Semi-annual update because…why not

I haven’t written anything on here for a while, which I’m sure is the usual for many “bloggers.” As much as I love writing, I haven’t been motivated at all to write about anything. My brain has given me only a handful of ideas (both for this blog and just for my creative writing in general), and I haven’t been able to put any of those thoughts into words.

A lot has changed a year, as I suppose it normally does. In April of last year, my grandmother passed away. She was a month shy of being 95 years old. Oddly enough, the year before, my great-grandmother also passed away at the age of 94. While they were both somewhat sick, it all came down to “old age,” as they say. While I never knew my grandmother as much as I would have liked to, I still think of her often. I think about the relationship I could have had with her if things had been different. And although my mother doesn’t speak of it much, I can tell her mother’s death still pains her. Though we had gone to New York to see my grandmother about six months before, too much time had passed and my mother feels as though she never got to say goodbye. So, the closer the anniversary of her death gets, the more I worry about my mom. As terrible as it sounds, I’m able to forget my grandmother is gone every so often because I never saw her much. But I know the same can’t be said for my mom.

Also, last year while we were in New York for my grandmother’s funeral, my dad called — he wasn’t able to go to the funeral, he had to stay in Texas to work — and told us he had been fired from his job. This was another huge hit to the family. My dad has always been the provider of the house. He has always had the highest paying job, despite never attending college. He’s one of the best at what he does, and yet, the owner of the company still decided to fire him so he could put his son in my dad’s position. Nepotism at its finest.

Since I hadn’t been working for a year and a half, I figured the least I could do was find a job to pay for my own expenses, if nothing else. At the end of May, I’d interviewed for a job, and a week later, I had my first bank job. (Italics are necessary because a job at a bank always felt more important than any other part-time entry-level job I’d had.) I’ve now been a teller for nine months, and I don’t hate it, which is pretty cool. After a week of training, they offered me the full-time position which has been a big help. I like most of the people on most days, and while I’m not the absolute best at the job, they haven’t made it sound like they’re going to fire me, so I’m doing alright. The only thing is, I am not going to be working here for the rest of my life because this bank doesn’t exist in the general Northeastern part of the United States and that is where I’d like to live my best life. But until my mother gets better — she is still on the list to get a kidney transplant — I’ll be living in the Rio Grande Valley, helping her out, and working at this bank on the side.

My father has since had three or four jobs, I can’t remember anymore to be honest, and he’s hated all of them. The jobs he wants, employers say he’s too experienced for, and the other jobs just don’t pay him enough to get by. Mind you, I have offered to help him pay the electricity bill or the water bill or the cable bill but he always says no. That’s where I get my stubbornness from, I guess.

All of this, among other things I won’t add in because they’re not as important and will only make this post longer, are the reasons why I haven’t been motivated to write at all, whatsoever. But this is me attempting to start something, even if it’s just talking about myself (sorry not sorry). I guess we’ll see how it goes!

 

Sidenote: I just realized the only reason I listed as to why I won’t be working at the bank forever is because I won’t be in the area anymore. I didn’t say it was because working at a bank isn’t my dream, which is upsetting. I’d like it to be known that a part of me would still very much enjoy working at a publishing company and writing books on the side.

 

Rant about Brexit

Rant about Brexit

Everyone is in a frenzy over Britain leaving the European Union, and I don’t just mean Europeans. People all over the world are in shock that the vote to leave the EU was 51-49, leaving being the majority. But do people have a right to be so surprised and upset?

Surprised, maybe not. Upset, absolutely.

I, for one, am very annoyed and frustrated with the final count. How could half of Great Britain vote to leave the EU when they are the people who told Scotland to stay with GB because they would have a huge economic downfall if they left? The value of British currency has already fallen down a large amount, the most since the late 1980s apparently.

And all money issues aside, I’ve been informed that GB leaving the EU is because of immigration. I didn’t even know immigration was a problem over there until all of this Brexit nonsense! I will never understand how people are so against people from other countries entering their country. I live in a city right by the Mexican border, nearly everyone I knew in primary and secondary school was related to an immigrant. Honestly, immigration makes the world go round. And the fact that 51% of people would rather run their country to the ground than let immigrants be a part of their population is beyond stupid.

