Hello, friends! I'm terribly sorry for the lack of posts this past month - it's been a busy one, to say the least. School is back (yippee!), homework is back (boo), and life's just been a little chaotic. New chapters of our lives do tend to be that way. This month, I'm hoping we can all take a deep breath and work on finding some balance in the bedlam that is high school. It's only been three-ish weeks, and I'm already winded.
Recently, I finished the novel
A Little Life by Hanya Yangihara. It was one of the most heart-wrenching, unfair, disturbing, and beautiful books I've ever read. Am I recommending it? No, because it's an emotional freaking roller coaster. It's almost unbearable. But am I
recommending it? Sorta. In the book, there is a character named Willem, who I felt had a very interesting way of defining his life:
“As he gets older, he is given, increasingly, to thinking of his life as a series of retrospectives, assessing each season as it passes as if it’s a vintage of wine, dividing years he’s just lived into historical eras: The Ambitious Years. The Insecure Years. The Glory Years. The Delusional Years. The Hopeful Years.”
I thought this was a gorgeous way to view life. There is contained, inside a single person, a universe. There is, inside a single person, the same victories and pitfalls and battles and fears and loves we read about in history textbooks. Every individual is history. Every life is one incredible adventure. It makes sense, then, I remember thinking, that Willem divides his life into these "eras." After finishing the novel, I found myself wondering what season of life I believed myself to be in. I left most of my friends and dove head first into a new school, a new culture. I had been lonelier than I've been in a long while, and sadder, and more anxious. But in this season, I've also been at my happiest. I'd also had the pleasure of meeting new people, the slow, rich experience of coming to understand who and why they are. In this season, I have begun to redefine myself by what I am, what I might be, rather than what I am consistently not. To me, these are The Hopeful Years. I guess they're also The Insecure Years, because high school is pretty much synonymous with insecurity, but I think my hopefulness is triumphing at the moment.
The truth is, I'm very much excited for life. I'm excited for the people who will touch me. I'm excited for the tripping up and for the scraped knees and for the Band-Aids. I'm excited for small things, like doing chem labs with a girl named Abby, who does most of her dimensional analysis problems in Mandarin, and for Face Timing my friend Lily every week. I'm excited for the bigger things, like the school musical and getting twelve hours of sleep on Sundays. But most of all, I'm excited for the dress I ordered from an online thrift shop to come in the mail. The predicted 3 to 8 business days have almost passed!
And without further rambling, let's dive into my August favorites, shall we? (P.S. If you couldn't tell, A Little Life is definitely number one on this list. Coolio. Here we go!)
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Pressed Juicery Cold Pressed Greens Juice (Cucumber, Celery, Spinach, Monk Fruit, Lemon). I'll be honest. I get pretty annoyed when companies market their foods by putting the number of calories in bold on the front of the packaging. This juice, which I picked up at Sprouts, reads "COLD PRESSED
40-CALORIE GREENS." Man, is that annoying. Calories really don't matter too much if you're nourishing your body properly. And low-cal foods/ beverages/ etc. don't always equate to healthy foods/ beverages/ etc. Case in point: Margarine. Bleh. Anyway, despite the fact that Pressed Juicery insisted on announcing the calorie content of this juice right up front, I decided to give it a try. Why? Because it's full of greens and is sweetened with monk fruit. If you know me at all, you'll know I'll try almost anything sweetened with monk fruit. This was no exception. And as it turns out... I actually kind of enjoyed it. It was no chocolate milkshake, but it was really refreshing, and I felt good about drinking it. You can never have too many vitamins from veggies. The only thing I'd say about this one is to make it an every-once-and-a-while treat. These hipster juices made in sunny San Diego can be pretty pricey. Also, when you drink a juice instead of, say, a green smoothie, you're missing out on all the fiber vegetables have to offer. On the whole, though? This was yummy. I'd give it a solid 8.5/10.
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Best Dressed" YouTube Channel, ThredUp, and Goodwill Browsing. I talk about thrifting way too much, but I really don't care. It's the best thing ever. For one, you're not contributing to the fast fashion pandemic. Instead, you're lending a helping hand to the sustainability movement without destroying your wallet (Reformation, I love you, but I just can't afford ya). Thrifting is often really, super duper cheap. You get items no one else has, and can write goofy stories about the history of your second-hand clothes. You know that one
Friends episode where Rachel tells Phoebe her new apothecary table is from a flee market instead of Pottery Barn? And then Phoebe proceeds to ponder the adventures said apothecary table has had? Yeah. Thrifting is like that. If you're searching for good places to begin your thrifting escapades, I'd recommend you hit up your local Goodwill. Or, if you've had a really long week and just want to sit on your couch binge-ing "The Good Place," but also want to go thrifting, check out ThredUp or Ragstock. They're online thrift stores with pretty stellar finds. Remember that online dress I mentioned? The one whose 3 to 8 business days have almost passed? Yup. Courtesy of ThredUp.
