2019 / overdosed on caffeine.

✖ Laila Pullinen - a Sculptor in Vantaa

Monday, 21 October 2019

Artsi, an art gallery located to pretty close to where I live got a new exhibition in and while I had some time to spare I went to check it out. Believe me, I don't know a single thing about sculptures. Or how they're created, but boy they were impressive.

My experiences with sculpturing go way back to the times when I participated in an Arts Club during the Middle School to High School. We moulded something from clay and during the summer we had an intensive week in the forest where we would greate sculptures in the forest out of peat blocks. Such fun times, and great memories to cherish.

In general, the exhibition was such an eye-opening thing to go through. There were placements where the finished work would meet the sketches Pullinen had drawn and you were able to compare them together. It was pretty fun, even though I wasn't allowed to bring my coffee cup to the gallery haha.

Though I got to leave it to the front desk to wait for me, and there it still was.
Unpoisoned, as I'm still not dead.

Sunday, 20 October 2019

It appears so that in order to get my camera outside of the house nowadays requires my friend Maija, and going to Turku if anything. I'm not a breakfast type of a gal myself unless you count a pan of coffee as a first thing in the morning as breakfast, then I think I could be. So when Maija started eating her brekkie, I took a camera and let my inspiration flow for a little while. Goodness, how great that felt. More of those type of days, please.

You're in Helsinki area in Finland and fancy booking a shoot with me? Hit me up by email at jasubloggaa@gmail.com or DM me on my insta and we'll get a cuppa & those instaworthy pictures sorted.

Friday, 4 October 2019

Before I begin, this is not a blog post to tear Greta Thunberg down. So if you came for that, I'm going to sincerely tell you to get your ass to somewhere else. Also, to note that most of this post is written pretty sarcastically, so just so you know.

Holy shit, that young woman is an extraordinary person, incredibly smart and someone I hope our children will look up to one day. Fuck, the girl is 16 and has done so much for the whole freaking planet, or for the very least got us all talking about the planet and the state of it.

I'm 24 and I look up to her. She's an massive inspiration to all of us.
But why are we collectively hating her? She's done nothing but said out loud the truth. Or wait for a second, is that why?

But I gathered a list. Get ready people, I have a list.

✖ she's young
The thing most adults must hate is when a young person opens their mouth and tells them how they should live their lives. That's exactly what Greta is doing, and oh boy how much the adults hate it. Is there a child who knows better? There can't be! What is this?

✖ she's loud
Adults hate when kids are being loud. And that being said, Greta has been incredibly loud about what she wants to say. She wants to let the adults know that the world can't keep rolling like this, and if it does, we're on our way to mass extinction.

✖ she has a point
The thing is, that adults hate even more is a kid, who happens to be loud and who actually has a point in what she's saying. It's not that adults don't know about those things, it's because they don't care and now there's a child basically forcing them to care about it.
All they care about is economic growth. Does reducing things for the sake of the planet bring them money? No, it won't. But oh to imagine to have all that money when the world is not good for us to live in anymore. Whatcha gonna do with all of that money then, huh?

Wouldn't it be time to us adults to accept that in the year of 2019, kids, young women, women in general, anyone, can make a noise about anything they want without the rest of us picking upon them? What are you, children? Ha, a child can behave better than you all. And time for us to accept that the girl has a point. Something has to be done.

Monday, 9 September 2019

My second year has officially started and I've been back to uni for a couple of weeks now. The beginning was slightly chilled, especially because the whole Autumn semester is going to be spent discussing topics around AI and digital arts. We have someone who is professionalised in digital arts to teach the course, and personally, I've been flipping excited about it.

We're also doing trips to the woods, which obviously made me even more excited. Couldn't have had a softer landing back to the uni life after a long summer vacation. We're also being taught the basics of visual design and some entrepreneurship things later during the year, and I'm excited about them both. I'm pretty interested in building my own business from scratch, whatever it will include when the time is right.

The Autumn semester is going to end with our own projects that will include some of the stuff we've learned during the semester and there's an option on doing it alone or in groups. It excites me as well, as I'm a lone wolf. I am able to work in groups and I generally enjoy group work, but it's nice to be able to do something on my own as well.

This is definitely one of those semesters I can imagine raising some questions about am I actually graduating to a proper job title if you ask my relatives. But you know, do what makes you happy, right?

