A Fangirl Approach to Life by Being Unapologetically Me

A fangirl approach to life is all about sharing the things that make you happy and help you become a better person. 

Not being afraid to be you. 

Which is what the Be Unapologetically You blogging tag is all about.

It’s a celebration of what you love without being shy or ashamed about it! 

So let’s get on with the tag shall we! 

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Be Unapologetically You Tag Rules: 

1. Use the Be Unapologetically You banner in your post. It can be your featured image or not. It’s totally up to you. 

2. Include the link to this blogging tag (https://www.izzymatias.com/be-unapologetically-you) in your post. 

3. Answer the 7 questions in this tag. 

4. Nominate between 5-10 bloggers, link to their blogs, and tag them on social media to notify them. 

5. Most of all, have fun!

Reminder: you don’t need to include the “Be Unapologetically You Tag” in your blog post title if you don’t want to. 

Be Unapologetically You Questions: 

1. Introduce yourself and your blog while sharing one trivia about you that not that many people know. 
2. What topics do you love geeking out about that you would say are topics that give you bliss? 
3. Do you blog about them? Why or why not? If not, would you like to blog about them one time? 
4. Would you say that you are living life by being unapologetically you? Why or why not? If not, what would your life look like if you were unafraid to share more about the things that make you happy? 
5. Permission to geek out & be unapologetically you: share with us one thing you fangirl or fanboy over and how you became a fan of it. It can be anything. Your love for soy candles, your favorite food, a boy band or an underrated film.
6. What do you love the most about being a fan? 
7. Share a fun or unforgettable fan experience. 

Introduce yourself and your blog while sharing one trivia about you that not that many people know. 

I’m Izzy, a published author, full-time blogger and content creator. I aim to help content creators build their dream blogs by sharing their bliss.

For me, I find joy in writing about blogging, business, KDrama, KPop, travel and my book. Thus, the tagline “a fangirl approach to life” was born! 

One trivia about me is that I was NOT an avid reader until later on, and my love for reading flourished when I was in High school.

I only got into reading after watching Harry Potter when I was around 9.

But I didn’t consider myself a bookworm until I was around 12 or 13. I started creative writing around the same time I fell in love with reading.

My first foray into novel writing was through fan fiction, specifically fan fiction about bands. 

What topics do you love geeking out about that you would say are topics that give you bliss? 

I love talking about blogging, building an online business, books I love like Harry Potter and The Hush Society Presents (ofc I love my own book haha), concerts, music, KDrama, KPop, specifically Astro, and my travels. 

Do you blog about them? Why or why not? If not, would you like to blog about them one time? 

Before, I tried to focus on one or two topics as a blogger.

At one point I even tried to blog about music & travel (I had a travel blog for music lovers), then switched to focus on blogging and online business.

But now, I blog about the topics that give me bliss. It’s more fun that way! 

Would you say that you are living life by being unapologetically you? Why or why not? If not, what would your life look like if you were unafraid to share more about the things that make you happy? 

Not 100% all the time. I still doubt myself and get the imposter syndrome but I try my best to not let these things stop me anymore.

One of the things that challenged me to be unafraid to be myself was to share more of my fangirl life. It’s kind of sad that there’s this negative perception when it comes to being a fangirl, so I think that was one of the things holding me back about being more open about that.

I think what’s important as a fan is to respect the artist/group/actor/actress and show your support in a healthy way.

I like to focus on the good aspects of fangirling like experiencing new things, going to concerts, and making new friends that span across the globe.

Particularly for me, it’s when certain things I am a fan of inspire me to be a better person.

For example, I got into KPop because of Astro and was inspired to get back into dancing.

I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed dancing as I used to participate in my inter-class dance competitions during our batch intramural games. So I’m thankful that joy from dancing has returned and it’s also helped me be healthier physically and mentally since exercising has helped me with my anxiety as well. 

Permission to geek out & be unapologetically you. Share with us one thing you fangirl or fanboy over and how you became a fan of it. It can be anything. Your love for soy candles, a boy band or an underrated film series.

Oh you know I’m going to talk about Astro for this one.

Before Astro, I was into pop rock and indie bands, and British bands like The Kooks and Oh Wonder.

