Srishti Kumari

Author: srishtikumari

  • Write About The Easy Things

    Please.

    Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

    You know, I feel, and I am really thinking about this a bit differently, and sincerely. When it comes to writing, especially the online writing and making a really good amount of money out of it, or creating and building your successful online writing business, we think, focus, read, and research a lot more about the client’s needs, the business needs, the brand needs, and the business side of our craft. We forget why we started it in the first place.

    Our LinkedIn posts should be the best. Our LinkedIn articles should be of premium quality. Our medium writing has to be of very, very good quality, and our Instagram posts should be of premium aesthetics. And while all of these personal expectations and professional goals are important and good to set and achieve, we forget that writing doesn’t only mean the work we do for the premium B2B clients, the agency we are working with, and the freelance gigs that are literally making us financially free and independent.

    Yes, we have to write thoughtfully to build our personal brand online. Yes, we have to deep dive and research, and write the B2B articles, the blog posts, the LinkedIn posts, and all of that business writing thing that we are supposed to. No doubt we need to.

    But what about us? What about you, my friend? What? What about your connection, your relationship with the solitary aspect of thinking, scribbling, writing, reading, writing sometimes in a diary, sometimes online, and publishing – not each piece is published to get the likes and appreciation, some pieces are the proof of your spark inside. And that’s enough.

    Don’t lose that spark. Please. Before any creative work and designation pulls out your creativity from your soul, remember those first days when you first started scribbling, spending time with your thoughts, with your feelings in solitude, and your diary was there to listen to everything you had to share.

    For that first diary, for those first days, for that spark, for this wonderful gift of your life, write! Please write. Write about your days – good days, bad days, ugly days, miracles, everything. Write about your morning breakfast, write about your evening chai, write about your favourite season, write about your childhood days, write about your friends, write about your blessings, write about your embarrassments, write about your love, write about your healing, write about your favourite nook and corner in this world, just write about it, my friend. Please write, because you deserve to live too.

    Amidst all the business, technical, SEO, branding, social media, and your premium ghostwriting projects, don’t forget to fill your own cup and share the quirky moments from your story. Don’t worry about the likes, shares, or engagement.

    Sanity is the real vanity.

    May divine bless you with success when your stories get appreciated by millions of people worldwide, along with the deep love inside you to write for the sake of writing – from the heart!

    Because the true power lies in that deep love, I believe. You don’t need to be performative here; you just need to perform, to show up, for your own sanity. And that is, my friend, a love language, a form of self-care, isn’t it?

    Now go and live.

    Live again. Write again.

    Go easy. Write easy.

  • The Gift of Being Unseen

    Or, thoda kam seen

    Photo by Swello on Unsplash

    You know, yesterday, I was going through my LinkedIn, and I read a post that really made me think and see things a bit differently. This post came in my feed because I am following someone who writes and publishes regularly on LinkedIn on various topics, in various tones, and I love her writing as a reader.

    Yesterday, she had commented on this post – the post I am talking about, and that’s how I got to see the post on my feed.

    And the gist of the post was, what I got at least is, you know, we crib about not getting enough likes, weak online presence, and shallow engagements online, and then we try to change our content strategy to fix everything. But what if, instead of taking this online dip negatively, we start enjoying the algorithm changes (if you believe that’s the case for the dip anyway).

    Let’s say you are posting on LinkedIn regularly and still seeing the numbers not going upward. Fine. Now, while you are cribbing about it and thinking of stopping posting, what if you take this as an opportunity to experiment? Right now, you can tweak, modify, audit, edit, try new forms, and sizes of content aligned with your brand. You can, for a few days, just take it lightly and have fun with it – see, the experiment will make you free from control, and it will eventually allow you to be more creative, flexible, and better with your work.

    I can understand that your clients’ account is your job, but experimenting with and trying the second method will only strengthen the understanding and expectations for both parties.

    Each changing point, each feedback is a data point. And data points change. The willingness to try, the curiosity to understand the gaps in storytelling, combined with the courage to take the risk, can bring the good, better, and maybe best in the long term.