Friday, 6 September 2019

I don't care when your Autumn begins, but mine begins when the calendar tells me it's September. Mainly, because in Finnish it's called Syyskuu. Syyskuu basically means Autumn Moon, so it's Autumn if you ask me.

I decided to gather around a little bucket list for myself for the Autumn, and you guys must know, I'm a huge fan of lists. Lists make my life complete and the chaos it is, it makes it make sense.

"Been thinking about my small life, depressed on my bed laid on my back, will I ever get up from here? Blinds closed, same records on a loop in my head, my pj's on at home all alone."

my Autumn bucket list
✖ wander through the forests nearby
✖ see the leaves change their colour
✖ do a little trip to Lapland
✖ spend a weekend away in a hotel with a bathtub, all by myself
✖ visit Turku, Finland
✖ not miss a day at uni
✖ work my ass off
✖ spend time with my loved ones
✖ get over a huge loss I've had to deal with lately
✖ burn scented candles
✖ drink hot chocolate
✖ watch crazy amounts of reality TV
✖ go for an evening walks
✖ watch stars in the middle of the night
✖ take my camera out more often
✖ drink oat milk latte
✖ book an appointment to a therapist
✖ enjoy days getting darker
✖ wait for winter

What's on your Autumn bucket list?

Thursday, 5 September 2019

Yes, I mean it. Every damn single day. Whether it's raining, the sun is shining, snowing. There's always a good reason to visit in the forest.

I've been spending most of my summer in the forest, if I haven't been living in a sin and gotten myself drunk as fuck at the music festivals throughout the summer. And it's done wonders to me, which is why I cannot recommend it enough for you to do as well. Find a perfect spot in the woods for yourself and let all the good vibes sink in.

✖ it improves your mental health
There have been some studies which state that spending time in the woods improves your mental health. And to be fair, I can approve that message. I think I've been a whole lot more anxious if I hadn't gone to the woods on my own for a little while. As many times, that it has become a habit for me and I'm kind of getting anxious if I'm not able to go to the woods for a little while. The quietness, the smell, the focus on simply just being there and minding your steps each time you move, it does wonders to you.

✖ it connects you with the Mama Earth
Finns are funny creatures. Finnish people are built-in with the need to spend time in nature. It's in our blood, in our bones and in our culture. Not all of us, but that's the most Finnish part I have and I am fully embracing it. Mama Earth hasn't been doing well for a while now, and it absolutely breaks my heart. That's why at times, as crazy as it sounds, it's good to wander around touching the ground, hug the trees and be grateful for the beautiful world we are living in. It's something that shouldn't be taken for granted and it's something the people have been taking for granted for a really long time. That's why Mama Earth has become ill and is trying to remove the virus from itself. We should appreciate what we have until it's gone. Take a hint Brazil.

✖ it boosts your creativity
Ever went to the forest without your smartphone? Do it. And thank me later.

Wednesday, 4 September 2019

HEY-OO, did I hear there was a photography exhibition just around the corner? Oh well, I sure did and today I'm here to chat a bit about it.

I've been struggling with life lately, like on next level struggling, so I've tried to suffocate my feelings with three things: work, yoga and art. This visit falls to the latter category.

Artsi is an art gallery in Myyrmäki, Vantaa, Finland and it happens to be a place I pass by quite frequently on my way to uni and back. And for a little visit to a little gallery to drown into art, it's absolutely perfect for me. Another thing I've been visiting quite frequently is the library right next to the gallery but that's a story for another day.

Chi Modu is American-Nigerian photographer, who just happened to be at the right place at the right time. As if you look closely to the pictures in my picture, you can see some huge rap/hip hop legends in the images he has shot. Yup, Wu-Tang-Clan and Snoop Dogg. Even Tupac Shakur.

I was excited to visit this exhibition, as it was previously in my hometown, Pori, Finland back in 2013 and I was told there were some new pictures in the one held at Vantaa. To be fair, I didn't remember which ones were the ones I hadn't seen yet but it didn't matter as the pictures were flipping good anyway.

It was a morning well spent.

