Be yourself. Cliché but true.

"So, M. You wanna start vlogging again, right? But how on earth do you compete with all the other vloggers out there? Like for me, I want to write but there so many writers out there who's probably better or more engaging than me. How on earth do I stand out?".

It was 4.10pm. I was tired, frustrated and bored. 

We were chilling in the swing room in the office. M was already dozing off after a bunch of Trump-Clinton videos and I was at wits' end trying to figure out how to reach this eye care brand to people on the Internet. Honestly, the last place I wanted to be was here. 

M looked up, walked to the table, shrugged and said, "I guess you just have to be yourself."

Oh, like I didn't know that already.

Judging by my wry expression, he quickly added, "Well, these smart vloggers have excellent cameras and other great gears. Also, they have a persona. Like, you've heard of PewDiePie, right? That's a persona."

"A persona? What about Maxim Bady?," I started to laugh, remembering that epic 'girl speaks fluent american' video that suffered the wrath of Maxim Bady's garish opinions.

"Do you actually think Maxim Bady even speaks like that?," M shot a knowing look. "At the end of the day, it's about being yourself, your authentic self. And it's also about having great quality and being persistent."

Be yourself. Righttttt...
And then I wondered, what happened to writing for the love of writing?
Why was I so concerned about being outstanding? The writers I currently follow on Twitter have all been verified, even the ones I dislike are making it big in their relevant fields.

And then there's me. The measly social-media-turned-copywriter telling women why they need a RM2000 anti-ageing cream when I bloody well know that these women are gonna age into a wrinkly prune and die anyway.

On top of discovering my old blog from 2008 (honestly, that has been the highlight of my week), I read through my old posts - not the ones from 2009 coz those sucked, by the way - and remembered how it would take heavy medication to get me to stop writing. So, I made a choice.

I'm gonna write the way I want to write. Whether it's depressing, witty, lame or cheery, I don't really give two hoots anymore. Of course, with the exception of abiding to the style guides of the publications I contribute for. As for this blog, nothing will be barred.

So yes, M. I will take your advice and be myself. That's the only persona the world's gonna get.