    And if it’s your personal account, and you are trying to build an online presence, visibility, and a credible and premium personal brand online, then please go ahead and take risks. Numbers will go up and down. Even people with 4 lakhs and 5 lakhs followers sometimes lose lakhs of followers in a month. That’s totally fine.

    Your clarity, your creativity, your depth, your thought process, your ideas, your story, your history, your vision, your work process, your unique ways to keep going and taking pause whenever you need – in short, it’s you and your values that are going to attract those 100 true fans and the superb community you deserve. And when they show up, each like, dislike, impression, views, dips, everything will make sense to you.

    Till then, just focus on finding your voice – your unique, original, incredible, powerful voice and narratives you have to share with everyone. The rest will be taken care of.

    Happy experimenting. Happy exploring.

  • Succulents Keep Sanity Intact

    And that is what we need, right?

    Photo by Virginia Marinova on Unsplash

    If there is one thing for me in this world that can bring me a sheer amount of joy, bliss, happiness, peace, serenity, and sanity – without preaching any sort of gyaan – then that has to be the greens.

    The greens – the plants, the herbs, the flowers, the balcony garden, the park, the forest, and the succulents on my table just beside my laptop, and a few on my window.

    I believe they are the purest form of souls and beings on this planet. They are complete in themselves. Nothing like them is rooted in nature. They are the symbol of nature, creation, evolution, change, acceptance, beauty, patience, colours, joy, happiness, peace – and a whole lot of happy feelings, just by being there.

    Their mere presence is precious enough to make your moments beautiful.

    There are studies and research that show that plant gazing, forest bathing, and keeping succulents around your workspace lowers your stress and boosts your productivity. And you know what, you don’t need to go through any of those researches, data, or statistics if you don’t want to. It’s completely fine. You are not missing out on anything important.

    You just have to do one thing. Make space for these beautiful greens in your life. Go to the nearest park, walk on the morning dewy grass barefoot, look closely at the different shades of green the trees have, go to the nearby nursery, convert your balcony into a balcony garden – one step at a time.

    Sit in your balcony with nothing but your presence, and see, watch, and gaze through the beautiful green tribe you have managed to accommodate. Sit for hours to gaze at the beauty, go for forest bathing, and release every ounce of negativity with each inhale inside you. Make succulents your room partner, your workspace partner, and let life come to you peacefully, slowly, steadily, and sanely.

    You will lose nothing. You won’t miss out on anything. You know what will happen? You will see life like never before. You will see them growing, flourishing, drying, and dying. Then, you will see seeds germinating, leaves broadening, plants growing, trees beautifying, flowers blooming, and greens beautifully thriving – by accepting, adapting, changing, growing, and blooming – all while staying grounded and deeply connected to their roots in front of your eyes.

    They have taught me, and continue to teach me, the lessons of peace, sanity, serenity, growth, humbleness, beauty, and life like no book on philosophy has till now.

    They don’t demand anything. They just need your presence. Can you give that? They will give you a lot. Sanity is just one of many gifts they have for you.

    Think about it. And it’s never too late to go and meet one of these friends ever. Go visit them. Take them home. And love them. They won’t cheat you. I promise!

    Wishing you all the greenery, sanity, serenity, peace, freshness, beauty, growth, and mindfulness.

    Go get your greens.

  • Some Days, I Feel A Bit Clueless

    And maybe that’s okay.

    Photo by Laura Chouette on Unsplash

    Some days, like today, I feel a bit clueless. I mean, I have my tasks to do. My to-do task list for the next 10 days is kept in front of me. And I know the importance of this work very well.

    I have to write, prepare, and schedule a few – actually a lot of pieces for my blog, write a few medium articles, prepare a good amount of LinkedIn pieces, and all of this has to be completed on time. All of the writing, editing, proofreading, scheduling, publishing – everything is part of my plan to make my writing, my stories, my articles more visible online to create a valuable and reliable personal brand for myself in the long run.