Thursday, 25 July 2019

Honestly, I never thought this day would come. The day when I get to see an artist, that I look very much up to. The thing is, I don't listen to Ed Sheeran on a daily basis, but he's got some songs that have travelled with me to a bunch of places and memories. And another thing is, and there's simply no denying it, the man has talent.

It's amazing what one can do with just an acoustic guitar, pedal and with his voice. The thing about the pedal is, that you can loop different sounds together and what I managed to count he once had 8 loops going on at the same time. And when it comes to loops, you need to time them precisely or otherwise, it will end up sounding like shit, and the dude knew his loops.

It was such an amazing gig to watch.
The weather was flipping amazing.
And for a few hours, everything was completely fine in the world.

Thursday, 18 July 2019

In May, during our little road trip to Denmark, we visited in the famous amusement park which was all about those plastic bricks you step on in a dark room and try not to scream waking the owner of them up. You know, it's Legoland I'm talking about.

When you go to the Legoland with a 2,5-year-old you really don't get to see anything else than the small cities that are built from Lego's. I mean honestly, it's full-on five hours looking at the same boat going around the same river and trying to explain to that previously mentioned toddler why he isn't allowed to touch them when he keeps repeating how he really wants to play with them.

When you go there with a 2,5-year-old and a 10-year-old, the 10-year-old wants to go through every single roller coaster there is. And there are plenty. And the queues for them are long.

In general, Legoland was such a lovely experience. Even though it was a bit rainy and cold that day in May. However, the timing of our chosen visit could have been when the toddler is a bit older than he is now.v

Have you visited Legoland before?

Wednesday, 17 July 2019

Did you know about the hidden feature of Instagram stories? To be honest, I have no clue for how long this has been possible but I literally discovered it by accident yesterday. And in case if you didn't know, I'm planning on doing a small tutorial on how to lighten up your Instagram stories and use this cool feature. Since I'm the Insta que... What?

So, the point is to create stickers out of you pictures so you can add them multiple in the same story. Have you gotten frustrated when you add a picture on your Instagram story and can't change the background colour? Well, this fixes that problem as well. Leggo!

So here is what we want to achieve. A light background with a few pretty photos in it, right? It was actually a lot simpler than I thought and I cannot believe I hadn't figured it out sooner.

✖ step 1: choose the colour of the background

Choose the colour of the background, so far so simple, right? I went with white, as you can probably see.

✖ step 2: head over to the photo album on your phone

Pick a photo, and copy it. Simply just copy the picture you want to be added in your stories.

✖ step 3: go back to Instagram

You should see a small "add sticker" icon with the image you just copied on the left corner of your screen. Click it, and place it wherever you want it to be placed.

✖ step 4: REPEAT!

When you're ready, just publish the story.

Simple, creative and fun.

Tuesday, 16 July 2019

Happiness is not about getting all you want, it is about enjoying all you have.

A fun story from yesterday. I was having a chat with my new boss, in order for her to decide if they are going to continue to let me work there after the first few months. It's like this try-out time kind of a thing when they're still allowed to kick you out without a specific reason.

We went through everything about how I've adjusted in the new job, what I've learned and if there's still something I need to learn in order to work there. At the very end, she asked me how I've felt working there. In a way, I wanted to burst into tears but I managed to keep my shit together when I told her how burnt out I was when I started working there. I was completely drained out of the energy at my previous job, I've absolutely loved my time at the new one and I'm more than happy to stay there and continue working there because it has given me new energy. I've found a place where I belong, where no one thinks I'm weird if I say a few things too straight, where I get along with my boss (WOOP TEAM WESTERN-FINLAND), and where I can be myself without anyone judging or telling me how to be. And it's truly amazing. And I've enjoyed a lot.

I'm still healing, but at least I'm healing. Not getting worse.

Healing.
Healing, so I can be a better person around the people I love.
And be a better person around myself.

Monday, 15 July 2019

Considering the fact that I haven't been to a Ruisrock festival before in my life, my first-time experience there can be counted as a bit different than the basic roaming around the camping site drunk as fuck trying to find my own tent in the sea of tents that look exactly alike.

Ruisrock festival was being held in Ruissalo, Turku, Finland for the 50th time this year and I was honoured to be able to be a part of that big of a festival. It's one of the biggest in Finland, and it's been organised damn well. However, I'm not getting into many details what I did out there, because of the confidential agreement and well, backstage is like the home for the artists. I spent the weekend at the behind of the Niitty-backstage and my goodness, how amazing that was.

