Week 7: Say no to FB!

For those who are not aware, I am on a 52 weeks adventure this year where in I decide my own adventures! For more details, check out here!

For this week I decided to go without internet for a day. But then I realized all my entertainment devices at home work on the internet except for my husband ;) Maybe I can have a separate blog on my husband's entertainment quotient! So yes, my cable, my land line and of course my social media hub needs the fuel of internet. I was fine with not watching TV, but I did not want to compromise on my calls back home. So I improvised my adventure and it became a day without Social Media.

Just in the morning I decide this and my mobile phone beeps informing me that one of my FB friends has tagged me in her status. This friend never usually tags me. And as they curiosity kills the cat - my fingers lingered over that FB icon on my phone for entire 30 seconds. But then I controlled myself and switched off the data connection from my phone. It was not easy.

During the entire day my hands inadvertently went so many times to my mobile. That is when I realized how addicted I have been to my mobile. I realized that I used to check my mobile every 30 minutes or so maybe 20 times a day. Now that was an eye opener. Do we really need to check FB so many times a day seeing what our friends have been upto? Don't we have better things to do with our own life? No offense to anyone as I myself have been doing this for such a long time.

What I gained out of my social media hiatus was immense. I finished off two articles for a e-magazine and one entry for a writing contest. The contest was about 'My Style' and I was pondering about what to write for almost a week. Then the idea struck and with no distraction, I completed my piece in flat 30 minutes. My focus and concentration level were at the best.

I felt more energetic at the end of the day with no anxiety or tired eyes. I moved around the house more which gave some motion to my body and it felt good. I cooked an extra dish that day and my husband was surprised to see that one extra delicacy on his plate. I cleaned my wardrobe which was pending since a very long time. All this I could do with my new found energy. I even went to gym in the evening (my tryst with exercise is yet another separate blog story).

The most important thing I experienced was peace of mind. I got so much time to ponder and be with myself that I was overwhelmed with my thoughts. I usually take all life's crucial decisions either in the shower or while brushing my teeth at night ;) But this was altogether a different experience and I mulled over a lot of aspects of my life and the way ahead.

This was my day without Social Media. Maybe some time in future I will go first a day entirely without internet and then maybe a week. For that I need to have tremendous mind control and that itself will be the biggest adventure.

So if you have an entertaining partner or spouse, try going without your internet for a day!!! :)

(Image Credit : http://ludismedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/social-networking.jpg)

Week 6: Cooking Experiments

For those who are not aware, I am on a 52 weeks adventure this year where in I decide my own adventures! For more details, check out here!

This week I thought of experimenting in the kitchen! Now why was this adventurous? It was adventurous because I hate cooking. I never cooked full fledged meals till I came to the US. I have known how to cook since I was in high school, but I never really enjoyed cooking. It is only after coming to the US that I started making dishes other than normal rice and curry which itself is actually a BIG adventure ;)

So what I did this week was I experimented with the famous South Indian dish called 'dosa' which is basically a crepe made out of a fermented batter prepared from rice and different lentils. I thought of adding a twist to it by adding sago and see what happens. 

The feeling was like experiments in the Chemistry lab, where you mix two unknown chemicals and wait and watch what is the reaction!

Sago becomes crisp on frying. So I thought adding sago to the batter will add to the crispiness of the dosa. But I forgot that sago is also sticky and this might just make my cooking experiment a flop. The dosa was not exactly a flop. It was crispy but at the same time it was a skillful job to flip it over the griddle. My first 2 dosas cracked and were served in pieces to my husband. He ate it without complaining! 

Then I gave an ultimatum to the dosa batter that if it did not behave properly, I will make fritters out of it in my appe pan. The threat seemed to work and my third dosa came out perfectly with no cracks!

So, sago dosa anyone?

Week 5: One Small Step

For those who are not aware, I am on a 52 weeks adventure this year where in I decide my own adventures! For more details, check out here!

This week was euphoric for me, taking small steps towards materializing my ultimate dream. After a year of serious blogging, my writing finally got noticed and I landed up with an offer of being a Creative Writer of an upcoming online magazine. 

To be frank when this offer came, I wasn't very sure whether I should take it up or not. This was a writing assignment which required me to churn out articles at regular basis and that too on varied topics. Till date, I have written freely with no binding what so ever in terms of topics or time. So I was not confident if I would be able to live up to this new assignment.

But then you have your friends and family who push you and make you believe that you can reach the moon!! Same thing happened with me and I agreed for this new avatar! There was a glitch though - writing on general topics doesn't come natural to me. I think I write well only if it is a personal experience or if it is something that I am passionate about. I tried writing an article on 'How to speak up in Meetings' and was devastated with the outcome. Then I started thinking, how can I write on something which is personal and yet keep it general? After a lot of pondering I came up with a concept. I bounced my idea of writing on 'What makes me happy' theme to the editor along with 2 sample articles. The editor liked my articles and gave me the green signal. So here I am, writing each week from now on 'What makes me happy'.

The happiness of seeing your profile listed as the Creative Writer was massive! It took me 3 hours to scribble those 3 lines of self bio. It is a difficult job to introduce yourself in so minimum words. Never the less, I was complimented that my introduction is just perfect! :)

I think I have come a long way from writing to keep myself busy in the new country to getting my first ever professional article published! It is indeed my one small step towards my dream of publishing a novel someday :)

This endeavor, boosted my confidence as a writer and I contacted two established bloggers in my network. Thanks to Prashanthi who is a food blogger at Yummily Yours' and Anju who is a travel blogger at Traveling Noodles, I received a few tips on how to take my writing to the next level.

I sent my writings to a few online magazines and was delighted when I received a positive reply from one of the sites. This enabled my writing go beyond boundaries and across the oceans, with Pink Pangea, an International Women's Travel Magazine publishing my article on para sailing! It was too good to believe, suddenly so many feathers in my writing hat :) 
The last time I checked, my article had reached 100 views and was shared 50+ times.

It has indeed been an euphoric week and I just pray and hope that this momentum continues :)

And amidst all this glee, I decided to start my FB page which will be a common host for all my writings. It is getting a little difficult to keep a tab on my 2 blogs and my articles on Stylewhack. So if you like to read me, please do like my FB page here!

I would like to end this adventure with the poem 'Baby Steps' by Serena Blackinton - 

There is no limit to what you can do,
The only thing prohibiting it, is you,
Make plans, set goals, a little at a time,
Take small steps along the incline,
Baby steps - one goal at a time,
Even if you don't have a dime,
You will reach the summit in the end,
If you keep taking steps, my friend,
Whatever your heart desires,
And all that your soul can dream,
Whichever it is that inspires,
No matter how hard it can seem,
You can achieve when you believe...
See... Dream... Believe... Achieve.