    And this bigger picture and purpose make it even more important for me to show up. But I feel that “no two days will ever be the same” is actually a reminder for me. You know, I created 9 blog post pieces and 1 LinkedIn post – a total of 10 stories just the day before yesterday. And I can’t tell you how amazing I felt. I gave myself the freedom to just write the stories that come to my mind for the blog you are reading now, and boom! I happily, very happily, wrote nine stories in a single day – within 8 hours. The drafts have been saved, and I am editing and publishing them with each coming day.

    But yesterday, I didn’t feel that energy. And the maximum I managed to do was to edit two drafts and publish them. And, I am fine with it. I still have the next ten days to complete my tasks, and it’s fine.

    But today, oh god! Today, I have opened my laptop at 3:30 pm – sooooooooo late! And that too, after convincing myself enough that there’s no need to make it perfect, just show up! And that is what I am doing right now. Just showing up.

    And if you will get to know that this particular writing is the third one in my effort to show up today, and I have already scribbled and saved two drafts, then maybe you will understand the power of showing up. At least I am convinced by the power of just showing up. Good work, better work, best work, excellent work, extraordinary performance – everything will come, once you make it a point to show up. Show up unprepared. Show up with confusion. Show up with half-baked stories. Show up with a clueless feeling you have with you since morning. Just show up.

    Maybe you were clueless because some days, life decides to make you show up first and let the cluelessness fade away in the light of the day. Maybe. Who knows!

    That’s why I think, some days, it’s ok to feel a bit clueless. I think our cluelessness comes to softly nudge us towards something better. And for me, it was to show up. It was, for me, to open my laptop and write six pieces – six personal stories/ blog pieces/ blog posts without too much thinking, and see, it’s been 1 hour and 20 minutes, and I am already about to finish my third story.

    Yeah, only drafts, not the edited, proofread, polished one. Just drafts. And that works.

    Taking small steps every day to build the life, career, finances, and everything of your dreams sometimes may also feel like this. Just remember, you are only feeling clueless. You are not clueless. Go to your why. Go to your what. And figure out your how for today. You can do it. I believe in you.

    Show up happily. Show up peacefully. Show up cluelessly. That’s okay. Just show up!

    Take care.

  • The Relatability You Feel In Stories

    They make you feel seen and heard every time

    Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash

    You know, whenever you read someone’s story — be it on their blog, their linkedin post, the instagram story, or anywhere, and you feel a part of you being described there, that feeling of connection and relatability makes you feel valid for your actions, feelings and emotions you were finding to get from people around you, is my friend a miracle in today’s life.

    Miracle, because everything — when you see someone succeeding, someone going gym every day, someone waking up at 5:00 am consistently, someone running marathons, someone earning in crores, and someone always looking so pretty and aesthetic, you deeply feel so behind, alone, isolated, and bad for yourself every day.

    Perfect pictures are for performative goals. They are perfect online because they can’t afford to be seen as anything less than that. Those perfect pictures from perfect angles are actually trying to hide many blemishes, dark spots, and unevenness that everyday life throws at us.

    And poor us! We believe in the perfectly captured, edited, filtered, and carefully curated corners of someone’s grid, as it is the reality of life.

    The reality is, humanness comes with a lot of insecurities, confusion, failures, tiredness, hopelessness, slow days, mood swings, low periods, edgy feelings, anxiety, stress, and nerve-wracking, vulnerable moments as well. And that, my friend, is not pretty and aesthetic. That is bad, ugly, cruel, silly, confused, sad, with a generous amount of existential crisis. And we feel like we are alone.

    No, we are not. We are not alone. Yes, a 10-step skincare routine may have a million views online, but you also have the stories where people openly share about their bad skin days.

    When someone shares their raw, real, personal, mostly unpopular, and normal stories of spending weekends at home, Netflixing, reading, gardening, and living through the days instead of performing, I feel more connected to those stories naturally.

    And I think that is what connection requires. Simple truth. Simple ways. Simple acts. Everyday life. Mundane days. Fleeting moments. Us. And our stories.

    There is a strange connectedness in everyday stories of people you are not connected to in any way. And maybe that’s a shared connection we possess as humans.

    So simple, so subtle, so powerful.