✖ Ruisrock festival in numbers:

1 pair of broken converse

1 disposable rain poncho

50 walked kilometres

4 nights at the floor of a school

2 Australian mates

4 conversations with the lead singer of my childhood favourite band (and I kept my shit together!!)

25 different keys hanging on my neck at the same time

20 nuggets at Hesburger

20 slept hours in total

15 carried mirrors

4 days of awesomeness

Sunday, 14 July 2019

I'm with the dirty mouth girls. The ones with bare feet, brilliant minds, messy hair, wild hearts and feisty spirits. The ones who aren't afraid to speak up and who live for doing what they've been told is impossible.

This week has been a tough one for me. I've been still recovering from the Ruisrock festival from last weekend, which was plain work to me, to be honest. On Friday I might have enjoyed one overpriced apple cider at the festival area, waiting to be escorted to the backstage on the next day because there were so many people out there. Ruisrock is one of the biggest festivals in Finland, and fuck it's been organised damn well. I'm about to tell you more about that later, but I was blessed to be able to work as a backstage host assistant for the weekend, and it was one of the best things I've ever stumbled myself upon to.

While I've been sleeping, a lot, insomnia has turned up its ugly head. I know, ironic huh? So while I'm trying to get my sleeping pattern in order, I'm also preparing myself for my best friend's festival themed birthday party next weekend, and for a smaller rock festival on the weekend after that. It's been one hell of a summer, and each morning I wake up I remember the words I said a few months back: "if I survive through this summer alive, I can survive from pretty much anything." It's been keeping me going. And imagine I have it rough, my best friend hasn't been at her home for weeks. She must be feeling a massive relief when she gets to her own bed after six weeks in Turku. I still haven't seen her new flat tho, I'm going to have to add a visit to Turku on my to-do list for the rest of the summer.

Before you ask, there isn't really a point for this blog post. Or if there is, it's me trying to explain why I disappeared from all the socials (except from Instagram, it's so easy to post there!) and the blog. But I'm here to get my shit together and starting to write again. Or at least I'm trying.

Two more festivals, one layout for a student magazine, a few more photo shoots and still trying to figure out how to cover this month's expenses. It's funny when you switch jobs. The first salary was a bit too small to leave me 150€ below zero whilst trying to cover my monthly expenses. Perhaps I gather a few bottles from here and there, sell something I don't need anymore and empty the piggie bank.

It's one hell of a couple weeks ahead of me. Let's do this.

Saturday, 13 July 2019

July is one of those rare months I'm usually spending travelling between Pori and Helsinki, and visiting my family and friends in the Western-Finland. The fact that I'm spending a lot of time out there gives some great photo ops, and Monday of this week wasn't an exception. My friend wanted some new pictures for her Instagram, so off we hopped in her car and she drove us at a random field next to the road.

It was actually quite fun to find yourself from a stranger's field. The best part of this whole thing was that I got to spark up my own inspirations whilst playing with the camera. I cannot wait to get my camera out more often. As I've been a bad blogger lately, I've also been a bad photographer and neglected the existence of my camera.

And hey, if you're in Helsinki area in Finland (or basically anywhere in the Western-Finland) hit me up and send me an email to jasubloggaa@gmail.com or DM me on Instagram and let's get you those instaworthy pictures sorted! Would love to book a shoot!

Friday, 12 July 2019

If you've been following me via my Instagram, you know that my life has been full of different festival related shenanigans lately. I mean, ridiculously full and the festival summer isn't even over yet! However, I'd like to take you back to the final weekend of June, when the Provinssi rock festival was held in Seinäjoki, Finland. My friend and I took a train there, met like a ton of new people who ended up our new friends and spent three nights in a tent.

I absolutely loved it.
And I can't wait to do it all over again next summer.

✖ Provinssi in numbers:
3 nights in a tent

7 minutes to build the tent

2 bottles of booze

15 minutes to unbuild the tent and pack all the stuff we had

22°C degree sunny weather

1 person falling to the river

1 visit to the first aid tent

0 rainy days

100 stupid jokes

5 new mates

1 pair of broken Converse

700km travelled

1 hangover

1000 amazing memories

+ countless of flipping good bands.

