Rambling: I Got Some Shit Done and I'm Proud of It

It's been a while. In the last few weeks, I've been thinking about what resolutions I want to make for 2013. I've sat and thought about the new stage I'm at in my life, where I'd like my life to go from here, and all the things that would be required of me to get there. Heavy stuff.

Just thinking it through started to overwhelm me. There are so many things I'd like to accomplish in the next few years, that it all seems so daunting. How am I supposed to organize my life into some semblance of cohesion? How am I supposed to do it now? How long will it take me to get all the different tangents of my life in order? You can see how easily this turned into a worry spiral...

However, in a rare moment of lucidity, I remembered a blog post I read back in October that really resonated with me. The post was about taking the time to recognize and congratulate yourself for your achievements, and appreciating how far you've come in achieving your goals, even the little ones.

It's a simple concept that not enough people take the time to consider. I know that I certainly never have. 

I really like the idea of acknowledging your small victories. Things can get very heavy very fast, and it can be really easy to forget that although you haven't reached your goal, you've made progress, and you're much further along than you were yesterday, or the day before that, or the week before that, or the month before that.

So that's what I'm going to do. It doesn't seem like much, but in the last few months I have accomplished a lot of what I wanted to accomplish. I am further along that I thought I'd be. And I think that it's good for my sanity to reassure myself that I'm moving forward with my life and that this rut I think I'm stuck in is all in my head. 

Here's what I've accomplished this year:

THE BIG

• I graduated from university, and now I have a degree in Photojournalism from Boston University.
• I got hired as a copywriter at an advertising agency in Trinidad, and now I work with amazing people, and I get to see ads I've worked on pop up all over Trinidad.

THE SMALL

• I applied to the Graduate program of my dreams. I didn't get in, but I did shoot an entire portfolio for the application, and that's more that I would have done a year ago.
• I creative directed an entire magazine.
• I built an entire website from scratch. (Never mind that it's slow and I plan to abandon it. No one cares. I built a motherfucking website!)
• I learnt how to use Final Cut Pro, and I made three halfway decent multimedia clips that I'm pretty proud of.
• I had two of my photographs in a small photo-exhibit at Boston University in the spring.
• I renamed and refocused my blog to align more with the things I'm interested in.
• I asked a guy out for the first time! He was really sweet too, but the whole moving to different country thing....
• I started saving money. As in, properly, in a bank that pays interest and everything.

I'm sure there were other little victories along the way that I've since forgotten. But the point is, writing it all down, I can see that even though I think I haven't accomplished anything, and that my life is pointless, I've actually gotten quite a bit of shit done! I'm also learning that life doesn't turn on a dime. It takes time and dedication to get to where you want to be. Even though it feels like I'm only taking baby steps, those baby steps add up, and after awhile, you realize you're much further along than you thought you were.  

It's so important not to undervalue your achievements. So often we're our own worst critics. It's time we were also our own best cheerleaders.

What about you? What have you accomplished this year that you're proud of?

Random: I Have Your Heart

A delightful little ditty.

Calm, Cool, Collected: Dealing with Difficult People™ (in the Aftermath of the Election)

If you live on this planet, then it's likely you've had to deal with Difficult People™ at some point in your life. Whether family, friend or stranger, there's always that one person, issue or way of thinking that makes your blood boil, and makes it hard to stay calm and keep your composure. Politics are a touchy subject for most people, and tempers can run high.

So how do you deal? Honestly, I have no clue. If you know me then you know that I'm of the "get so angry that I burst into tears out of sheer frustration" variety, and I think we can all agree that that approach is neither productive nor flattering...

While I certainly haven't figured out how to stave off the tears entirely, there are a few things that have helped me keep them at bay longer. In the moment, it's extremely hard to keep it together. When you're trying to explain to someone why reproductive rights are ESSENTIAL for economic success  it can be really hard to overlook their deliberate obtuseness. Dealing with Difficult People™ can be an emotionally exhausting experience, and with the election all wrapped up, you'll likely be dealing with more Difficult People™ than usual in the coming days, but these tips can help you step back for a moment and remove a little of the emotion from the equation:

1. Breathe: Cliche I know, but you'd be surprised how well it works. I can't count the times that taking the time to take a few deep breaths has stopped me from saying some highly unsavory things in polite company. When you feel the bile rising, close your eyes, breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth hard, three times. Use those breaths to focus all your anger into a small pointy barb you can then use to take down your Difficult Person™ of choice with civility. Never forget that oftentimes, Difficult People™ will push your buttons intentionally to try to get a reaction. By preemptively calming yourself down, you're diffusing the situation and robbing them of their power over you.

