Instagram Questions Answered

Last Saturday, I asked my Instagram readers to send their questions and I am so glad so many of them sent their questions. I am answering the selected ones in this post. So, let's begin.

1. What's the 5 best relationship advice you can give someone? -Jyoti PM
-As long as a relationship makes sense to the two people involved in it and they love eath other truly, I don't think any advice matters. Still, I am trying to mention best 5:

• Communicate: without clear communication, every relationship becomes messy. No one's a mind reader and the more straightforward you are with your needs, the easier things get.
• Make time for each other: We live in a too busy world, and hence, it's important to keep some time reserved for only and only your partner.
• Keep a balance of both showing and expressing love: Actions speak louder than words, yes, but sometimes it feels great to hear it from the person that they love you. Show your love through actions but once in a while, even though you're not expressive, tell them that you love them.
• Be Honest: Trust is the foundation of every relationship. You can lie to and hide from any person in your life but unless you can be yourself completely and wholly with the person you love, your relationship's foundation shall stay weak. Honesty takes a relationship to another level.
• Don't rely on them for making you happy: Your beloved is in your life to be on this journey of life with you but in the end, we are all responsible for our own happiness. If you become dependent on them for happiness, you'll suffocate them as well as yourself. We should be accountable for our own emotions. If they do injustice with you, confront them about it. But expecting them to make you happy all the time is too much to ask from a person. They have their own life too.

Hope this helps.

Photo by Tom Parsons on Unsplash

2. The one whom I love is committed and I am blocked on expressing love. I still love her 24x7. Is this true love? -Jayesh

-I cannot say anything about true love. I still don't know the exact definition of true love. All I can say is that if she's happy in her committed relationship, your love won't let you ruin it ever. It won't be right to express your love if she's in a commitment because then the situation would become really tough for both of you. Loving from distance is a beautiful form of selfless love.

3. How did you build a readership? -Natasha

-I just kept posting consistently on Instagram and the readership kept growing. I had begun with only a few of my Twitter friends as my readers who support me till date, then I joined the writing community on Instagram. Interacting with other writers and getting features by writing feature pages helped me a lot in the same.

4. What do you think about soulmates? Do you believe they exist and meet? -Umealeen

-I think we have limited soulmate to the person we're supposed to spend our life with as partners or husband-wife. Soulmates are all the people with whom we feel like we have a past-life connection with, they just understand us and get us in a different way. They can be your parents, siblings, cousins, friends... absolutely anyone you feel a strong and deep connection with.

5. Is it okay if my poems don't rhyme often? -Bhavani

-That's totally okay. In fact, mine hardly ever rhymes properly. But I try to make sure that my closing lines are in a specific rhythm so that it leaves the readers with a smile.

6. How not to repeat some topics while writing poems? -Bhavani

-It's hard to avoid repeating topics, especially the ones that you love writing about. Maybe this is the reason so many short poems on Instagram seems similar even if they are not plagiarised. We take a thought and weave words around it. You may try making a list of different topics you can write about and keep adding things to the list whenever you come across something worth writing about. If you have an urge to repeat a previous topic, refer to that list and pick a topic that you've never written about.

Photo by Brad Neathery on Unsplash

7. How do you feel when you Google yourself? -Jyoti

-I haven't done it since long *Googles now*. But yes, it feels good. When your book appears on top of Google search by entering your name, I feel proud of what I have created and where I have come, though I still have a long way to go, and with love and support from friends like you, I hope to cover that distance in the right time.

8. Why do people call it his/her karma? Why can't they simply help instead of acting like an audience? -Sarfaraz

-It adds to their karma when they deny someone a helping hand. Someday they'd be in need and someone else will ignore their call for help calling it their karma. We should help the one in need as long as it's possible and keep our deeds clean. We are no one to judge other's deeds or past.

9. What are the essentials for developing writing skills? -Krishna

- Love and passion for writing, observing things in life that other people often neglect, and practice. Make writing such a habit that it feels as natural as eating food. The more you write, the more your skills develop. Above all, read a lot!

10. How do you want to explore subjects that go beyond contemporary writing? -Bottle Bard
-I want to learn everything that I'm called to learn and as much as I can learn but when it comes to writing, I want to stick to the contemporary writing only because that's my forte, to write emotions and reality hidden behind the tag of fiction. I want to maintain the authenticity of my writing and I know that if I start to experiment a lot, I'd ruin my style.

11. Where did you get the motivation to write and such a deep understanding of God? -Gautam
-I don't understand God, but all I know is that our belief and faith take us closer to God, and life seems a little less difficult. I get the motivation to write from my friends, my fellow writers, authors whom I admire, nature, life... it just comes from anywhere and everywhere. Not to forget, pretty journals and smooth pens.

12. How did you start journaling? -Quill writes

-I saved this question for the last. I have been a huge addict of notebooks and stationery since childhood and even I can't understand my obsession sometimes. I took journaling seriously in 2015, before that I just used to scribble in random notebooks. I had no idea about the term 'Journal' or 'Journaling'. 2015 was the year journaling became an inseparable part of my life. I began my first journal by writing my random thoughts, poems and short stories, then I made another journal which I dedicated to gratitude journaling. I searched journals on Instagram and I entered a whole new world of journals. Just take a notebook and start pouring anything and everything that comes to your mind in that.