The Value of Time

Carrie Hope Fletcher. In my opinion one of the most inspiring people ever. For some reason she inspires me in so many ways and I just haven't got the words to describe how amazing I think she is. A few months ago she posted a video on her YouTube channel called 'The Value of Time'. For some reason it really changed something in me. I know- sounds weird, but it actually did. I just want to write a little bit about it.

First, I wrote this I while ago actually, but I wasn't sure if I was gonna post it or not. It's just really different from the things I normally write about. But as I said a plenty of times; I blog about what ever I'm interested in. So, why not, Kim? (I have to say I still feel a little bit nervous about it but oh well)

Second- and more important, this is the video I was talking about in the little intro thing. I know it might sound a little exaggerated, but I think I've watched this video about a hundred times. No. Not joking. Serious. So, if you've watched it already, yay! If you haven't, I recommend you to watch it. NOW.

So, there are loads of various opinions about this video. I really think it's true and to be honest I couldn't agree more. I admit, I can spend hours tweeting about my favourite artists (whoops, fangirl over here.. Haha), or scrolling through Tumblr. I can watch hours to YouTube video's. Beginning with a video of how to do a french braid and two hours later I'll find myself watching a video of 'How to tame a giraffe'. "You don't feel like you've been wasting time cause you've been enjoying it, but you have wasted time". And yes. I'll never get the change to tame a giraffe, and I'm not even interested in it. It's random and might sound stupid-I know. But do you get the point?

And again, I just couldn't agree more. I'm the kind of person who can stay up really late. The next day I'll wake up late, around 1 or 2 PM, stay in my PJ's all day, and spend another day with my laptop. I think we all have those days, and it's totally okay, isn't it? But sometimes I realise I spend TOO much time on my laptop. Just doing nothing. Wasting time.

I have to say, I'm a really creative person. I draw, and also paint. I play the piano, guitar and I just started playing the ukulele. I blog (doh), like to make DIY's, do nail-arts, and a thousand other things. Now you must think: "Wow, you must spend a lot of time on all those things!". My answer is: "No, but I should". And as simply as is it: Yes, I should. Every time someone compliment me about my artwork or something, I respond (Or just think): "Thanks, but there are so many people who are a million times better than me". And most of the time it's not because they've got a massive talent. No. It's because they spend a lot of time on it.

Think about this.. If you spend all your time you spend on your laptop basically doing nothing on something you like to do.. How good would be be at drawing? Playing the piano? Playing guitar? Huh? And that's what really opened my eyes. It sounds really stupid, cause of course.. We all need some time to just be in front of our computer with a little cup of tea or coffee. Just checking Facebook, watching a new video of one of your favourite YouTubers. Of course, and I think that's totally okay. But I also think spending hours on the internet (when you've got so much better stuff to do, and all you're doing is twitter and tumblr and all those stuff) actually IS wasting time. And yes- I know, sometimes that's all we need on a lazy, rainy, sunday. But how many hours a week do you spend on the internet? I don't know the exact answer, but I know it's way too much.

And so, after I watched the video, something inside me changed. I kept thinking: "How good at drawing would I be if I'd spent all the time I spent on my laptop on drawing?" And with that in my mind, I bought a new sketchbook. I've been drawing more than I ever did in a whole year and I've got so many compliments already. Not that I draw for compliments, but it kind of keeps you doing what you do, you know? Knowing you're doing something right. And doing sometimes right makes you feel right. And that feeling makes you really happy, I think.

At this time, I almost filled 30 pages in my sketchbook! Some drawings take more than 12 hours so I think you can say that's a lot of time, huh? Even when I watch a YouTube video of one of my favourite YouTubers, I draw at the same time. That's the effect the video of Carrie has on me, haha!

Also, I started to play the piano and guitar more. Every time I told someone: "Yeh, I play the piano and guitar" I felt a kind of ashamed. Not because I should be ashamed of playing them, but because I can barely play songs, but I can play the instruments. I know it sounds weird, but it's the truth. I could learn songs easily and I didn't have a lot of struggle with learning them- even though I can't read sheet music. But I was just to lazy to put any effort in it..

Oh, and I started to read more! I love reading, and it makes me really calm. But somehow I could never found the time to read. Now I do. I have to sit in a bus for two hours a day and all I did was staring out of the window. Now I read in the time, and I'm enjoying it!

The point of this whole blogpost is: use your time. I think everything that need to be said is already done by Carrie, but I had to do this blog post.

And that's all I wanted to say. Well, actually not. I could keep writing for some more hours to be honest, but it's getting long and I'm already wondering if there's anyone who will read it. If you have, take a bow. And let me hug you. Okay, serious now, thank you. All I'm asking now is one more little thing.. What's your opinion about the video and the whole blog post thingy?

Again, thanks for reading!

Love,
Kim.