Sharjah: Author Jasmine Brett Stringer told audiences at the Sharjah International Book Fair that she is “a lot of things: lifestyle expert, social media maven, nationally sought-after blogger and, most of all, a person who lives life to the fullest by seizing each and every day”.
Referring to her new book, ‘How to Carpe Diem Every Day’, Jasmine said: “It is a book about self-reflection. People think carpe diem (Latin for ‘seize the day’) means having to make something massive happen and then immediately post it with a hashtag, but that isn’t what it means; it is an ongoing philosophy.
“I used to work in sales in corporate America and I wanted to be in win-win situations with customers.” But having been laid off from her work, Stringer had a revelation that put her on a new path.
“I have always tried to spread positivity and I realised that there is so much fear in the world that it almost suffocates us and that is not how we should lead our lives. People may not know what their passion is, but we must always remember that we are ‘good enough’ to be in any room with any people. Being ‘good enough’ is an attitude we must all carry with us.
“Every week, carpe diem has a new meaning for me. Life changes in the blink of an eye either for the good or for the bad, so we have to be relentless in seizing our days and seizing our lives.” As a famous blogger, Stringer told the audience how her parents had reacted when she started: “They were totally confused that I should want to do that but sometimes you have to mute the outside sound because not everybody buys into your dream, you’ve got to just follow your GPS and trust your own judgement.”
Ending with a reference and advice regarding social media, Stringer said caution needs to be exercised. “My vision is to spread the message of inclusiveness through the media, whether that is TV, radio, blogs, podcasts and I love social media, but we have to remember — it is not real life.”
