Kevin O'Bryan

Category: Blogging

  • It’s my Birthday! Let’s get nostalgic

    It’s my Birthday! Let’s get nostalgic

    Birthday Tings

    Today marks two important milestones, my blogs’ second year of active existence and my Birthday!!! It was no accident that my blog was launched on my birthday 2 years ago as I needed a momentous occasion to present it to the world and make it live.

    It’s been two years that have seen some major changes in my life, all for the best and thankfully, I’ve been able to chronicle it all using this space on the internets. My understanding of the blogging process has also matured and my commitment to consistency has remained intact, even if what that looks like has changed, overtime.

    I’m going to use this opportunity to do a quick rundown of some of the interesting insights and revelations I’ve made, through this blog over the past couple of years, by taking a look back at a few of the posts that for whatever reason have been memorable.

     

    Favourites to date

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    Over the past two years I’ve been fortunate to write about a lot of different topics. After all, the way my blog is set up allows me to venture across different topics across various interests. But I have two particular favourite s out of all I’ve written.

    My first ever blog post “35 Lessons in 35 years” remains one of my all-time favourite pieces I’ve written, not just because it was the first but because it also serves as a definitive statement on who I am and what I am about. I don’t think I’ve ever opened up this much to any one, much less to the public, all at once.

    My other favourite is a little blog I published in November 2017 entitled, “You can do Whatever you Like”  which I actual go back and read every now and then as a reminder that life is about doing the things that bring me joy, in whatever realm, no excuses.

     

    Stuff I Love that you probably missed

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    I’ve come to realize that I write as much for myself as I do for readers and sometimes, there are just ideas I find so hilariously intriguing I can’t help but write something about it. This was the case in August 2018, while on vacation, when I was inspired to write this sleeper of a blog “Five songs to NEVER play at a wedding”. To this day I still find the pretext funny as the situations around a wedding and possibly playing the ‘wrong’ song can go in weird places.

     

    Biggest Surprise

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    Probably the biggest surprise in the past two years of writing has been the response to two pieces I wrote about my experience selling my old car and buying a new one in Jamaica. The series is entitled “Things to consider when buying and selling a car in Jamaica” parts 1  and 2.

    The articles consistently turn up in searches in google and drives traffic to the site, so it is clear that people are buying and selling cars and now have a resource to get more information. That makes me happy, because the reason I wrote the blogs was because I couldn’t find any information about the process.

    Statement Piece

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    Because I can write about whatever I want, boldness is expected as a standard and there are a lot of avenues I could take to be bold. But I responded to a call to highlight ‘the gay agenda’ that was launched by J-Flag in February 2018. The blog entitled “Bridging the Gap: The Real Agenda” allowed me to simplify and present in my own way the perspective of LGBT Jamaica.

    What connected

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    I guess we can all use some encouragement when it comes to our spending habits, specifically around Christmas time. That’s the only explanation I have for how people responded to the blog post published in December 2017 entitled “4 things you should NOT do with your December salary/bonus”.  Readers flocked to the piece which I consider tongue-in-cheek but with a few nuggets of wisdom and I appreciate that.

    As I celebrate my birthday, another trek around the sun, I’m supremely thankful for life and all the opportunities that come with it. I’ve taken this quick look back as I continue to chart my way forward. Thank you for being part of the journey, for reading, commenting, sharing and enjoying. It means a lot.

    Be inspired, Be informed, Be Glorious!

    Kevin

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  • People we should leave behind in January 2018

    People we should leave behind in January 2018

    We have a way of mistitling and misrepresenting the people in our lives. We mistakenly call some ‘friends’, ‘day ones’, ‘girlfriend’, ‘boyfriend’, ‘Bae’ – all in the name of placement and proximity.

    The truth is, over time, we pay dearly for these mistakes because every person in your life comes at a cost. The cost however is relative to how much of yourself you’re willing to put on the line for these people.

    So as we end the first month of 2018, I felt it was valuable to take a moment to identify and call out some of the characters that float through my life, and probably yours.

    Let’s declare it. We are leaving the whole lot of them in January 2018, where they belong! Let the year officially begin.

    The Liars

    Diana King has a famous song titled L-L-Lies which describes a lover who continues to lie through his teeth, despite the fact that he was caught practically red handed, cheating. The liar in your life is like that and even worse, because they are prone to lying to you about things that don’t even concern you.

    When someone close enough to you chooses to lie about their actions or things going on in their lives, it’s time to bid them farewell. The worst lies are stupid lies, told by even stupid(er) people. Leave that in 2017.

    The Time Vampires

    We are all trying to be progressive because life is about moving forward and levelling up. In 2018, many opportunities abound for us to level up and create the life that we deserve. In order to do that, we must harness our most valuable resource, strategically and efficiently.

    Time Vampires, are always up to hang and be idle, but never for anything productive or uplifting. They come in various forms too, such as that person you’ve been ‘kinda seeing’ but to date you’re unable to define what it is y’all have exactly – That’s time vampire behaviour!

    Don’t be anyone’s time piece! They are consuming your time at their convenience while you rationalise and call it complicated. Get real!

    The Perpetually Sorry

    If there is anyone in your life who has reason to be telling you ‘sorry’ alot, bid them farewell! Sorry is not a password for continued malfeasance and it usually outlives its usefulness after the fourth or fifth time being used to excuse the same action.

