Guest Blogger - Oh Deary Me

‘Get busy living or get busy dying’ Shawshank Redemption.

My name is Becki Burrows, and I run a video blog called Oh Deary Me.



I returned to the UK from a short stint teaching English in South Korea in January this year. My inspiration levels were flat lining. I was down to my last ten pounds and desperate for work. I thus found myself in a terrible temp job that only just covered the rent. As I was cold calling away my mothers shrill voice would echo through my mind "I told you you should have…"



My head was spinning and I was in a creative black hole. But I wasn’t going to admit defeat. No way. I needed to do something. Fast. A few years ago I had embarked on a project to blag it into twenty festivals – get backstage and interview some famous musicians, editing and uploading the videos swiftly overnight on a Sunday ready for a Monday morning where I would then go to my day job. From that I was lucky enough to win some online competitions that resulted in two things; a video camera and a laptop.

This got me thinking.



"It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting." — Paulo Coelho (The Alchemist)



Life needed to be re-evaluated. I needed to get inspired…motivated…to take some steps to reach some goals. I had lost my way. And… I desperately needed a haircut. The hairdresser I had visited in Korea had not understood my hand gestures and I was sporting an awful ginger mess which made me want to cry every time I looked in the mirror. Life was not where I wanted it to be.



Fittingly Aloe Blacc came on the radio "I need a dollar dollar, a dollar is what I need".. this got me to thinking. About wants vs needs.. living vs surviving.



‘The best way to think about reality, I had decided, was to get as far away from it as possible’ (Haruki Murakami)



I decided to embark on a personal creative project. I would call it ‘The Inspiration Series’. It would be a journey of self discovery. I would follow in the footsteps of Brian Topp from Spaced and drive myself artistically using the attributes: anger, pain, fear and aggression to get myself into a more marketable position. I would explore the question ‘how far can you get with a little help from the right places’.



"I can choose either to be a victim of the world or an adventurer in search of treasure. It's all a question of how I view my life." Paulo Coelho (Eleven Minutes)

Surrounded by rising unemployment levels – I had to think creatively how I could possibly work around my situation.



‘Be like water making its way through cracks’ Bruce Lee

With a lot of perseverance and hard work I went about filming/editing and presenting a series of short video blogs getting help from friends who wanted some experience. Using brand interaction and taking opportunities as soon as they landed my way… my summer… went a bit like this:



Vlog One feat. Friends Electric and The Asteroids Galaxy Tour



The Inspiration Series – A Day Out With Chilly Gonzales



The Inspiration Series Does Fashion Vlogging Featuring Ms Dynamite and Lemar



The Inspiration Series does Food Vlogging at Jamie Oliver’s Big Feastival



The Inspiration Series introduces The Patrick James Pearson Band



The Inspiration Series goes to Camp Bestival featuring Ed Sheeran and Groove Armada



I hope you got something out of that. We are certainly living in tough times. So I will leave you with a quote that I found motivating from Michael Jordan…



If you're trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I've had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.



Michael Jordan Or as Lucas from Empire Records says’.. ‘Damn the Man…'