I know people who live in England and who have built a life there and work there and they’re afraid they might have to leave the country because of this.

And what’s worse is the United States is headed in the same direction! Donald Trump basically said so himself, if he gets elected, and as much as I hate to say it, it’s kind of looking like he will be. And the guy who’s probably going to be elected the new Prime Minister in the UK looks like Donald Trump’s British cousin! I’m not even exaggerating.



I’m just so angry that this is what’s going on with the world. And as much as the younger generation tries to change things because it is their (our) future, the older generation continuously gets in the way. Just because it’s their “right” to vote doesn’t mean they should. And of course, I don’t mean that about every older person in the world, but I do mean it about the prejudice ones who refuse to accept that the world has changed. People are dying and all they care about is their stupid early 20th century views.

Everything going on in 2016 angers me so much and there’s nothing I can do about it.

(Featured image taken from aljazeera.com)

The pet (peeve) I never asked for

I think my biggest pet peeve (at least lately) might be people telling me how to live my life.

I have been unemployed for six months now (yes, I hate it), because I am acting as my mother’s caretaker for the time being. Nearly everyone I have spoken to in the past six months already knows this. And I think my unemployment makes people feel as though they can tell me what to do with my time.

Now, I understand some people are just trying to help, but these people have already given me their advice. I don’t need it again.

I realize this is making me sound like a horrible person, and I truly believe I am not a horrible person, but I can’t help but get annoyed. There have been so many people who continuously ask me what I want to do with my life, to which I have always answered nicely (even if I had already gave them the answer more than once before). And as soon as I tell people I want to be a writer, it seems as though they feel like they know everything there is to know about writing.

Excuse me, but if writing was that easy, why in the world aren’t they off writing their own books and articles and blog posts? EXACTLY. Writing is a lot harder than it seems, and I’m sure everyone on WordPress already knows that.

And don’t get me wrong, I still love to write…when I can actually get the words out on (virtual) paper. Anyway, that wasn’t the point.

These people tell me I need to start writing my novel now since I have all the time in the world! Of course, I don’t actually, because I’m taking care of my mother, which they know, but that doesn’t matter apparently. Then they tell me to take  up freelance writing. I have known about freelance writing since middle school. I don’t need more people telling me to do it when I’m already telling myself everyday that I need to get on the ball. And then people tell me I need just go out and get a job. As if it is so easy!

I feel as though I’ve been hearing about how hard it’ll be to get a job in writing since I was in middle school, maybe high school. Everyone used to tell me getting my bachelors in English wouldn’t be the best because I’d have a hard time finding a job. And now everyone has decided it must not be that easy so why in the world aren’t I out looking for a job?

Did I mention I’m taking care of my mother? Yes. Yes, I did. Several times.

I just don’t understand how so many people — family, friends, friend’s families — feel like they can tell me what to do with my life. I am a responsible, intelligent human being. I know what my options are. I know finding a job six months after getting a B.A. is harder. I know. So why doesn’t everyone else know I know even when I tell them so?

The Writer’s Block Struggle Bus

The Writer’s Block Struggle Bus

We’ve all gotten it. 

Whether you got writer’s block while writing something recreational or a research paper/essay/anything for school, I am sure we all know the horrible feeling. 

I feel like I’ve had writer’s block for at least half of my life, but I can be dramatic. I remember deciding to be a writer when I was 13 or 14. I remember starting stories and never being able to finish them. I remember BSing essays for school because the right words just never made it to the front of my mind. (I’m pretty sure I could’ve had a better GPA if my brain worked the way I needed it to — though we could probably all say the same thing.) 

Near the end of high school, I started to realize there was something wrong with me, and it wasn’t just that I wasn’t as creative as I used to be. Once I was in my third year of college, I went to see a counselor and was kind of diagnosed with depression. Kind of because the counselor said she was “pretty sure” I was depressed and because a doctor gave me medicine for depression (it never actually worked). 

