Writer's Block. It's a B*tch. Make it YOUR B*tch.

"I'm at a loss for words 'cause y'all already said it all

I think I'm runnin' out of clichesI'm gettin' writer's block" - Eminem, Writer's Block

This is going to be a long and slightly more serious one, not boring though! Would I ever bore you ;) I just hope people can take something away from this.

So I just wrote a blog post for www.GNothingness.com about motivation, as I write for them now, but I don’t get as personal on there as I would on here, so I thought I’d do one on here too. 

Writer’s block, lack of motivation, self esteem is all very familiar for a lot people unfortunately, for a musician/artist, it is one of the most crushing and frustrating things.

So many people have written about this in the past, but I am really hoping that what I write could help at least one person who happens to stumble on my blog instead of the countless others.

Let me start by telling you a little bit about me. I have ALWAYS wanted to be a singer, as far back as I remember, I used to lie in bed dreaming about being on stage, recording in a studio and writing music that people connected to. No matter how you say your ‘dream is to be a singer’, it sounds a bit childish, naive and I feel like people will probably laugh and say ‘and now you’ve grown up, what do you want to do?’ as if singing is just a fantasy and not a real career. Obviously, no one ever has, but I’d understand why if they did. It really is one in a million, and I’m not even talking about selling out stadiums, just making a living off writing and singing!

Technology these days makes it so easy to get your music out there, but at the same time even harder, because that also makes the competition greater with the amount of people who can easily upload music. I am still undecided whether I think the internet has hindered or helped people’s chances.

So I find personally, knowing how hard it all is makes it so much harder to push myself to go for it. I am going to put that down to self belief. For me it’s because of years of bullying, I can never get back. I never knew the extent of how much this effected me until recently (That is a subject for a whole new post) For others it might be different. But whatever it is, you CAN turn it round.

As soon as I say ‘self belief’ I feel like this is going to turn into one of those emotional psychological therapy blog posts, so I won’t say it again haha.. BUT, it is true, if you don’t have high confidence levels, it is SO much harder to push yourself to keep going or even know where to start.

Here’s a few things I have found definitely help:

• Surround yourself with like minded people, people who inspire you, people who will push you and be blunt with you when you’re being a miserable b*tch for no reason. My best friend is my hero for this.

• Don’t stay in and watch Netflix all day on your days off, as tempting as it is. Maybe every now and then, but trust me,  it’s an unhealthy addiction!

• If people are holding you back, cut chords (literally… aren’t I clever). If they're taking too long to send a track back, if they're flaky and seem to disappear every now and then, move on. It’s too easy to blame it on other people, so work with people who push you to keep going.

• Do something different. See something new. Break your routine, it's obviously not inspiring. When has the same thing day in and day out EVER been where incredible things come from?!

• Connect to how you’re feeling, use it to write something that could actually speak to people, a song that has personal meaning is always better written because you care more

• You don’t have to do it on your own. Song writing doesn’t have to be something you stay up all night on your own trying to create a masterpiece. When you write with other people, bring styles and ideas together, THAT is when you create something incredible

• Now, here is the most important one. It’s uncomfortable, it’s not pleasant at first, but I have been told it gets a hell of a lot easier, you have to put yourself out there. Hold your breath and just go, say yes to someone who wants to work with you, sing your idea to someone. There is no easy way around this, you just have to do it. If you do, tell me how it goes and I will tell you also.

• Here is the final one, someone commented this on my GNothingness post and I love it; Remember why you started. That is ALWAYS your strongest reason to carry on, ALWAYS. You wouldn’t throw all your passion, time and heart into something you didn’t truly love, live and breath.

That’s it, possibly my longest post to date. I really hope you get something out of this, and I hope you read it all the way through. Being able to make music is a beautiful thing, a true talent, you ARE special if you can do it. So KEEP GOING!

Much Love,

Chloë XO

How to know which path to choose

The question everyone, ever wants to know the answer to.

And here it is...

You don't.

Yup, there you go, there's my gem of advice. It sounds like a pretty crappy one right? But honestly, when I embraced that, things changed. 
I am a perfectionist, and I give it a whole new meaning, I am brutal to myself if I don't meet my own standards and always doing the best thing, choosing the perfect words to say at the exact right time, singing every note perfectly with no pitchyness, never making a silly mistake in a relationship. Wouldn't we all love it if things just fell into place like that?
Well they don't and you can't mould and shape everything around you, and that's what makes it so fun to be human.

Four years ago, I would have laughed at you if you told me I was going to be in an incredible relationship that, 3 and a half years in was as strong as Jay-Z and Beyonce. I would have laughed even harder if you'd told me he would be away for 6 months at a time playing drums in random countries whilst I stayed in the UK. Yet here I am, sat in Bahrain, taking 10 days out of my crazy (Boss Bitch) work life back in London, to see my amazing drummer boy 3 months into his 6 month stint.
Yeah, I've made some bad choices, some very very bad choices, that landed me in hospital for long periods of time (A story I may or may never tell on here, we'll see) but no matter how bad things get, there is always a path to take to rectify it. I also believe that any bad path can be turned into a good one. You learn from everything.
Somethings may seem like the worst at the time, yeah maybe you did something really bad or someone did something really bad to you, but thats the beauty. Great things can come from tiny screw ups, there is always a next day and there is always a chance for something awesome to happen.