I still love those bands, but KPop is a whole other thing.

I have so much to say about KPop (which I will in my membership once it’s launched) but it’s just amazing how KPop has introduced me to a whole new world.

Since most of the bands I loved before I got into KPop weren’t making new music because of the pandemic, I was amazed at all the content I suddenly could consume in terms of KPop.

They were still putting out new music (like every quarter or so) despite the pandemic.

They have vlogs, YouTube channels, an active social media presence where they update almost daily.

You basically get to know these KPop groups on a more personal level. You learn how funny they are. It’s easy to get sucked in.

With Astro, it all began when I watched their music show performance of Crazy, Sexy, Cool. And then watching this chaotic pool party vlog.

I was shocked and intrigued by their duality. They looked so cool on stage. Offstage, they were adorable dorks (and I say dork as a term of endearment).

They have such fun, chaotic joyful energy. Something I needed during a time of anxiety, uncertainty and so, so much fear.

When I had my anxiety attacks or insomnia because of my anxiety, I would distract myself with watching Astro’s vlogs or variety shows. And it would help.

I’d forget my fear, and end up giggling or smiling. Another thing I really love about Astro aside from how talented each member is, is their world view.

They encourage kindness, and compassion. Instead of getting jealous of one member’s success, they lift one another up.

They’re hardworking, but also look like they have so much fun on stage. It makes me want to be happier and not take life too seriously.

To be honest, it also influenced me when I rebranded my blog.

I wanted to adopt that same worldview of more kindness, more fun, and more dedication to content creation. I have so much more to say, but I’ll stop here or this could be a very long post.

What do you love the most about being a fan? 

And aside from the things I mentioned in the previous question, it’s the joy I get from being a fan and have so much fun.

The people I meet and connect with. I’ve met so many new and kind people! 

Share a fun or unforgettable fan experience. 

Last year, clothing brand Penshoppe, asked fans to submit a 15-second video message for Cha Eunwoo without saying what it was for. One of my favourite KPop groups is Astro, and Cha Eunwoo is my favourite member from that group, so I knew I couldn’t pass up this opportunity.

I had so many things I wanted to tell him such as my debut novel because he likes to read and can speak English. Since 15 seconds was so short I decided to put together a video of me doing Astro’s After Midnight challenge and then added my text message to him.

One of the reasons I chose my dance video was to hopefully stand out so that Penshoppe would choose my video.

However, whenever I would tweet the post with the video, it wouldn’t show up in the search results on Twitter nor when I searched using the hashtags.

I was frustrated, and thought nothing would come of it until a few months later when I saw my video on one of Penshoppe’s video preview of an online series with Cha Eunwoo.

I couldn’t believe it! I squealed. Cha Eunwoo knows of my existence.

And the next I would be able to see his full reaction to my video. I was both excited but also a bit scared because After Midnight was a song he composed, and he saw me dancing to Astro’s choreography.

The next day, I eagerly waited for the episode to premiere and when my clip came on, I was still in shock. His reaction was really cute. And my video did stand out because majority of the videos were of fans talking, so when my dancing video came on, he was surprised, but smiled right away. He even giggled! I love that I was able to make him smile and laugh. You can check out my video message for him here. I can’t move on from this moment.

And a few weeks later, on one of the KPop apps where we could send in messages to him, I commented about thanking him for watching my video, and the next few messages that came “Oh hi~ *waving emoji* Take care Roha” (Roha is Astro’s nickname for their fans) and then he even sent a heart emoji”

I can’t be 100% sure that he was replying to my message since hundreds of other fans send him messages, but the fact that he replied in English when he normally messages in Korean, made me inclined to think that he replied to my message.

Gosh, being a KPop fan is so fun and exciting.

My intention for this year is to win a fansign 1:1 video call with him so I can personally thank him!! And mention my video and book again.

Nominees

Jackie

Merry

The Grumpy Olive

Nyxie 

Ming

Chloe

Mummy Conquering Anxiety

Katie

Molly

Nicole

Ellie

Camila

Karalee

Anne

Isa

If you would like to participate in the Be Unapologetically You blogging tag, feel free to do the tag, and please tag me @izzmatias so that I can share your post. 🙂