Living Life in the Unknown

How Do We Take Leaps of Faith When the Fall is So Hazardous?

Speaking as someone who is on the brink of graduating from college, I’ve been thinking lately about my next stage of life. As a generation we often discuss the balance between taking risks and playing it safe with our future. What I mean by this is that there is this inherent conflict that arises in postgraduate life, where there is a choice between a safe prudent life, and a penniless reckless one. Whether it’s in seeking higher education or exploring the job market, we are constantly trying to find the answer to the big question: Does a safe life always have to be boring?

Photograph courtesy of Darling Magazine

 As college students we have freedom and independence to travel and hang out with our friends whenever we want. However, this builds a desire for adventure in us that is freeing and liberating. Unfortunately, as we participate in internships and become more exposed to professional life, this fear emerges that we are about to enter into a confining life stuck in a cubicle. On the other hand, life without money is pretty uncomfortable and I think, as students become more financially independent, the reality sets in; life costs money. So is life just this sad inevitable choice between comfort and adventure? This is a depressing view of life I think, however it is a reality that we must face.

Now, some might say differently, but I’m an inherent optimist and I believe there’s a solution to this problem. So here’s my perspective: I’m single, I’m not tied down to anything really, what have I got to lose? In my experience the times in my life where I took a leap of faith were the most rewarding times. Now, I’m not saying for you to be irresponsible, there’s a right way to take risks, and it doesn’t involve throwing away all of your money for a once in a lifetime experience. Living your life to the fullest involves careful planning and proper stewardship of what you already have, so that you can invest yourself in the best way possible. The thing is, life always throws at you something you never could have expected or planned for.

"The thing is, life always throws at you something you never could have expected or planned for."

Photograph Courtesy of Google Images

Striving for Balance

The hardest part of navigating the unknown is finding out where to start. A good place to begin is with logistics. Prepare a strategy and detailed set of long term and short term goals. Life is best accomplished in my opinion when a list can be checked off. Goals are great motivators and keep you accountable for your vision of your future achievements.

Let go of expectations. Throw out that stereotypical American Dream life you’ve planned in your head. Life is messy, and full of imperfect people who make mistakes. Go ahead and cut yourself some slack and prepare yourself to make some missteps. It’s okay to not be perfect, because no one is.

Figure out who you are and what you want. If you could go anywhere and be anything what would you do? Be honest with yourself and start big, working your way back from there. Don’t sell yourself short, because chances are, that you are qualified for that job that is in a big city or intimidating company.

Photograph courtesy of Google Images

This is all to say that it’s okay to dream big, as long as you dream responsibly. The stigma is that dreamers are careless and negligent, but I think in the end, we all would rather go after our dreams than settle for an unfulfilling life.

Blog explanation

This blog is under the lifestyle and inspirational genre of writing. Most of the blogs I’ve had experience with are under this category and these are the blogs that seem to be particularly popular for individuals in their early 20s, especially women. An inspirational blog is defined by problogger.net as

The main idea I had when writing this piece was to write something that is relatable, personal, and that offers a little clarity to life. The blog design I had in mind was a very clean and simplistic one, however blogger doesn’t allow for much design formatting, therefore my blog entry will look a little different than I envisioned. The purpose behind this blog is to do more of an editorial and lifestyle piece that relates to the very demographic I tried to format the design for. The pictures I chose were of women and/or nature, a style that appeals to women in their early 20s. These pictures are conceptual and aesthetically appealing, holding both visual and rhetorical meaning. The font I chose was Georgia, because it had some curvature or script to it’s lettering, which again contributes to the overall aesthetic. I made the font larger so that it was easy to read and made paragraph breaks frequently to allow breaths of sort for the reader. In addition, I formatted the photos in a no text wrap format because I felt it contributed to the simplistic and clean design. Many of the blogs I follow often will feature a significant quote for readers who are skimming, that contains an inspirational or main idea that the piece holds, which I did towards the middle of the piece. Overall my hope is that the text, photos, headings, and other blog features contribute to a centralized theme of simplicity and most importantly, clarity that I envision for this blog.