It Starts Here...

Hi! Welcome to my blog! I’m really glad you’re here (: My name is Kristen (cue handshake). I’m about to finish my undergraduate degree in documentary filmmaking in t-minus 37 hours. I took an awesome class this semester called “Blogging Beyond the Basics” at Columbia College Chicago. I took the class because I’ve always wanted to start my own blog — but something was always holding me back from actually doing it! My vision for what I wanted to write about was always too vast or too vague. For the class, I created my first blog ever…Paths. During that time, I moved from Denver, Colorado to Stuttgart, Germany. I started a full-time job teaching art classes at a military base and completely reinvented myself. I jumped into a new culture, a new community, new customs, new everything.  

Living in Europe has been an incredible, refreshing experience. The transition wasn’t super hard because I work with Americans, and spoke a bit of German before I moved here. One thing that is hard…is not having other like-minded creatives around to collaborate with. My friends are like my family, and I miss them terribly. I've tried going to events here in Stuttgart, but it’s the Swabian way to not open up to strangers. People are skeptical that I am American. (The FCC voted against net neutrality only a few hours ago…like — what is happening?!? I digress— )  

To stay busy and inspired, I save all my money so I can travel when I can. As amazing as it is — when I come home, I still feel alone most days. My friends would describe me as an extrovert. For the first time in my life, I’m by myself. In the past I’ve always taken care of the people around me, neglecting my own self-care. I’m learning how to love myself and focus on my goals and dreams for the first time. I’m also discovering what those dreams are, and learning one huge lesson:

Being alone — does not necessarily mean lonely. 

At the end of the day, you only have yourself in your head. I’ve been chasing other people’s dreams and goals, mending them to be compatible to my own, only to be “thrown away”…as my friend Nick once put it. I am so done. 

I am done living a life that makes me miserable.

I am done crossing oceans for people who wouldn’t cross puddles.

I am done seeing the good in people who aren’t good - almost to my own fault. 

Done…but driven. 

I’m driven to create these ideas I have in my head and bring them to fruition. 

I’m driven to discover that thing that breathes life into my soul and turn it into a sustainable career.

I’m driven to learn…to try…to fail…and to stand up and try again. 

To pass the time (if I have free time) I watch YouTube tutorials. I lived with a girl in Denver (Kaya) who got really into watching YouTube. She was an introvert, and she once said that she feels connected to the people that she’s watching. Being an extrovert — I didn’t understand what she meant at the time. But, now that my friend support system is limited to only talking through social media, things just aren't the same. We comment and send messages daily, but the time change makes it difficult to FaceTime as often as we want to. I was looking for something new to pass the time. I dyed my hair red and wanted to change up my look. So, I started watching Beauty tutorials on how to apply makeup! Kaya used to do that all the time, and when I lived with her, I saw her go from being good at makeup to like…. being professional level good at makeup. Shook. Check her out!

So I started thinking — if she can do eyeshadow that flawless, why can’t I? So here begins my journey. I'm not going to sit here and pretend to be a makeup-guru…but…watching tutorials like that really changed my makeup game. I felt a boost in my self-confidence and self-esteem. If I can learn this skill…what other skills can I learn from YouTube? Can I learn how to be a better artist? A better cook? A better storyteller? A better person? 

I think I want to find out! There are so many resources online that give you the tools to learn incredible things for free. Harvard, for example, has an entire course catalog of free courses. So what can I learn? What can you learn? I want to connect you, my readers, with other awesome writers and filmmakers to give you inspiration and creative skills that fit your path. You can do anything. So let’s do this together!