“Tell us your name and one interesting thing about yourself.”

You know how sometimes when you go to a class or a group activity and they make everyone go around and introduce themselves to the group?

“Tell us your name, and one interesting thing about yourself.”

I always hated it when they did that. It feels like we’re competing with each other to be the most interesting person in the room which, I know, is totally not the purpose of the exercise.

BUT despite the fact that I don’t like that exercise, I actually don’t mind it on paper (or in this case, screen).

First and foremost, my name is Daphne, nice to meet you.

Ever since I was little, I’ve enjoyed creative writing. I used to write lots of stories (most of them unfinished, mind you) and also told my mother I was going to be an author like JK Rowling when I grew up. My mother did not find that idea appealing and told me the chances of me being as successful as JK Rowling were pretty slim (she wasn’t entirely wrong though, it would be tough to match that kind of success). Of course, it didn’t really stop me from writing for fun, but as I grew up I also became interested in a different medium: film. I loved the magic of moviemaking and as soon as I was able to get my hands on a camcorder I was recording videos. At this point I was a bit older and had some idea the realities of choosing career paths such as filmmaking. Additionally, my parents didn’t support it either. Long story short, writing and video remained a hobby.

Here’s where a third interest comes in: travel. I had travelled to a few places with my family growing up and if I wasn’t documenting it with journal entries or photos then I was doing so with video. If I recall correctly, the first time I decided to actually put together my video clips into some form of an edit (with Windows Movie Maker, no less) was with my family trip to Shanghai around 10 years ago. That might have been the first time I really comprehended how different Shanghai was compared to where I grew up (O Canada!); I essentially experienced culture shock, which really opened up my eyes. It was fascinating to me to actually see more than one way a group of people could live and that a society could function. I wanted to see more.

It didn’t really occur to me nor was ever presented as an option to me until more recently that people could combine the above interests and actually make a living off of it, but in this day and age it is absolutely possible. I had gone a pretty traditional route: I went through school and got a professional degree and job, but if I could write and make videos about my travels then that’s what I would do forever. I started a YouTube channel not too long ago with the hope of being able to share these visual documentations and creations, and while I cannot currently live off of it, I enjoy doing it nonetheless and I hope to continue that here on Steemit and DTube.

Keep Xploring,
Daphne

Side Note: I also enjoy singing from time to time as well, which is why you may spot some song covers from me.

Instagram: @daphnexplores
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/daphnexplores
Facebook: @daphnexplores
Twitter: @daphnexplores