30 and Other Ramblings

After a six month hiatus from my blog, I am back! One of my new years resolutions is to write a bit more this year, as I’m preparing to launch my side hustle later this year (more on that later). After a year of living in Madrid, I needed some time to get readjusted to the rhythm of the U.S., which is starkly different from the slower paced, easy going way of the Spanish. Half a year later, I’ve completely adjusted and I’m ready to outline what this year has in store for me.

Life has been incredibly unpredictable, but in the best possible way. Finishing a Fulbright in Spain is like getting to the top of a roller coaster. It’s exhilarating, yet slightly terrifying. There’s also nowhere to go, but down. Coming back and not having set plans as to what I would do or where I would be was excruciatingly frustrating for an anxious person like me. After all, I would be turning 30 in just a few short months! I had plans! BIG plans! After some much needed advice from my good friend, Justin, I realized I already had the insight I needed to get through this patch of uncertainty. 

Over a year ago, I mentioned I had finally gotten around to reading The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. This book teaches us to follow your Personal Legend. Deep within you there is a guiding force, which will take you where it is you are meant to go, even if it’s not what you ever thought or intended it would be. I learned this all to well coming back from Spain. For reasons that are far too personal to share here, I flew to NYC for the first time ever, alone and not knowing what the outcome would be. The outcome is NOT what I expected, but the trip itself allowed me to see my character arc from the time I made the decision years back to return to Spain, to the time I set foot in LAX after finishing my Fulbright. Although I was hoping for a different outcome, I trusted full-heartedly that my Personal Legend would lead the way to an incredible life.

Life changing book 

The advice and support from those around me allowed to see this. Justin reminded me that on paper, I already had enough to get me where I needed to go. My strategy now would be to continue reading, exploring, and growing during the waiting period. After all, at 18 years old, I was traveling across the country, teaching and performing music. At 22, I was a lead and trainer on Disney’s Electrical Parade. At 25, I was graduating from UCLA and heading off to Spain for my first time living and teaching abroad. At 29, I was returning from the cosmically magical year abroad. If there is one thing I am, it's highly adaptable. 

That is what lead me to Archer. The stars aligned and I found myself at my dream job. The culture at my school is exactly what I have always dreamed a school should have. I learn as much from the girls as I hope they learn from us. I couldn’t dream of a better place to continue this educational endeavor that is teaching and I am forever grateful to everyone who helped me get there. I could go on and on about my new home, but I’ll save it for later. 

The Archer School for Girls

Turning 30 caused a much needed self reflection and letting go. Last year was a year of change. There were many welcomed adjustments, like making time for playing music, singing, reading, writing, friends, three hour lunches, and exploration. While others were a bit harder to accept, such as letting go of lifelong friendships and potential romances. Despite that, I used the end of my 29th year to sit in the present and have my sights towards the future. I end this post with my ten goals for 2016.

1.   Be Respectful and Mindful of My Time

In Madrid, I was only working 14 hours a week. As you can imagine, this allowed me to have more free time than I knew what to do with. I learned how to play a new instrument, practiced a couple of languages, had countless amounts of coffee dates, read 12 books, wrote a ton, and explored as much as my little heart could. My mind and body were rejuvenated! Living back in CA, my time is extremely valuable, especially seeing as how I’m commuting 4-6 hours a day (working on changing this). Therefore, planning is essential to life.

2.   Eliminating the Influx of Negativity

This partly ties into number one on this list. I’ve deactivated my Facebook for a while, while I develop better time management skills. In the process, I’ve filtered how much negativity comes at me. Imagine this: You go through your day asking people how their day is going and almost every person you ask complains about something or shows you a picture of their face, or even worse, proceeds to show you how many bicep curls they can do. This is what going on Facebook is like. I no longer hear about Donald Trump anymore, which is the cherry on top. Since I am a big supporter of the first amendment, I will not tell people what they should and shouldn’t post, but would rather bow out of the conversation.

3.   Face-to-Face/Meaningful Interaction

Something I really miss is when your friends would call you on the phone and you’d talk about everything for hours on end. Coffee dates at Starbucks were a ritual we couldn’t miss. In deactivating my Facebook, I’ve also made it a point to email, call, or FaceTime those who I want to keep up with. It’s a work in progress, but it’s better than just seeing someone’s recent check-in somewhere. 

Coffee dates before Yoga

4.   Eliminating White Noise

One thing I’ve realized is that along with Facebook, there are things I have been allowing to numb the creative mind. It is very rare that boredom turns to exploration because we don’t allow ourselves to get bored. By ridding myself of the clutter, I am allowing space for curiosity to flourish. The hours in my car are no longer spent sifting through radio stations, but listening to new podcasts, learning about how to manage my money, or day dreaming about winning the Powerball… yes, I said it. 

5.   Financial Stability and Responsibility

I finally have the big girl job I’ve always wanted. With it comes budgeting on a different scale than I’ve been used to. From barely scraping by to having enough and bit more, it’s been a learning experience I’m grateful for. I’m starting to really cut down on spending and focus on becoming financially educated in a different way, finding ways to invest and bring in more income.

6.   Side Hustle

I recently read an article by Common Sense Millennial, which talked about how the most successful people (financially speaking) have something besides their main source of income that supplements their earnings. I’m working on building my brand, tweaking my skills, and becoming knowledgable on what it takes to get that side hustle. More on that to come!

An embarrassing, yet necessary picture on my 30th birthday

7.   Physical and Mental Health

Last year was a milestone for my physical and mental health. I struggled quite a bit in college, surrounded by the pressures around me. Living in Europe helped ground me, find my inner calm, and enjoy eating ALL of the things (shoutout to the Italian gelato challenge of 2015). Now back in my beautiful southern California, I’m able to add hikes and outdoor recreation to my list of things to keep me healthy. I’m also fortunate enough to have been selected to chaperone one of the 7-day backpacking trips to Utah my school takes every year. 

Photo Cred: Me

8.   Traveling at Home

Living in Europe is ideal for traveling to new places. I was fortunate enough to revisit some places in Spain, while also exploring new cities, such as Berlin, Amsterdam, and several others. While I enjoyed it, I also longed for the great outdoors. California boasts many idyllic outdoor scenes, which are perfectly captured in our state song, “I Love You, California”. During my last few weeks in Spain, I would sit in my sunlit living room of my 6th floor apartment, writing in my journal, listening to that song and dreaming of hiking through those familiar mountain ranges. 

Photo Cred: Justin Flores

Photo courtesy of my Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge

9.   Collaboration

Some of the greatest ideas I’ve had lately have blossomed from a short talk with others. Imagine if we had more than just a passing conversation with them. What might come out of it? Networking and expanding my circle of contacts will make for great intellectual growth. At work, collaboration is key for developing strategies and material which challenge our girls to grow and succeed. I’m going to apply this to my personal life and see where it takes me.

10.  The Past is the Past

There are moments etched in my mind that I can’t seem to shake for whatever reason. Moments where my life’s journey could have been taken in the completely opposite direction. Those “what if” moments haunted my twenties. “What if I hadn’t pursued a relationship with this person? What if I would have said yes to a trip to a different state in the midwest? What if I had kept my mouth shut? What if I hadn’t gone to NYC?” are the questions that my mind would cling to. Well, surprisingly enough, 2016 has made me quit cold turkey. Goodbye lost friendships. Goodbye past love interests. The only way to look is forward, where my Personal Legend awaits. 

Here's to 2016! (Photo cred: The Bernings)