Life in our modern world is easy. We no longer worry about being preyed on by other creatures, no need to hunt and gather our food, and for most of us, we have shelter every night. Many of our “problems” are self-imposed and I don’t believe there are real issues to complain about. We are so tunneled in our vision that sometimes our problems seem inescapable, but we need only shift our perspective to see the solution. When I think of my worst-case scenario, I’m not afraid; I spend all my money, lose my house, and become homeless? Even then, there are resources to help me get back on my feet. It is not a matter of life or death, but a difference in standard of living. 

Last year, I spent negative money on clothes, accessories, electronics, and anything else that falls under “shopping”. That is not to say that I didn’t buy anything all year, but rather that my profits exceeded my expenses. Profits I earned from selling items I’ve acquired over the years and downsizing what I own. 

Here is the list (ones completed are crossed out):

After spending 2 weeks in northern Utah, I embarked on a national park tour the last week of September with a few friends. We hit all five national parks in Utah, as well as one in Nevada. I’ve detailed below a day-by-day itinerary of our schedule and activities, as a guide for anyone looking to do the same!

My 23rd year started with a big goal to purchase a home in San Francisco. I had been planning for this milestone since I was 18, and actually predicted (or hoped) it would happen by age 22/23. By this time last year, I was deep into the house hunt and had been analyzing the market for months. Despite the winter slowdown in inventory, I pushed forward with the search and finally in late January, closed on my first duplex.

In today’s world, we are persuaded to believe that doing what others expect of us is the answer to a happy life. External expectations and norms shape us as individuals and influence our aspirations. Work the 9-5 till you’re 65, and then you can start living. Surely, society benefits from the long work-life of citizens, and individuals have bought into the idea that these jobs are necessary. It adds no advantage that the easiest way in life is to follow that paved path, and not to question what you truly want to accomplish.

The week before this flight was absolute chaos and very likely the most stressful time of my life. More to come on this in a future post, but it was such a relief to finally put that behind me. Originally, I had a flight scheduled for Sunday, Sep 13, but had to reschedule it due to house renovations. I truly didn’t know if I would ever make it out with all that was going on, but I finally departed on Tuesday, Sep 15!!

This post is not as morbid as the title may allude to, but more of a necessary and realistic reflection on life. I’m 23 now, almost a quarter of my life has passed (fingers crossed I’ll make it to at least 100), and with each day and year that goes by, time is becoming more precious to me. I realize the imminence of death and that, truly, our time here is short.

It’s been a tumultuous few weeks in the world, to say the least. Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, there has been social unrest, injustices among many marginalized groups, and cries for change across the nation. There is a movement happening like I’ve never seen before in my life. Although we’re all still working towards understanding what reform looks like, there has been an immense wave of action and support from my friends, our community, and the world at large. This is what inspired me to try to make an impact myself.

I officially started this blog in April 2020, as we all hunkered down, sheltering in place. Since I was spending more time in the kitchen, baking loaves of banana bread and Levain Bakery cookies, I needed a space to store my recipes so I could come back to them. That was all the motivation I needed to revisit the idea of a blog, yet again.