And guess what? It was exactly what I needed.

Sunday, 23 June 2019

Midsummer celebrations came around and went as quickly as they possibly could. I mean, I didn't really have anything special planned for the weekend, except for work. So I stayed home the whole weekend, not only staring at the wall but also went to pick some beautiful flowers. I think I struggled a little less, even though, I still am struggling.

I know it's only Sunday, but the week ahead does look a bit promising. After three evenings at work, I'm finally off to that music festival I've been going on and on non-stop these past few weeks. I'm ridiculously excited about it, even though I'm not a camping type of person.

So in general, things are starting to look out a little bit brighter. That's why I've created a little list of things I've got on my calendar for the upcoming week:

✖ find a travel back bag to borrow
✖ figure out what to pack for the weekend
✖ watch a few more episodes of Sons of Anarchy
✖ figure out how to survive the festival with period
✖ enjoy a brunch with old workmates

So I've got my eyes at the weekend! What's on your calendar for the upcoming week?

Tuesday, 18 June 2019

Dear diary, I'm struggling to get out of bed. I'm struggling to find anything that would even the tiniest bit spark my interest and motivation in life. I haven't showered for a week, my hair is unbrushed. Gosh, when was the last time I even brushed my teeth?

I've been living in a fog, trying to please everyone else except myself. I haven't been able to sleep, I haven't eaten properly. Why is it, that each time I'm starting to feel a bit better something comes up and down the hill, I go again? Why is it, that I feel like I shouldn't be allowed to feel these feelings? And why is it, that each time I open up these things to someone I feel like a burden?

A while back, my friend wondered how I'm handling it all so well. I look so busy, how am I holding up? That's exactly how I'm holding up. I keep myself busy not to be alone with my thoughts. And it's a real struggle when I don't have anything else to do than to be alone with my thoughts.

I need to deal with things, yet I would rather choose to avoid them.

As after all, it would be easier that way. And I am very, very tired.

Monday, 17 June 2019

It's been a quite a while since I've shared anything music-related over here (or anything, for that matter) so I decided to share my summer playlist on Spotify. What are your go-to summer tunes?

Sunday, 16 June 2019

It's less than two weeks until I get to sleep in a tent amongst drunk festival visitors on a camping area of Provinssi rock festival in Seinäjoki, Finland and I couldn't be more excited about it. Actually, I'm that excited that I've been doing some outfit inspiration flat lay pictures just so that I know what to pack. I'm also going to mix and match those items, as I don't really feel like dragging my whole wardrobe there with me.

I picked out four of my favourite combo's that I created, of which of three are for the day time and the last one is for the chilly summer evening. It gets surprisingly cold during the night, even though Midsummer and the "whole sun never sets" -thing has been a week before this festival. Let's remember that I am not a fashion blogger, even the funny fact about lifestyle blogs is that you can basically type about anything, so I might not be able to tell you how I got into these choices that I made. I also believe that this is a great way of showing you what kind of my style actually is, as most of these are the cornerstones in my wardrobe.

✖ for the day time

The cornerstone? That trashed Levi's denim jacket. I basically wear it with everything I possibly can imagine. And with this dress, it looks lovely simply worn or tied on my hips. The dress is from UrbanOutfitters by the way and it cost ridiculously lot, that's why I'm trying to wear it as much as possible. Perhaps not to my friend's wedding later this month, but everywhere else.

Everything in this outfit is from H&M. And the cornerstone? Those shoes. I've had them for more than five years now and they're starting to look like I should find a new pair somewhere but they feel so ridiculously good on my feet. I think they're part of my feet now.
If it's going to be raining, I'll add black tights and that denim jacket to the combo and I'm good to go.

You might recognise this clothing combo from some earlier blog posts, or from Instagram's gorgeous world. The shorts, which might very possibly be the most colourful thing in my wardrobe are from H&M, shoes Converse, and the t-shirt is from Weekday.

A funny thing about those sneakers... They've been to 8 countries during I've walked with them, I've had them for 8 years and I can see my pinkie toe and the left shoe sole has almost fallen off. I hope they'll get through this summer so I have a good excuse to buy a new pair next Spring.

