Time for a life update 💌

Wow, I guess this is my first blog post on here. I figured that I'd start this blog off by doing a recap of the past 7 months this year. I guess that's my first life update. 

⊱✿⊰ I finally started a blog that's more public facing thanks to a friend who also blogs. After experimenting with Tumblr and Substack, I chose Blogspot as the place to document my life. It's the only place that makes me feel like I don't have to monetize my writing or make a career out of it and it doesn't even always necessarily have to have a purpose because it's mostly intended for me.

⊱✿⊰ Winter was very rough time. I was struggling with seasonal depression and the days getting dark early made it easy for me to stay home all the time but also made it easy for me to withdraw and not do anything after work. I felt sleepy all the time. Oh, and I strained my jaw (I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW) and had to go the clinic because I couldn't eat bc I couldn't stretch or even open my jaw. I was on meds for a whole week and was drowsy all the time.

⊱✿⊰ I started taking solo trips (in the US). I first eased into solo traveling on a trip to Washington DC where I spent 2 days with my family and 5 days alone. It was the first trip where I realized how freeing it could be to have a whole trip to yourself where you can do whatever you want when you want. 

⊱✿⊰ I went on a family trip to Moab, Arches National Park, and Kanab. One of my favorite trips because I got to unplug from work and my laptop for a whole week. Also got to spend a whole week in close proximity to nature, impressive rock formations, rocks everywhere, small towns, and animals. And of course, eating yummy food every single day. 

⊱✿⊰ My first OFFICIAL SOLO trip was to New York in June. I spent 10 days in brooklyn living and working from home in the city to explore what life could be like-- because vacation and working/living in a city are very different. I got to meet some of my the firiends I've made in the past 2-3 years (some of whom I met on twitter and online communities and during the pandemic). During my time here I  realized that one really should be ready to EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED IN THE CITY (OR ANYWHERE) because I definitely did not expect to encounter my first fire/smoky ORANGE SKIES situation. Look, I'm from Utah and while there have been fires and the air quality isn't that great, that was nothing compared to what happened in New York. THAT FELT APOCALYPTIC. (but more on this later). 

⊱✿⊰ I've been taking care of my body and health a lot more this year than last year (where I neglected myself during my job search). For me this is going to the gym mostly every day after work for 30-40 minutes and getting a brisk uphill walk done on the treadmill

⊱✿⊰ Making puzzles is very recently one of my newest hobbies. There's something so special about puzzles for me that represent a lot about life. I think what I love most is the concept of how you approach building the puzzle together. In some ways the puzzle can be a metaphor for life-- you know where you want to get to, but you don't know how, and there's several ways of getting to where you want to be. That ties directly to how you approach making a puzzle. For me, I realized I hated looking at what the end result was supposed to be so it took me longer to put the pieces together. But I still got the same result even if it did take me longer. I love how puzzles are all about patterns- colors, shapes, lines. I love how you can put the puzzle together by slowly creating little clusters and ultimately connect the clusters together to make the whole puzzle. That's what life is right? little moments (little clusters/segments) that make a whole life. 

⊱✿⊰ I started setting more boundaries around work-- in the past I tended to work a lot past 5 just to get my work done (maybe also the pressure of being a contractor than a full-time employee). It wasn't until a close friend of mine gave me a hard reality check on how awful my work life balance was that I realized I wanted my life to be less about work and more about....me

⊱✿⊰ I read because I want to read and not because I feel like I have to. Last year I was obsessed with achieving my Goodreads goal for the year and this year I realized that reading more doesn't make it a better experience. This year I had a lot of books I chose to not finish reading even if I'm far from reading goal because they simply weren't for me. Or maybe..I was reading them at the wrong time. So nowadays, I read a lot more slowly but I make sure that I enjoy or learned a little something from what I read. 

⊱✿⊰ I met my coworkers in real life a few months ago in the NY office! They are some of the most amazing people I've ever worked with and I've learned so much from each of them during my time here. They are supportive of my goals, learnings, and progress and I truly am so grateful for them! Also it was great to actually hang out with my coworkers and talk about non-work as well. 

⊱✿⊰ moving slow is okay! or, actually, slow isn't really a thing when you're making progress or moving in life. I think everyone has their own pace and we should own that and be confident in our decisions (as much as possible). I struggled with this a lot (and still do) because I feel like some of my larger goals haven't been attained yet when I really wanted to but some factors were out of my control that affected some of my life choices and goals. THAT BEING SAID, my goals are not completely out to the question. I'm moving towards them still (just slowly) and they are still going to happen. 

⊱✿⊰ I started journaling again. A few months ago, I found a journal back from 2019 that I wrote in almost every day and being able to look back at every entry from back and then and compare it to my life today and how far I had come (in some aspects of my life). This actually prompted me to start writing more often in my journal (both the pleasant and unpleasant experiences)

⊱✿⊰ I love spending my days cooking dinner with my mom. She's that person that doesn't measure ingredients when cooking so the way I've learned to cook is by watching glad actually doing the cooking rather than jotting down the recipe. Something I've learned about my mom is how distinct our cooking styles are. For one, she doesn't like to measure ingredients when cooking because she relies on her instincts and trial and error. I don't like this because I love having measurements, I love precision. I want to know exactly how to make something and I want it to be done right. 

Which brings to my next point. It's also why I love baking. I enjoy baking because I know that I follow the exact measurements and recipe I will come face to face with a delicious chocolate-y banana bread (or whatever it is I'm baking) and it's going to taste like heaven. My mom on the other hand, she has no patience for measuring ingredients. I guess i like to have control over what I'm making while my mother feels she doesn't need as much control. 

⊱✿⊰ i got into acrylic painting again! I don't have an art space set up in my house so I've been going to some painting sessions at a studio 

⊱✿⊰ THIS YEAR HAS BEEN THE YEAR OF MAINTAINING AND FORMING NEW FRIENDSHIPS. These past few months I have spent spending time with my old friends and new friends. Going on walks, going to cafes and just talking, getting food and people watching at the park, baking together, and so much more. I love my friends and truly they bring me so much joy and happiness. 

⊱✿⊰ I found that another favorite hobby of mine is reading webtoons! Lately I've been reading "See you in my 19th life" which is a super cute romance webtoon and it's actually also a k-drama on netflix! 

⊱✿⊰ I've spent mostly every weekend going to farmers markets this summer so far-- I love buying freshly made basil and asiago bread loaves and freshly grown strawberries (the smaller they are the sweeter they are btw)