So it’s been a while again. This job hunting thing is taking up a fair bit of time.
But anyway, this is another short update on the blog, the YouTube channel and social.
The blog is still going to be getting updated and soon it’s going to be more regularly and more consistently! Same with the YouTube channel. I’m in the middle of editing episode 2 of the Invisible Illness Human Library. You should have a look at episode 1 if you haven’t done so already. Things are changing quite a bit though. Every month we’re going to be posting about a specific topic. Those topics aren’t ready to be revealed yet but there’s some really cool stuff coming!
Regarding YouTube, a wonderful wonderful update is that I’m not alone any more! A friend of mine Lily, pictured below, is going to be creating a video for us. If you guys watch and love her stuff she might even agree to make more for us! Lily is a cracking film maker and she’s an alright person too, I guess.
Welcome to the crew, Lily!
Regarding social media, Twitter and Facebook will be going up in June-ish. You’ll be able to follow us and like us soon so keep your eyes peeled for an announcement! This is all really exciting and I can’t wait to share the new and improved Success In Selflessness with you all!
Every day is not good, but there is something good in every day.
In turbulent times like these it’s really important that we learn to appreciate the people and the things in our lives that we’ve really appreciated. It’s often the little things that we overlook easily. I find it really useful to seek out these little things to make ourselves remain positive and to prevent us from becoming cynical and angry at the world.
While it may feel like hate has taken over the world, love still exists and it’s still a powerful thing. The quote above is a powerful one for me and I try to find that something good in every day. Here are some of the good things that I have experienced this week.
1. Reconnecting with an old friend and with music
Years ago, I met a girl at school and we chatted rarely and sang together once in the music room at school. We pretty much never hung out and never really spoke much but we recently reconnected after 8 long years and being thousands of miles apart. I knew very little about her when we were in school but the person she’s become is wonderful. Kind, fun, accepting, really flippin smart and also very talented. We got together and chatted, listened to music like the old days (like where you’d buy a few new CD’s and bring them round and listen to them together) and also sang together. This is the product of our re-connection! Mara, thank you for being you!
2. The kindness of strangers
So as you know, I’ve recently started making videos for this blog as well. If you don’t, check out the channel, watch some videos, subscribe (shameless plug, I know, video below). What I really appreciated though, was someone who was established as a YouTuber and someone who’s videos I watch every week, took the time out to watch some of my videos and give me feedback. She’s undoubtedly really busy and she still helped me out! She was in the last blog post and she remains one of the loveliest people online. So, thanks, Ana Marta!
3. My job
Tonight is my first night home for 3 days. I spent two days in St Helens and one day in Leicester. Leicester is the day I want to talk about though. I got to see where one of my young people had got to after knowing her for three years. She’d organised an event for 500 students to encourage them to get into STEM. She was confident, calm and assertive throughout the day. It was so wonderful to see what she’s achieved and how successful her project has become. I’m proud to do what I do and I’m so proud of her for supporting other young people who have been told they’re not good enough to get into STEM. They can and will and they’re going to pioneer innovative new ways to make the world a better place. 🙂
Every once in a while I need a little bit of inspiration. There’s a lot out there. There are loads of different places, people and things that provide me with inspiration. Here are a few that I’ve noticed recently which I want to highlight.
1. Prince Ea – I JUST SUED THE SCHOOL SYSTEM!!!
First on my list is Prince Ea suing the school system.
If you’ve been following my blog for a few years, you’ll know that I have my issues with schools. Teachers are under paid and over worked and they are so restricted by grades and statistics that they are completely unable to teach students creatively. Prince has summed up almost all of my frustrations in one video and he does it so eloquently. If you’re not subscribed to his YouTube channel, I’d highly recommend doing it! He’s an incredible spoken word artist.
2. The Native People protecting land from the Dakota Access Pipeline
The Sioux are trying their hardest to protect their land in a peaceful way.Their land was stolen when the British went over, their people were slaughtered and the treaties put in place after that have been violated.
Despite the peaceful protests, the police have been extremely aggressive and have been treating the Sioux people like criminals. The national guard have been sent out in full force with rubber bullets and essentially, tanks. The government are doing very little to protect the Sioux people and the environment. But the Sioux people, especially the young people, are inspiring me. I’m watching them stand up for their rights and unite so many people behind a cause. I’d also like to highlight this post HERE. Please read that post once you’re done here!
3. Ana Marta and Marie Jacqueminfrom New Age Creators – Brain Stuff/ Let’s Talk About My Mental Health
Okay, this one is a little different. The tone is light and really fun but it does talk about a real issue. Anxiety and depression! I’m sure you all saw this coming but I thought I couldn’t not include one mental health related video right?
Ana Marta’s voice is super soothing and the way she speaks about and records this video is super creative.
Marie’s one is raw and real and I know how difficult it is to be raw and real. I can barely talk about it to myself outloud let alone outdoors with people around who may hear me. I also love that Marie talks about how important it is to get help and also how open she is about her taking tablets. It’s not a bad thing to be on medication!
If you’re not already following New Age Creators, again, please make sure you do! They’re an amazing collective from all over the place!
These are some of the little things that have inspired me to keep campaigning and keep writing and encouraging people to take on the issues that matter most to them. I’m sincerely hoping these give you a little inspiration as well and can help get you doing something that you really care about.
Seen any other really cool, inspiring stuff recently? Tell me about it in the comments below!
So for those of you who follow me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook, you’ll have seen that I’ve recently released my first video for Success In Selflessness. It’s a totally new avenue for me to explore and it’s a new way to reach new people so that I can hopefully support even more people to open up and talk about their mental health. If you haven’t seen it, don’t panic! Here it is:
The first one is about the benefits of forcing yourself outdoors when you suffer with social anxiety. Don’t get me wrong, I know how fucking hard it is to get out there but if you can manage it, even for ten minutes, it can give you a huge boost.
Over the last few months I’ve been dabbling with music recording, Illustrator, Photoshop, video editing and After Effects. I have unexpectedly fallen in love with creating videos. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got so so much to learn but I’m so proud of my first real attempt at a video. Rest assured that I’ll be doing more of these! 🙂
If you like the video, please like it, share it and subscribe for more! It’ll really help me out and I really want these short videos to help other people too. If you tag me if/when you share it, I’ll give you a shout out on Twitter (@albysaurus) and/or Instagram (@alexquang)! 🙂
The really wonderful thing that I’ve been pondering recently though is about getting educated. I don’t have a degree. I dropped out after a year of doing Business and Management at Birmingham City University. I didn’t do well at A Levels either. But I definitely don’t feel stupid. I’m so much more motivated to learn now that I can choose what to learn. I’m putting in so many hours into everything that I’m doing now.
The way that I see it, learning is an absolutely essential part of life. If you stop learning, you may as well stop doing anything at all. You’ll stop growing as a person and you’ll never strive to be a better version of you. I stopped striving for a while. I became complacent and I ended up miserable. I didn’t feel like I was challenging myself and I felt like less of a person.
I highly doubt I’m ever going to be a full time professional video editor but learning a skill that I thought would be just something I’d use at work has led to me discovering a new passion and I don’t know about you, but that’s pretty exciting to me!
So don’t stop learning, don’t stop pushing yourself and don’t stop being brilliant.
Success In Selflessness 