Have you ever…?

Have you ever had a favorite hobby that you did all the time and then you stopped because you got caught up with work, family, friends, school, etc.?

For several years, I have been trying to start a blog. Why? Good question! The reason I have wanted to write a blog is because I want to share my thoughts and feelings about life. Now, I won’t say that I have been through the most exciting, dangerous, and adventurous life experiences that anyone has ever had and that I’m here to say “here is what I went through, now here are the answers of how to deal with life.” #thesearetheanswersyouprobablyarentlookingfor

If only it were that easy to tell anyone how to handle life situations so they won’t make the same mistakes that you did. Also, who I am to tell you what to do?

So here is where I’m getting at…have you ever had a favorite hobby that you did all the time and then stopped because you got caught up with work, family, friends, school, etc and then tried your favorite hobby again and realized how much you missed it?

For example, if you played a music instrument for fun but then stopped because you were too busy working, busy with school, busy with your family and friends, or you just didn’t feel like playing anymore and then when you went back to playing, you get that feeling of “oh man, I forgot how much I love playing!” If you don’t, I mean that’s totally fine, everyone is different. I know personally that I get that feeling when I go back to playing my clarinet because I loved playing it. (Yes I was a total band nerd in high school and in college). But this post isn’t about music (at least not this one).

One thing that a lot of people don’t know about me (except for the past 2-3 years because I decided to become more open about it) is that I love writing. I have been writing since I was little. I used to write letters to my friends in elementary school and middle school (before texting and chatting online became popular).
Actually I used to write letters to my favorite celebrities!

Anyone remember when Ben Affleck was in Armageddon? Yeah I wrote to Ben Affleck because I thought he was hot (not as much anymore…but I think he’s a good actor). Did I actually send the letters? Uh…I think I sent a few…I may or may not be a little embarrassed about it.

One of my earliest memories of writing was a letter to a 70s band that you may know: the Bee Gees. My parents listened to a lot of music from the 60s, 70s (disco was big in our household, especially the Bee Gees), and 80s when I was kid and I really enjoyed listening to it. (And even to this day I will jam out to some Bee Gees. If I am out at a restaurant or any social outing and I hear “Night Fever” you best believe I will sing along, quietly, and dance to that song (not like putting out a show but move to the beat where I’m standing or sitting).  So little Aileen wrote a letter to the Bee Gees about how big of a fan she was and how she wanted to meet them. I remember showing it to my dad and he laughed so hard. He thought it was the funniest thing he had heard. I was so embarrassed because I felt he was laughing at me! There went my self-esteem about writing… Now I laugh about it because it’s so silly and ridiculous. #longlivetheBeeGees

To tell you how far I have gone with writing, I even wrote a movie script from a dream I had in 7th grade. The dream seemed like something out of a movie and when I woke up, I was like “that looks like it should be in a movie!” So I wrote a whole story about it.

Did I finish the script?

I did.

And it was the cheesiest thing you could ever read. Maybe later on I will reveal what it was about but I think for now, let’s just stick to checking off “write a movie script” on my bucket list. I also began writing telenovelas because my beautiful mother watched them all the time (even though she would get tired of essentially the same story of man meets woman, they fall in love, someone tries to break them apart, someone dies and comes back to life seeking revenge, and then the main protagonists win their battle of fighting for their love and live happily ever after). But everyone likes a nice happily ever after story!  Therefore in middle/high school, I began coming up with ideas of writing telenovelas and starting them but I never completed them.

Then I took a three year hiatus from creative writing because I was taking care of my mother when she was diagnosed with cancer and obviously after she died, my main focus became learning how to live a life without her. My mom was also a part of my motivation to writing so you can see one of the reasons why I stopped writing.

But I missed writing. Throughout that time, I wanted to go back to writing because I knew I loved doing it but I just didn’t find (or want to find) the motivation to do it. Writing was always a great outlet for me because it was all in my journals/diaries and no one could criticize me for the content of my writing. But finally within the past three years, I began writing again. And it feels so good to come up with silly or fun stories! Or at least I think so…

Anyways, to wrap up my blog (because it is getting too long and my sister likes to tell me I write books whenever I write to someone), I want to say that I am actually in the process of writing a book: a memoir about my college experience. You might enjoy my happy and sad adventures, you might not. It might be cliche, it might not. But everyone has their own story. Just like what Maya Angelou said “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”

Writing a book and actually publishing a book has been on my bucket list for a while so here is to hoping and praying that it will be a dream come true! I am currently working on a second rough draft so we’ll see how it goes! I also am working on a few writing projects with a friend so soon enough it will be out to the public.