Anyway, once I was “kind of” diagnosed with some form of depression, I started wondering if maybe that was the reason I never felt motivated to write. While the medicine I was taking made no difference, the possibility of finally getting help for my mental illness lifted my spirits. At that time in the semester, I was taking four English classes (which is to be expected for an English major), one of which was a creative writing class. I kind of hated my professor because he was the kind of guy who told us everything we couldn’t do in our writing and never told us what we were doing right. I managed to write a couple of short stories, and I passed the class, which was nice. I really think it had something to do with feeling like my mental illness was going to be helped. 

Because the medicine never worked and my insurance doesn’t cover enough of the cost for another medicine, I am no longer trying to do anything about my depression, and I haven’t really been able to write creatively since then. 

Every so often an idea presents itself, something for a short story or a poem or a novel or just a blog post even, and I cannot figure out how to form sentences. This is partly why I haven’t written anything for here since my first post, but also because I second guess myself a lot. 

I’ve decided to try something new to help with my writing, and hopefully it helps in all aspects of my life as well. Part of my depression and anxiety is believing I’m not good enough. Well, since this is a blog for me, and no one has to follow me here, I’ve decided to try not to care what anyone thinks about what or how I write. I know a lot of grammar rules, but sometimes I break them without even realizing it. I know how to spell things, but sometimes my brain still writes out their instead of there (I am ashamed, but I almost always catch it). I feel like if I focus less on what anyone else is going to think about my writing, and focus more on actually writing, I can get a lot done. 

So if anyone reading this has the same problem I do — fear to write because people might hate it — remind yourself that writing is a process. Write for yourself, edit for others (but also for yourself because reading something thats’s written well is just nice). I’m sure if we stick by that, we’ll go far…fingers crossed! 

(Featured image credit: workathomeandlivelife.com )

Introducing itsgisselx3

Hello readers!

I realize that my first post is long overdue, and I apologize for that. Similar to many people, I’m sure, I couldn’t figure out what in the world to make my first post about. I also couldn’t figure out if my first post had to set the tone for every post that would follow. In the end, I have decided to make this first post an introduction about me. Why not, right? I’ll figure out future posts as I go.

To start off, I am Gissel Gonzalez. I currently live in South Texas…which is not San Antonio. I’ve come to understand that a lot of Texans who live nowhere near the Rio Grande Valley believe San Antonio is South Texas. If you thought Texas was big before, you’re in for a surprise. Let me be the first to tell you that you’re missing a whole other part of Texas. South Texas is located about 45 minutes away from one the Mexican border. I was born in Manhattan, NY, but my parents moved to this area of Texas when I was six months old and so this is where I grew up. I am Dominican-American. Both of my parents were born in the Dominican Republic, as were their parents and so on. While I can’t speak too much Spanish, I am very proud of the country and the culture. My immediate family consists of my mother and my father, my sister who is the oldest, and my brother who is the middle child. Just in case it wasn’t clear, that makes me the youngest.

We’re a charming group of people.

In December 2015, I received a Bachelor of Arts in English at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. I transferred to Texas State from the University of Texas – Pan American after my first year in college. I graduated a semester late, which I am still kind of bitter about, but I can’t complain. On another day, I’ll talk about how attending school at Texas State and living in San Marcos were three and a half of the best and hardest years of my life — I do realize I’ve only lived almost 23 years but a lot can happen in that amount of time.

I am currently living at home with my parents. My original goal was to move to New York after graduation to pursue a career as a writer and editor. My mother got sick in November, and I changed my plans to move home so that I could take care of her. I no longer have a game plan as far as work or leaving Texas goes. I devote all of my time to my mother and I will do so until I know she is better again, which will take a while. There isn’t much to do in South Texas, but I do what I can to stay entertained. I can discuss hobbies and things in another post on a later date as well.

As far as introductions go, I believe that’s all I’ve got to say. I know it’s a pretty big introduction, but I wanted to get all of that out of the way now. I promise to try to make future posts somewhat interesting. I can’t promise humor but I’ll definitely try. I’ve been told once or twice that I’m funny, so here’s to hoping it transfers to my blog.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this, and I hope you have a great day/evening.

Gissel ❤️