    Unfortunately, there are many people who believe that sorry is a cure-all that makes everything ok. It is not and you should not have to accept it.

    It becomes quite ridiculous when someone repeatedly finds them self in a position to be apologising, so much so that sorry becomes the word you most often associate with them. Let them keep the apologies and leave them and their bad ways in January 2018.

    The Borrowers

    Mendicancy is such a terribly unattractive quality. Too bad many of us have not grown immune to the power of those who are always begging/borrowing.

    You have plans for your life, you have a budget, you make sacrifices… yet this person always seems to be moving in the completely opposite direction in terms of values. So it comes like nothing for them to borrow from you. Good hearted as you are, you lend, freely. Then comes time for you to be repaid… there are a multiplicity of issues that surround you getting back your money. There’s drama. You vow never again. You forget. Then the borrower returns.

    Let’s leave these awful borrowing experiences in January 2018. The disrespect and misfortune that you experienced before should be left in the past. Make a pledge to give the gift of a NO more often and save yourself the trouble.

    The Ignorers

    It’s time to take back your attention. At this moment, there are people you are giving your energy and time to, and they have chosen to ignore you.

    Let go.

    Let’s focus on the real people, the ones who are present and who care for who you are. Sometimes the best thing you can do is accept the apology and explanation that you never received.

    There were a few more personas that I wanted to call out, but I feel that they would be pretty obvious. January was a good test run, it’s now time to really get the year started. Clear your space and your head because 2018 is officially open for business.

    Be inspired, Be informed, Be Glorious!

    Kevin

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  • Just do It: How I finally became a Blogger

    Just do It: How I finally became a Blogger

    What’s it about?

    The first question most people ask when you tell them that you’re planning to develop a blog usually:

    “What is it about?”

    Still fresh to the blogosphere, I’ve already started to field this question from persons when I share that I have a blog.

    For a while, I was challenged to find an answer to the question as I attempted to identify a focus or subject to cover.

    “When I discover who I am, I’ll be free.”― Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man

    But after three years of planning, ruminating and procrastinating, I decided that this space would be an extension and expression of the multi-faceted person that I am.

    So, why be limited to just one area of focus?

    That being said, I still have to answer that question — “What is it about?”

    Kevin O’Bryan is a personal-lifestyle blog.

    Personal, because it allows me to open up like never before, to the whole, wide world.

    Lifestyle, because it will reflect so many aspects of my own life as well as the aspirational and inspirational areas of my interests.

    Accepting the challenge

    It took me a while to fully grasp this concept and it took even longer for me to admit that it was an obstacle. One that I had to jump over to achieve the goal of becoming a blogger.

    Along the way, I had great help getting my thoughts and actions aligned, in order to create what exists today.

    The first person to come to my aid was a friend from college, Quame.

    He saw my plea for help on Facebook for a graphic designer who could create a logo and volunteered his services.

    Unbeknownst to me, he had established a choice agency – Q3 Studio  that specialises in photography and graphic design.

    Considering that Quame resides in Ottawa, Canada, it was incredible that he was as attentive and willing to take the time to work with me to realize a vision, I was still fleshing out, way back in 2014.

    Early on, he let me know, that based on my posts on social media, he would be very interested to see what I would produce as a blogger and that is the reason why he was willing to help.

    I received top class service and was able to review and give feedback on the various iterations of what would eventually become my logo.

    And then it sat, unused but still valuable, for over 3 years.

    Forget the Excuses!

    During that period, I took the time to work on my Master’s Degree, which provided a good excuse, not to pursue my vision, for two years.

    But once I completed my studies at the end of 2015, I was out of excuses and as 2016 drew to a close, I knew it was time to get the ball rolling once again.

    Often times, it’s not the huge hurdles or obstacles in our way that prevent us from finishing what we start. Instead, it’s just tiny pebbles in our path that we percieve to be dream killers.

    One such pebble for me was the task of selecting a look and feel for the blog. So I asked a co-worker to select 10 themes, five free and five that come at a cost.

    From this list I found the perfect theme, which you now experience and once I selected that, I truly had no more excuses.

    The Full Picture

    The next big thing was deciding which photographer I would shoot with to make this whole dream pop, just the way I envisioned.

    My friend Racheal recommended a photographer she knows very well, Jik Reuben and after procrastinating for about a month or more, I finally gave him a call and set up a meeting.

    He was a joy to work with!

    Not only did he understand my vision, he embraced wholeheartedly the spirit of what I was aiming to achieve. He showed me samples of his impressive portfolio and outlined everything in detail.

    Roll around to shoot day and with the help of my fave chica, Nakeeta, who did my makeup, I was all set and ready to be a star for two hours.

    It took some music and laughs to get me relaxed and after a while, it was almost as if I was one with the camera (in my head).

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    Helping Hands

    The whole experience taught me some valuable lessons about myself and achieving goals. The most important being this – It is ok to ask for help!

    If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. – African Proverb But no matter how much help you ask for and receive, it will be worth nothing, if you do nothing!

    So, whenever the urge comes over me to pull back from a goal, or fear tells me it’s not possible, I have learned to put on a brave face and just do the damn thing anyway!

    It’s gotten me this far.

    Be inspired, Be informed, Be Glorious!

    Kevin