Hey everyone!

I’m so excited to share blogmas day 14 – I can’t believe we’re past the half-way point already. Today’s blogmas is really exciting since it’s an interview with Monique from the wonderful blog Life Begins at Twenty.

Monique reached out a few weeks ago wanting to interview me which was such a pleasure. You can check that out here. She has a series called ‘5 questions with…’ and I’ve adopted that style for this interview. There will only be 5 questions and their pairing answers. I do hope, however, that you enjoy reading despite its length!

Hi Monique! Thank you for allowing me to interview you today. For my followers that don’t know who you are, tell us a bit about yourself. Where are you from? What do you study? 

Hi, everybody! I’m Monique, a 20-year-old college student taking up journalism and blogger based on the Philippines. I talk about my struggles and experiences as an aspiring writer who just finished writing my very first novel last October. Aside from that, I also spread motivation and advice to young adults my age. Even more, I share my thoughts on relationships, adulting, and everything that goes along my life in my twenties. I talk about all of this in my blog called www.lifebeginsattwenty.com. I’d appreciate it if you spare a few minutes of your time to visit it and read one or two articles.   

Your blog is called ‘Life Begins At Twenty’. What inspired you to come up with this username and why do you believe that, ‘life begins at twenty’?

Well, maybe for one, like most of us, our twenties is one of the most exciting and daunting periods of our life. And since I’ve thought about getting my own blog when quarantine started, I thought it would be the perfect chance to make my blog niche about my life as I enter my twenties. In fact, my first blog post was about things you need to learn before you turn 20. You can click here to read it. Besides, I think the name is quite catchy and can be easily remembered. 

I believe that life begins at twenty because it’s the time when we finally explore ourselves and seek for our purpose in life. Life begins when we take the first step to reaching our dreams even when we don’t know how we get there. 

Some people say your twenties are the most difficult decade. Why would you say this is the case? And how do you enjoy these years of intense personal growth?

Yes, twenties is the most difficult decade since we are all trying to be the best that we can be (a part of this reason is to satisfy expectations). Read more about this here. In your twenties, you feel like every emotion is magnified to the highest level. You make it a goal to be consistent with your habits but sometimes you feel like you’re not progressing in any way. It can be really frustrating without the proper mindset and if you don’t surround yourself with people who are good for you. 

I would say my outlook in life is positive (thankfully) because for some reason, I’m not ashamed or afraid to make mistakes because I don’t see them as mainly mistakes. I see them as opportunities to grow, and that’s why I embrace them fully. I enjoy these years of intense personal growth by not taking it for granted — the freedom, energy, time. These are things we often overlook because we think we will always have them. Throughout my journey, I strive to achieve my dreams and to help my family by investing in these three things. 

What would be your advice to anyone, of any age, to live life to the fullest? 

Step out of your comfort zone because there’s more to life than what you choose to be in. It would be such a waste if you fail to see what the world has to offer for you. If you haven’t done what you always wanted to do, start doing it now and not some other day. You can do that by not caring what other people will have to say about your choice and it shouldn’t matter to you what they think. It’s better to live life with failure than with regrets.

Being a student and hosting a blog is a lot to juggle. What signals it’s time to take a break, and how do you practise self-care? 

Yes, it is, without a doubt. I take a break when I think I’ve done more at a specified time and when I feel like my body needs it. I don’t overwork because I aim for quality results and not something mediocre. A tired mind and body produces mediocre results, so I am careful not to abuse both. I practice self-care by eating food that I love (although I don’t necessarily eat healthy food always, I set my limits carefully), getting enough sleep, cuddling with my nieces and nephews, and staying away from drama. 

Thank you so much for answering my questions today. I’m sure my followers loved getting to know you a bit better. Just before we leave, is there one final thing you’d like to say to my readers? Maybe an interesting fact they don’t already know? 

I don’t know if this is interesting but I’m a fast typer (let’s make a bet on TyperShark, I challenge you haha). Also, I love singing and writing songs. I’m open to my taste in music. 

Thank you so much for the opportunity, Cath!

It was so wonderful interviewing Monique. She is a wonderful personality and her advice centred blog is full of everything you need to know in your twenties. I have inserted a link to her blog here so that you can easily go to give a read.

How do you practise self-care?

I’d love to here your responses to this question in the comments below. Self-care is individual and I love to here how people perceive the idea of looking after yourself. I will be sharing my perspective on self-care in a Chats With Cath post later this week – so do stay tuned!

Best wishes,

Catherine x

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