✖ for the chilly evening

The only new thing here is the knit, which is from American Eagle and those trashed jeans which are from H&M. But I thought this could be cosy and perfectly warm for a chilly summer evening.

What do you usually wear to festivals?

Wednesday, 12 June 2019

There has been a lot of talk about the Instagram algorithm as long as I can remember. When I first created my Instagram account, it was talked about then and until this very day it has been talked about, perhaps even more. Is there really a way of beating Instagram algorithm in 2019?

Recently, I've been struggling with a little writer's block and when I asked around of what I should write about and went through unhealthy amounts of stats, I ended up on writing Instagram again. Also, "you should write something about Instagram as I haven't seen a person who knows about it as much as you do", so here we go again.

✖ what is an algorithm?
At first, you should know what the algorithm actually is. And algorithms are pretty effin' tricky things.

"In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm is an unambiguous specification of how to solve a class of problems. Algorithms can perform calculation, data processing, automated reasoning and other tasks."

The definition was brought here to you from Wikipedia's wonderful world. There are multiple different algorithms that can be created for different purposes. The one on Instagram basically works based on your own actions in the app. It's also designed to get the user to spend more time in the app itself.

The algorithm on Instagram is created to learn based on the user's actions in the app. It process data, on how you behave in the app. How much time you spend in it, what you are doing during that time you spend there and based on that it shows you the content first that it thinks you're most interested in.

You might've heard someone say that "Instagram isn't showing my posts to anyone". That actually isn't true itself and the better wording for the sentence could be "Instagram doesn't think my posts are relevant to my followers, which leads me to be at the bottom of your main feeds."
In reality, you can see all posts from the past two days in your main feed, but if you're following thousands of people you might not have the energy to scroll at the very bottom, where the posts that algorithm thinks that aren't relevant to you are.

And since the Instagram algorithm is learning constantly to curate the content of the app for something that is perfect to a small hand of users, the creator of the algorithm has very little control over on how it works. It's just something that runs on the background, and I don't think it should be blamed completely.

Since the Instagram algorithm is constantly learning to curate the content of the app for its users, the creator of the algorithm has very little control over on how it works.

This is something that I want people to understand. It's not the fault of the person who has created the algorithm, as the algorithm itself is genius. The algorithm itself learns along the way and when the computer is doing all the work, it can be a bit tacky at times. Because well, like humans, computers as well do their fair share of mistakes. And then they will learn for them.

I've seen a lot of tweets on blaming the creators of the algorithms and the thing is, it's not entirely their fault. They've simply just given the basics for the computer on how to solve a problem x and given them the possibility to learn how to find new solutions on solving different problems. If you were up to do some minor changes on how it works, you should create the whole damn thing from the beginning.

✖ so how does the Instagram algorithm affect?
I'll break it down for you, as a form of a list.

✖ it is constantly learning based on your behaviour in the app
✖ it is designed to show you the content that is most relevant to you

Yeah, that's it.

Let's say you're following roughly 200 people on Instagram. You can get to the bottom of your main feed multiple times a day, and are able to see all their Instagram stories throughout the day. You've seen it all they've posted during the past two days.

Let's say you follow over 1000 people on Instagram. You might not see all the people's posts, but is it because you don't have the time to scroll at the bottom of the feed? Instagram is showing the posts of the people you're following from the past two days. If you follow over thousands of people, it's very likely that there are people who are posting multiple times a day, which gives you the impression you won't see anyone else posting on Instagram but the handful of people who dump three pictures in their feeds per day.

And that is my friends when the "it's designed to show you the content that is most relevant to you" becomes in the play. If you're more likely to like and engage with the people who post multiple times a day, of course, the algorithm will show their posts to you first. If you're more likely to interact or engage to same people's posts all over and over again, the algorithm will show their posts to you first. Because the information that you have given to it is that you seem to really enjoy the account's x content. You actually enjoy it so much, that you're most likely to interact with it so it learns that it must be something that is really relevant to you.

If you don't engage with anything, it simply guesses what could be most relevant to you and shows it up at the top of your main feed.

✖ is beating the Instagram algorithm actually possible?
Why would we want to beat something we could try to learn to use in our advantage?
This is going to be one of those posts where the writer isn't going to provide you with any actual ways on beating the algorithm but based on what you've just learned from simply reading this post, is there anything you could use in changing your future behaviour inside the app? If the flipping algorithm can learn things very efficiently, why couldn't we? Oh right, it's too much work for us. Why work for something you really want?

