named Alana Jordan by accident when I was searching for some photos online to go with what I was planning to write. Alana had spread out samples of her work, and offered it free for download. As I went through her illustrations, and music, I realized that she just enjoys her work. 

Sure, she puts herself out there so that someone would hire her, but she is quite generous about giving away free downloads. I'm not a big supporter of AI, because I think a lot of AI work is low in quality, be it writing, music, acting, and etc. Also, there are plenty of people out there who steal the works of creatives and label it as their own with the help of AI. But I thought some of Alana's work was quite good. And if there is no copyright infringement, then what's the harm in a bit of AI done right? 

Anyway, my point here is that she reminded me that creatives do what they do for the love of the arts. They are not looking for approval from the outside. They just like to create good work. Below are a few of my favorite songs 💙 that she created. I added the pictures to go with the music. Enjoy...

The Key to your heart by Alana Jordan 

Love is kind by Alana Jordan 

Island honeymoon by Alana Jordan 

Note: The videos are actually mp3, but being that I am technologically challenged, this was the best I could do. Blogger sometimes gets complicated when you try to load things. I struggle with it often. You need to have some knowledge of HTML which I do not. So, the easiest way for me to upload the songs was to covert them to mp4 and hold my breath because blogger challenges me every step of the way. So, there you have it... 

Social Media

I met up with a friend today. I was telling her that I don't like social media. A few close friends know everything about my life because I share everything with them. I don't hide things. They know me—my ups and downs, my moodiness, why I behave a certain way, and why I do what I do. They know all about my struggles, and I know all about theirs. But I cannot share all the details about my life here. So, my actions oftentimes come across as cold, erratic and crazy. 

I prefer knowing people in person. Hanging out one on one. I sometimes spend time with my cousin and her mom. But there are times when we want to get together just the two of us without her mom. Because the intimate conversation we share is different than the conversation we have when her mom is around. 

There is no way that we can have this sort of connection online. There is much to be said about meeting someone in person and getting to know them. I once tried to connect with someone in the writing world. I "knew" her on twitter, and when I learned that she was going to be at a book show in L.A. I made plans to meet up at the booth where she worked. But that was the end of it. She never put in the effort to meet at another book event. Even our conversations on twitter were shallow. 

I sometimes feel empty when I'm online. It effects my mental health. I want so much more. I want that deep connection. But that deep connection does not exist over a bunch of wires, and electronic gadgets. I prefer spending time in real life. That's why I step away from being on social media. And that's one of the reasons among many that I was contemplating deleting my accounts recently, but I couldn't do it. Something stopped me.  

Here in the U.S, everybody is always busy. Busyness is equivalent to productiveness. It's looked upon with admiration. But in other countries, busyness is not always admired. It's that human connection that's admired above everything else. We all have things to do. We all have work that we need to finish. But if we really wanted to, we would make time for things or people we care about. 

Before driving to Berkeley to visit my niece last weekend, I had a lot to do, and I didn't feel like making such a long drive. She had plenty going on between her studies, internship, charity work, club meeting, and her friends. But we both made time for each other, and ended up having a great time. It is moments like these that I wouldn't trade for anything. 

So, real life vs. social media. Which one do you prefer?