I feel like this is turning into a full on hippy, peace and love post, so I'm going to shut up now. The point, however, still stands.
Sometimes just shut your eyes and walk down a path. Who knows what will happen, who knows who you might meet...you just need to put yourself out there for these things to happen...

Much Love,

Chloë Rona

XO

Ever wondered how to live without wifi?

No, you probably haven't. Let's be honest...

You wouldn't put yourself through that torture unless you absolutely had to. No, torture isn't too strong of a word, it is like weaning yourself off a drug or cigarettes, you go through phases of withdrawal. But do you come out stronger?

We moved into our new flat 2 months ago now, and we got wifi 2 days ago. TWO WHOLE MONTHS. NO INTERNET. NO CONNECTION TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD.

Stage one.

'What do I do? Seriously, there is nothing to do other than stare at a wall. Activities? What are they?'
This is the weird one, you feel disconnected and it's funny how you GENUINELY have no idea what to do or how to communicate with people on a face to face level without getting awkward and running out of things to do. I kept finding myself getting so bored and sitting there just doing nothing... If you're wondering, going through photos on your phone and deleting them, because you only know how to be on your phone, is still nothing.

Stage two.

People are actually interesting, it starts getting easier to live without the constant pinging of some kind of computer. 
I personally realised in this stage, I had finished university a month ago at this point, my boyfriend had moved to a land far, far away and I was living with my two best friends. So umm.... do something? And I did... I got a place on an internship, like an actual career boosting internship, not just walking around selling clothes. (I'm aware that is a career, and not an easy one at that, it's just not my choice) 
I started DOING things with my friends, going out, getting to REALLY know them, spending quality time with them and making memories. Also started really thinking about what I want to do with my future, networking, making valuable connections with people. 
I have always been healthy and cared about fitness, but I have started to be much more in tune with my body and actually dedicated to being the best version of myself, physically and mentally. Fitness is actually an incredible feeling!

Stage three.

Frustration. Yeah, stage two seemed all too good to be true? That's because it was... All of the above is 100% true and I still swear by it all...BUT...
You realise in this world, you now NEED internet to actually do all the things you need to do in these cool jobs you now have, to contact the people you have now met and to save the photos of the memories you have now created. Saying that, I do believe you can do it without internet, but you have to have some seriously strong moral thoughts on this and powerful commitment to the belief. I don't, sorry. The Electronic Music, and just music scene in general, really doesn't allow for that.

Stage four.

A whole lot of switching between stages two and three. 
The arguments, the annoyance of losing money and time thanks to jobs you can't do/take longer. Being forced into actually SEEING people, resulting in having way more fun. Not being able to talk to your boyfriend properly other than in Pret (Pret, I love you forever). Thinking you've got it, then realising Talk Talk have screwed it up again, and again, and again. Paying £90 a month on phone bills because you've had to pay for more data, and then ran out again and realised - IPHONES DON'T WORK WITHOUT DATA... like... AT ALL.

Stage five.

The day you finally get internet again! Yeah, so, what does it do again?

Over doing it and spending far too much online shopping. Writing blog posts. Taking the opportunity to work from home, in your PJs all day, finally.
Basically, I am currently binging or you could call it a relapse...

BUT. Lesson?

I genuinely prefer human contact. 
I have learnt so much about myself on this little internet cleanse. Yes, I had limited access to internet whilst in the office or for those few days a month I actually had data on my phone, (Snapchat and Instagram apparently RINSE all data) but that's the definition of weaning right?
I have over come so many of my weird hang ups, just as a result of going out and putting myself in scary/beneficial situations. 
I have done SO much for myself, partially because Will (boyfriend) hasn't been here as well (sorry to admit that one Willy...what can I say, you're needy ;).)

Proof that I have actually stepped outside my house and not hid under a rock? Okay, here you go:

1|| Your Mum's House, The Nest with Casey
2|| Walk to work over Tower Bridge
3|| New Job includes being in studios. Yeah. Awesome, I know
4|| My little Chia Seed
5|| All Saints Squad. Ollie, Emma & Alex. Babes.
6|| SW4 Festival with the Chia Seed
7|| So this happened at work. A dog. In a bag.
8|| This also happened at work... Clearly there were mixed feelings.

So, I recommend it, put yourself into internet rehab/cleanse/whatever you wanna call it. It might actually shock you how much fun you have and how much there is to learn about the people you already know, they aren't actually that lame.

Much Love,

Chloë Rona

XO