Why beat it, when you can trick it by simply changing your own behaviour?

Why wouldn't we, instead of complaining about something that simply isn't our hands (nor really the developer, to be fair) would actually try and engage with like-minded people? Create a community? Work for creating engaging captions, engaging content?

That's why follow loops, comment pods, giveaway loops, follow/unfollow game and mass liking doesn't really work. It doesn't make your content more engaging. And the more engaging your content is, more likely people will engage in it. And the more engagement the posts receives, the more relevant the algorithm believes it is to more people, and that's when you start reaching the accounts who don't even follow you by simply ending up to a search page's suggestions.

Monday, 10 June 2019

Dull moments. The ones when you really don't have anything special in your calendar. The only thing that's left in there, is work but nothing special happens before or after the work. I call them dull moments because I'm the type of person who needs to do things and see different stuff unless she's bored to death. I don't know how to be still.

But there are good things in stillness, right? There has to be, right? Not so sure, as I am struggling. Everyone keeps telling me that though.

After this week is all sorted out, I luckily have filled the next three weeks with music. First, we're off to see Muse performing, then I'll be off to Provinssirock with my dear friend who's coming to Finland and later I'll be off for another backstage hosting gig for Ruisrock music festival. Exciting times ahead, and while I don't have anything to do at this very moment, I should try and embrace the boredom.

Psychology Today listed 8 reasons why we get bored, and while I read the article, I learned a bunch of new stuff about myself. I think I'm one of those who are more prone to be bored. How about you, do you get bored easily? Also, is this a sign thing? I'm Aquarius.

Aquarius can get bored easily, they need something new, unique and out of the ordinary to keep them entertained.

That's what I once read somewhere. I don't know if it's true, except that it fits for me perfectly.

Apparently, wildly successful people choose to embrace boredom and are using different techniques like Pomodoro to get out of the most boring tasks. I don't necessarily have anything where I could use the whole Pomodoro technique (except cleaning, for which I should really give it a go), but I'm going to have to keep an eye on things that could require using this technique.

It has also been said that you need to get bored to get creative. It sort of works out for me, but when you are bored enough of being bored starting something and getting bored to it instantly makes you more bored, what can you do? What a monstrosity of a sentence.

I think I'm going to have to do a little more yoga to solve this knot of thoughts.

Sunday, 2 June 2019

I recently went and disabled my Facebook notifications. After a week, I moved on to disabling Twitter notifications and by today I've basically disabled every single app sending me notifications. What did I notice, and how did I cope? What about FOMO and all that shit, that seems to be a thing now?

We're living in an era where huge parts of our lives are controlled over by social media. Which is pretty ironic for me disabling all the notifications, considering that I'm studying to become an expert on the area. But while we are out our smartphones glued to our hands, every single red tiny ball popping around our app icons and constantly checking up if there would be a notification implying that someone has been missing us, is that life we want to live?

I'd be lying if I say I didn't take a small break here to check up a few Instagram stories in the middle of the process of writing this one out.

Guys, we have an addict here.

Here are some things that will happen when you disable the notifications from your social media apps.

✖ you will use social media a lot less
Obviously. DUH, Jasmin, why did you mention the obvious? Well, because it's not that obvious. If you check the stats from your smartphone, the ones that let you know how much time you spend daily on your phone and in which apps, you'd faint. It's said that we Millenials spend around 8 hours a day on our smartphones. It's a full day at work, how on Earth do we have the time for that? Oh right, we use our smartphones at work too. It's become something such a usual thing to do, that it's more unusual if you forget your phone home. Forgetting your phone home in 2019 feels like you've left your apartment forgetting to wear your pants.

But how does disabling the notifications help you to spend less time in social media? Because there isn't really anything drawing you towards the app. Do you know why notification bubble on top of the app is red? It used to be blue (at least on Facebook).
They did a study a while back, resulting in a massive increase in clicks when the notification bubble was turned red. So while red is a colour for multiple things, it's also a colour to increase the interest towards something.

When you haven't got any notifications, you have no actual interest in the app whatsoever.

