Life is constantly full of surprises and might not go according to your plan. You might have a strict 5 year plan or maybe it's a one month plan. It's great to have goals in life, but make sure you don't get caught up in all the small details. Stay flexible, adaptable, have goals, and when something occurs that might seem off - like having it snow in March - seize the moment. Who knows, maybe diverging might be the best thing that could have ever happened to you.
I know it’s been awhile since I last posted anything here; the start of the year always seems to be my toughest month(s) to get new content up since it’s usually spent getting over jet lag and getting back into the rhythm of things.
Every new year, I try to set up a few personal goals. I’m usually 80% successful in keeping them, but for the first time ever, I’ve already broken almost 80% of them. This put me even more off beat. We’re at the end of month 2 of 2018 and I know I’m a little late to the “2018 resolution” party, but hey, better late than never, right?
We all have our fears and insecurities, whether it’s packing up your belongings to move to a new city, letting go of certain relationships because you don’t want to be alone, avoiding certain food items to maintain your figure, or getting yourself to attend that network/class you’ve always wanted to try. Whatever it is, I know everyone has their fears and insecurities, and that’s okay because we’re only human.
2018, I’m going to start tackling some of my fears head-on one by one. I’m in my 20s, so this really is the time to work hard, take risks, and take a leap of faith. It’s the time to jump out of comfort zones and start hiking that mountain you’ve always wanted to hike. It won’t be an easy journey, but if we don’t challenge ourselves when we’re young and have the energy, then how are we supposed to do so when we’re older? They say 20s is when you should start developing healthy skills because it’ll continue to carry over with you through your life, so let’s start developing them.
Even if you’re younger/older than 20s, it’s never too early/late for you to start your hike up that mountain you’ve always wanted to climb. Just don’t give up once you start, go by your own pace, and take moments to appreciate where you’re at because every step will have its own beauty if you look around. Once you get to the top and take-in the breathtaking view, you’ll feel on-top of the world and so incredibly proud that you challenged yourself to go on this journey.
I don’t ever want to look back in my life and think to myself, “what if I just went for it” or “I should have taken that leap of faith”. This is a lesson I learned early on in my high school years. Knowing fear was the reason for holding me back has personally become an unacceptable excuse.
And so, I’m going to stop procrastinating and make this the year I tackle my fears one by one. 2018, I am so incredibly excited. It's going to be an exciting year filled with lots of growth.
Autumn. Words can't describe how much I love this season.
I recently got a car and I've been debating for years whether I really needed one. I work/live in the city and next to the metro, and uber/lyft would come handy when public transportation would breakdown. So, I kept going back and forth, was it really worth all the additional expense?
Yes.
Getting a car opened my eyes and it honestly felt like I inherited wings. I love how I can freely go wherever I want, whenever I want -- my options are endless (aka I can now get good Asian food whenever too).
But it's not just this new freedom I love.
Over the past year or two, I started to feel suffocated living here. I still found this city beautiful but it just didn't excite me as much as it used to. I had this urge to get out and thought maybe moving to a new city would be a good solve, but once I got my car, this feeling I had started to change its course.
I forgot how much I love being encompassed by nature.
There's a lot of greenery in MD/VA and a lot of parks/hiking trails. Having a car now lets me go on these spontaneous trips and surround myself with nature. The DMV lets me stay close to both nature and the city. Does this mean moving to a new city and starting a new chapter is off the tables? Absolutely not, but having this car has helped me fall in love with this area all over again.
It's finally starting to feel like my favorite weather! Hello, Autumn.
Whenever I go on these mini photoshoots, I like to return the favor to the friend who's taking my photo by taking a few photos of him/her. During this photo op, the friend I was with asked me what I would do and who I would be if I didn't have my camera. My response?
"I wouldn't be me."
Being able to view the world through my lens and capturing moments is one of my favorite activities and something I've always cherished doing. When I was a kid, I loved going through old photo albums and watching old home videos. It would puzzle me that I couldn't recall some of the events that were captured on film even though I was in the frame.
The way our brain works and the way we're able to retain (or forget) things is so complicatedly interesting.
Once I got my hands on my first camera, I couldn't stop taking photos, not only because it was "cool" to take awkward mirror selfies with your BFF and post them on Myspace afterwards, but also because I couldn't trust my brain to remember everything. I wanted to capture these moments to look back to.
I always joke with my friends that my camera is an extended part of my body.
I know I'm not a professional photographer and I don't know every single thing about photography, but this is just a hobby of mine I enjoy and helps me hit pause in life to appreciate my surroundings.
It's that time of the year when the weather is supposed to start cooling down as we transition into my favorite season, fall, but for some reason, I'm still out and about wearing shorts as the weather continues to fluctuate.
Update on my life (for anyone interested): I was recently reunited with an old friend, and this friend re-reminded me the importance of carefully selecting who you allow yourself to be around. This friend of mine has an extremely kind-genuine heart, always has a positive attitude, and knows how to stay grounded. This made me re-realize how crucial it is to have people you respect and people who respect you in your life, and I know this all sounds cliche, but it's so true.
When you haven't seen or talked to someone in a while, there's always that slight chance things might be slightly awkward, since people change and grow, but being able to pick things up quickly and naturally when you do reunite is one of the greatest feelings ever. It's almost as if you're able to revert back to those "good old days".
When you revert back to those "good old days," you're reminded who you used to be and you see how much you've grown over the past few weeks, months, years. When you take a step back and pause to think who you've been spending your time with in absence of your old friend, you'll notice how everyone impacts your life differently.
I'm about to take on new challenges and leap out of my comfort zone. As nervous as I am, I'm also excited for what's to come, and I know I wouldn't be able to do this without the support of my friends and family. After hanging out with this old friend, I felt refreshed and felt like the problems and stress I was facing 10 minutes ago were lifted off my shoulders.
My old friend reminded me even more how thankful I am to call the people who are my friends, my friends. The people who truly care about you are the relationships worth fighting for, but remember, any relationship can't be a one-way street.
Hello, September. I can't believe how quickly the last few months flew by. Safe to say, it's been a crazy past few months.
I took on a new project this summer that's been consuming my life. I wanted to prioritize this project of mine and give my 110% so I'd end up with the best possible outcome. I've also been trying to figure out next steps for my life/career and thought going on a social media cleanse would help me figure this out, so I left my camera on my shelf to collect some dust and deleted majority of my social apps from my phone too.
It recently hit me how much I've had to sacrifice for this ongoing project of mine and how wrapped up I've become, it was to the point I started getting lost (I know, not good). And so, after a few long weeks of hiatus, I finally decided to pick up my camera again and bring back the old me. Although I still plan to give my 110% on this project, I'm also going to make more time for me and to recharge.
Time for new adventures. Stay tuned!
2015. What an amazing, incredible, and a year full of many blessings. From being employed, graduation, jumping out of my comfort zone, and making new friends and seeing old ones, 2015 has been a year full of countless blessings and I can't express how thankful I've been. Here's a quick recap of my year (click on the photos to see captions):
2016. I'm still in the process of writing down my New Years resolution. I'm a little apprehensive and nervous of what's to come, but I'm also excited for all the challenges and (hopefully even more) blessings. All I know is that 2016 is going to be an adventure and I plan on taking this year to grow professionally, learn to love myself more, become more humble and selfless, and... like I said, I'm still in the process of writing this all down.
Wishing everyone a Happy New Year! Here's a silly photo of my teenage brother and me being my goofy self welcoming the New Year.
Goodbye 2015, Hello 2016!
