Playing with ketchup...

EDIT: Retroactively noticed this was my 100th post. *happy!dance*

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December 17 – Lesson Learned What was the best thing you learned about yourself this past year? And how will you apply that lesson going forward? 

I'm telling you, these prompts are coming at the best times. I'll have something on my mind that I want to ramble about

You know, I learned a lot of lessons this year. But I think one of the more important ones is one that's been being slowly pounded into me this past year. And that's not to take myself too seriously.

I mean, you would think I would get that after NaNoWriMo two years in a row before this, but not so much. It took a class that took itself really seriously and a great video by a great YouTuber to help me see the light. Oscar Wilde was very correct when he said "It is a curious fact that people are never so trivial as when they take themselves seriously."

The story behind the class has been beaten to death here already. Basically, the prof took it really seriously. Which is awesome. I mean, I probably would have hated the class if the teacher had thought writing was a joke. But he took it seriously in a way that was taking it a little too far. Writing can be done for the sheer enjoyment of writing, not just for a living. I learned, through him taking what I wrote super-seriously, that I don't have to take what I write super-seriously.

The story behind the video actually involves a bunch of other videos as well. The video in question is actually a submission for this year's Project for Awesome (a day of charity awareness sponsored by the awesome VlogBrothers who you should totally check out). And while Project for Awesome is indeed awesome, it brought me down a little when I realized that I had done so little to be awesome for other people. Then I watched this video and I realized that even the smallest things can be awesome. You don't need to do something huge to make the world suck less. (Also, not to brag - well, not too much - I'm one of the gang vocalists in that video.)

So yeah, pretty much, it came down to realizing that I can do what I can with what I have and that's the best thing I could do. Work within your  means. I mean, I work at a kennel that fosters homeless dogs. Right there, right at my job where I get paid, I am helping the world to suck less, savings dogs from neglect and abuse and making it possible for families to adopt them and love them and let them grow old and fat and happy. Right there, without any extra effort on my part, I am doing awesome. Every step I take after that, every can I drop into a food drive box, every pocketful of change I toss into a Salvation Army bucket, every silly blog entry I write, every review I leave on someone's creation, is just more awesome.