2. Say Nothing: This is easily the most difficult suggestion in this entire post. It can be SO HARD not to interject when your Difficult Person™ is trying their very hardest to pick a fight, especially when social and economic policy are the topic of discussion. But as in the suggestion above, Difficult People™ are often intentionally pushing your buttons to get a reaction. Don't give them one. It takes two people to have an argument, and they can't argue with you if you refuse to engage. And as difficult as this option is, it is deeply satisfying to see the look of defeat on your Difficult Person™'s face when they realize you are determined to let them argue with themselves.

3. Leave: The rate of overlap between Difficult People™ and Stupid People™ (especially in politics) is astonishing. Rational People™ do not waste energy on Stupid People™. Sometimes the only thing to do is completely disengage.

4. Prepare: Sometimes disengaging entirely isn't a possibility, especially if your Difficult Person™ is a co-worker, family member or someone you live with. If a Difficult Person™ is someone you interact with regularly, then it's likely that you have already heard their entire arsenal of asinine arguments. You may not have realized it, but this gives you an advantage. If you already know what their most common defense strategies or arguments are, you can prepare dazzling counter-arguments in your spare time and then dazzle them with your logic and superiority the next time they turn up. We've all had the experience of coming up with an amazing comeback after the confrontation is over, and everyone hates that. Unfortunately, this option requires dedicating even more grey matter to a Difficult Person™ than most Rational People™are willing to, but it has the additional advantage of being a fairly permanent solution. It's pretty hard to argue with solid logic without looking like a crazy-pants Romney/Ryan supporter. (See what I did there? Sly like a tiger!)

5. Don't Escalate: Depending on the situation,  you may be unable to avoid dealing with your Difficult Person™ head on. If this is the case, remember to keep your calm. Don't raise your voice or get flustered. It's all about keeping the conversation at a level that you can maintain, and controlling the tone of the argument. My dad does this ALL the time, and it's BRILLIANT.

And now I'm done. Writing this post has been extremely cathartic! What are some of the methods you've used to deal with the Difficult People™ in your life? Have you manged to excise energy-draining people from your life? How? Let me know in the comments below.

Politics: Clinton/Booker 2016

via Jezebel

Yup. I'm definitely down.

Fashion Films: Haute Caribe // The World of Trinidad + Tobago Fashion

So, while I was only halfway looking (jk, I was raptly paying attention) an amazing thing happened. The fashion industry in Trinidad and Tobago experienced a beautifully vivid resurgence. The creativity and passion and desire that Trinbagonians have always had for flavour and colour and decadence, began to once again be funnelled into expressions of fashion.

Today, Haute Caribe: The World of Trinidad and Tobago Fashion, a 12 minute mini-documentary about the evolution of fashion on my wonderful twin island state debuted online.

With input from some of Trinidad's longstanding fashion heavyweights like Claudia Pegus, Meiling, Dianne Hunt and Robert Young as well as relative newcomers like Anya Ayoung Chee, Keegan Simon, Lori-Antoinette Williams and Mel Gabriel, the documentary explores the way that attitudes to fashion have waxed and waned in Trinbago over the last few decades.

Haute Caribe explores the ways in which fashion used to be tightly integrated into the culture of Trinidad and Tobago, and the ways in which that attitude is returning. In the last few years, there has been a wave of interest and appreciation for the talent that we have always had sitting right here within our shores, and a recognition of the young and upcoming talent that is eagerly waiting in the wings.

Watching the documentary (obsessively...) gives me an immense sense of pride. I remember feeling frustrated back in 2010, because I felt that there would never be a future in fashion for me if I stayed in Trinidad; the home I love. Thankfully, that is changing. From the Caribbean Academy of Fashion Design at UTT to the upcoming Style Spirit Fashion Weekend headed by Trinidad Lookbook Editor-in-Chief, Mel Gabriel, Trinidad is finally beginning to recognize fashion as a viable industry that should be supported and explored. There are so many possibilities when it comes to fashion, and I love knowing that I'm here, and that I can get in on the ground floor when it comes to helping build an industry that I value.

In any case, head on over to www.hautecaribe.com to view the full documentary. Really soak it in. It's beautifully produced and directed and really does justice to the scope of the history and talent of fashion in Trinidad and Tobago. Personally, I hope there are a few more installments!

"Right now the Caribbean is ripe. It's ripe for fashion. Fashion is ready. We're ready." 

-Lori-Antoinette Williams (Designer, Hak Gwai)