Forgetting your phone home in 2019 feels like you've left your apartment forgetting your pants. It leaves you feeling naked, vulnerable and uncomfortable.

✖ you will realise that FOMO isn't a thing
FOMO, also known as the "fear of missing out" has become something that has been hyped around for a while now. And yes, I'm here to put an end to that, as I really don't believe it exists.
Of course, when you see your friends going out, doing things, hyping up their lives on social media, other people succeeding in things they're good at; it makes you feel disappointed.

Why you don't get to do that stuff? Why you don't succeed in life as well as others? You start feeling jealous about it. You feel like you are missing out on the cool things. And when you get caught up in that feeling, you crave it more in some weird masochistic way that you actually start fearing that you will miss out on something that you're not a part of.

And that's how we get addicted, and afraid of missing out on something we think we are interested in. Even though we just want to feed that comparing little house elf that is living inside all of us.

How to get rid of the inner house elf? Disable notifications, forget your apps, never fear of missing out on something again. How can you get FOMO, when you don't know what you're missing?

✖ you will gain the control of your own life back
The question is, are you doing all that because you want to or because it would look amazing on social media? You might choose a cafe or a restaurant you really can't afford, but because it would fit amazingly on your Instagram feed. You might choose to take a picture of a car crash scene and share it to Facebook in hope for reactions, instead of stopping by and helping out. Or moving away to let the rescue workers do their jobs. You might choose to copy-paste a viral tweet on Twitter, in hope for it to go viral too, just for a few red bubbles on your social media icon.

Would you really do all that stuff, if social media wasn't having control over you? Would you?

You might choose to take a picture of a car crash scene and share it to Facebook in hope for reactions, instead of stopping by and helping out.

✖ you will feel happier
Being happy is a tricky little thing. It's also a journey, not the destination, as they keep telling all of us in a seek for it. The thing is, I haven't found my happiness yet and I don't think that's even the point in all this disabling the notifications nonsense.

The point is, after disabling my notifications I haven't been spending my days mindlessly scrolling through different apps. After disabling my notifications, I haven't felt the fear of missing out on something. I have felt more content in the life I've been living. I've been more present for the people I hang out with on a daily basis.

And I think you should disable your notifications too. Not to feel happier, but to falling back on being in your life.

Saturday, 1 June 2019

Happy first of June, you lovely lot! Can you believe we've already passed the half-year mark on this year of 2019? I've managed to do a lot, yet feeling like there's something I haven't had time to do yet. Do you know the feeling, when you realise that you've been on a move for every single day during these six months and still feel like you really haven't done anything? That certainly is a mindset I really need to grow out of, as well, I have done a shitload of different things. There's no chance in hell my calendar would fit any more in it than there already is.

Although, last week, during our little road trip to Denmark we managed to spend a day in Copenhagen and I absolutely fell in love with the city. Copenhagen was definitely something else that I've used to while roaming around Scandinavia. It has its own warm vibe, and I don't know if I can give it justice when I try to put it in words. It's something that needs to be experienced.

✖ Nyhavn
Nyhavn is iconic, and it's definitely what comes up first when you go to the Instagram search bar and put Copenhagen in it before you hit search. However, any of these pictures won't do justice for the vibe there was. We visited quite early in the morning, so there weren't that many people out there just yet but it's definitely the spot where all the tourists are first heading to.
Nyhavn had such pretty colourful houses, such a wonderful riverboat sight and the smell of fresh food. I mean, I could live there.

✖ The Union Kitchen
The Union Kitchen had the most badass cappuccino's in town. I mean, mine said "Calm the fuck down" and it was by far one of the best ways to begin my morning. We had our breakfast outside, which was this tasty cuppa and a waffle, but I had a little glimpse to the inside of what it looks like there and it was definitely the definition of "hygge".

✖ the streets of Copenhagen
The streets of Copenhagen stole my heart. All the narrow alleys, the trees, the buildings. It gave me the whole Gamla Stan vibe I tend to have in Stockholm (I'll tell you more about that later), but with different colours.

✖ Den Lille Havfrue
The little mermaid statue was also something I've wanted to tick off my bucket list since the early days of my life. Or well, since the times I used to live in the library reading different travel books that I managed to get in my hands.

After all, it was a wonderful visit to such a wonderful town.

SLIDER