Beginnings

It is really funny for me to type beginnings this late in the game, but: My work on my masterpiece COULD be starting a new chapter in my life in a couple different ways. As I look at motivation and what gets people though the day, I get ideas on how to take their motivation and use it as my own. Rather, I get ideas on why I am not as motivated as them and how I could start to be. However, as I delve deeper into the subject, it becomes more and more apparent that you need to find motivation within you do achieve what you want. You need to find what makes you click, just as we were asked to do with our masterpieces. If you feel as if nothing can or ever will motivate you to succeed, I hope that the video I am making that deals with motivation will serve as a guide or at least give you some ideas on what it feels like to have motivation. We only have a limited time on this earth, and even less time to be youthful. Today is the best day of your life to learn, why waste it by being a potato in every aspect of it? If there was one thing I could tell you at this moment to help you through I would say just keep trying, life will usually find ways to work itself out but only if you continue on and don't give up. This is something I've had to learn the hard way.

Raising Digital Awareness

         It is important to draw as many viewers to you site as possible because you should be posting valuable content that is useful to a visitor. This may be only one certain type of visitor or many, but the point remains the same, you have valuable content and people should be looking at it. I am accommodating my visitors by providing music. I can't really say that I have provided valuable content because I simply don't believe that is true at this point.If at any point it were true, you'd have to scroll back to 2013. I can once again begin posting to my blog a few times a week if I would like to improve the value of my site. If I want to retain a steady flow of visitors, I need to show up again and again. People are not interested in a blogger who posts maybe once or twice a month. It just isn't a good trait. Human ideas and interaction are generally what should be important to a site, but if that site doesn't have the looks and digital tools, people will not be likely to stay or come back. A successful site needs to be easy to navigate, or people will search for their needs elsewhere. 

Connections

5 moments that remind me of my masterpiece throughout the day:
1. I had a conversation with Jon the other day about why he loves writing, I know I am not really showing up to class but his love for writing and motivation towards succeeding in that subject is fascinating and deserves a spot on my list.
2. I was thinking about my grades in my classes and they are, to say the least, GOD AWFUL! This led me to thinking about my motivation that is non existent.
3. There was this little ant that was desperately trying to carry a decently sized crumb alone. I thought of what might motivate him, he is sacrificing himself and his livelihood to feed his colony, intriguing!
4. What is the motivation behind Russia sending troops into Ukraine? I don't know, but everyone has some goal, whether hidden or not.
5. It is truly something that strikes me every day, I will just think about the reason for me to continue living (not suicidal, just wonder what is in store for my life and after).

The Crossroads Between Should and Must

I want to start off by saying I believe that this article was beautifully written. Anyone reading from outside of expos comp can find it here.

"what am I so afraid of"
1. failure
2. loneliness
3. uncertainty
4. not living up to my potential
5. regretting things later in life
6. death of loved ones
7.
8.
9.
10.

I have reached the crossroads and am ready to make the choice between should and must. I do not want to do what others are telling me to do anymore, I want to do what I want to do. Not only do I want to do what I want to do, but I'd like to succeed in doing it. When we read part of this article in class I was not very into it. I read it last night and again this morning before writing this and find it absolutely inspiring. It honestly felt like I was listening to a motivational speaker having a one on one conversation with me as I read. She opened my eyes and helped me realize that you do not have to do something if you don't want to do it. This doesn't apply to everything. I still have to pay taxes and do some schoolwork, but if I find myself unhappy with a situation, I can and must fix it. I don't believe anyone has ever quit doing something they hated to follow their dream and then regretted it. The author really has her life figured out, she knows what she wants and how to obtain it. I think everyone must figure out what she has been able to, where they want to go and how to get there. There may be obstacles in the way but if you truly want something, these obstacles will be easy to overcome. We all have dreams and aspirations, but what is stopping us from going out and acquiring them? Uncertainty. This is something I have always struggled with, but I am learning to not fear. I used to not do anything unless I was first certain of the outcome, now I am trying to become more spontaneous. It has led me on some adventures that I would never think I would be on. I am ready to choose must instead of should. Who's with me?

Look At My Brain

I will be using this post primarily to explain my change of heart over the past couple of days. Being called out in class was something I took constructively. It made me realize that I REALLY have no motivation anymore. This realization, however, was positive. It pushed me in the direction to change what my masterpiece is, from programming/gaming interests to finding out how/why people are motivated. I am actually very interested in what keeps people going day in and day out. I plan to document my research and have a final project that may be able to help other people find motivation who are lacking. Preston and I had a long talk and we came to an idea that I could also research why people are so motivated by video games, as they do not present real life accomplishments and pretty much take people out of the real world for their preferred virtual one.

My new found masterpiece is something I created, and is therefore creative! My research and documentation will be primarily centered around collaboration, so I will need the help from others. I'm not sure if anyone is doing something similar to me or could somehow fit in with my project, but I am definitely going to check it out and see if that would be possible. I am actually starting to get excited about this project, HAVE I FOUND MOTIVATION????

This is just a test

I am sitting here at my computer without a clue in the world about what I should write for my "test" relating to my masterpiece. Since I am having trouble with finding motivation to even type out one blog post, I have a few questions that aren't really related to my masterpiece but I would like answered:
1.What does motivation mean to you?
2.What gives you motivation to wake up in the morning, go to school, do extra curricular activities, or do homework?
3. How do you transfer this motivation into progress/success?
4. Is this progress seen and commented on by others, ultimately giving you more motivation and pushing you to do more, or do you do it simply for yourself?
5. If you do it for yourself solely, how is it that you keep going?
It is only recently that I have lost reason to do schoolwork. Prior to this semester, I did my work for me, to prove to myself that I could be successful and get good grades. For some reason, maybe "Senioritis", I have lost all motivation to continue this trend. If anyone would take the time to answer the questions posted above it would be much obliged, and might help me get some ideas on how to get back on track. Thanks.

Entrepreneurial Writing

I do see my work differently when I think of my self as an entrepreneur. Instead of just looking at it as something that I want and like to do, I now see it as something that may bring value to other people. I am (hopefully) going to create something that has value to the world. I think this a goal that would be great to be met. I don't care if it is even just bringing value to a sole person's life, it will be worth it in the end. I think we as humans have an innate want to make other human's lives better. I would spend all those hours working on my masterpiece if I could see the smile of one person using what I have created. Think of our class as a whole and how much we could collectively do for this world, all it takes is an idea and some support.