Finally, I wanted to gift you all the magical gift that is the
"Best Dressed" YouTube channel. I don't watch YouTube videos very often, but when I do, it's almost exclusively this channel. "Best Dressed" is brought to you by Ashley, a fashion fanatic with a pretty great sense of humor. If you're easily offended, I will say she cusses rather a lot and sometimes her videos get a little
too personal, but on the whole, she's awesome. One of my very favorite videos of hers details how to style thrifted items. Thank you to the moon and back, Ashley, for teaching me how to style that shoulder-pad-heavy tweed blazer without looking like Matt Smith's Doctor on
Doctor Who. Couldn't have done it without you.
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Brazilian Jujitsu Class. Guys, guys, guys, I'm so excited about this one! I've had "take a BJJ class" on my bucket list for about two-ish years now, and it finally happened! Mind you, my body is not used to being faux-choked and slammed onto the ground, and I was sore afterwards. I'm talking have-to-support-my-neck-with-my-hands-as-I-lay-my-head-onto-a-pillow sore. There's something I never thought I'd say. Anyway, it was really neat, a big ol' challenge, and crazy empowering. This particular BJJ class was a women's self-defense class. It makes me sad that the reality of our world involves needing to know how to defend ourselves against sexual violence (or really, any other kind of violence), but better you're prepared and it never happens than not being prepared if it does.
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My Flip Phone. I'm the girl with the Alcatel flip phone who takes forever to respond because it takes three clicks to type the letter "f." It's incredibly inconvenient. But I also adore it. I'm on my phone a whole lot less now (partially because the screen quality is so lame, partially because it takes about five minutes to search up YouTube videos), which leaves time for cooler things, like reading an actual, physical book. Another feature I love? My flip phone doesn't have a selfie camera. Score!! All I need now are a few cute little stickers to put on it, and it'll be perfection.
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Volunteering at Memory Care. Volunteering is so fun. You're giving back to other people, which not only makes them feel good, but it boosts your mood, too. For about three months now, I've been volunteering at my local Memory Care and Assisted Living Residence. I love listening to all of the stories people tell me about their lives. I love passing out white chocolate macadamia cookies as the residents sit on the patio, watching a steel drum band perform. I love painting with Wendy, John, Ms. Berlene, Jeanie, and Joan in Memory Care. A memory I'm particularly fond of is hearing Joan's life story. Her husband was in the Air Force band, and they used to travel the world together. She told me about the time they visited Van Gogh's house in France, and about the time they were living at the Air Force Academy and saw President Eisenhower ride by in a car with tinted windows. And then - just as my volunteer shift was ending - in walked her husband, red suspenders, aviator glasses, hound's tooth fedora, and all! It was a treasure, I tell you. A real treasure.
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Reserving Friday Nights for You. I'm a bit of an introvert. As much as I love my friends and family, sometimes I really enjoy spending time alone; so, I've begun to reserve Friday nights (most of them, anyway) for me. When I get home, I ignore all of the homework in my backpack, and instead wash my face and drink a matcha latte. Then I'll take the dog for a walk, or do a yoga flow, or paint a mini canvas. To top it all off, I'll usually have a vegan Buddha bowl for dinner (my new favorite - you just can't go wrong with a vibrant bowl of roasted veggies) and watch a movie. I, um, may have watched the same movie every Friday night for the last month. I'll give you a hint - Netflix, Korean Yogurt Smoothies, Lacrosse Fields. Can you guess the film? A cup of coffee and a good conversation for the first person who does. Anyway, Friday nights have come to be a time I really look forward to, and a moment in the week to unwind and do things I enjoy.
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The Audition Process for my School Musical. So, the cast list is going to come out at any moment. And I'm pretty sure my name will not be on it, because I may or may not have sung my song in the wrong key. But hey, I sure had fun auditioning! One of the reasons I switched schools is because I'm really passionate about theatre and singing, and those were opportunities not readily available to a creative writing major at an arts school. Whether or not I get into the musical, I'm so grateful that I can now take choir and theatre classes. Also, auditioning is such a good cleanse. You give everything you have to give, push yourself out of your comfort zone, and endure the mildly judgmental stares of your peers as you channel Mia from
La La Land in your monologue. Auditioning is scary, but in a thrilling way. I'm always up for that kind of thrill.
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Catcher in the Rye. Okay, so I have a fun story. One of my favorite movies/ books of all time is
The Perks of Being a Wallflower. The characters are gorgeous, the plot is beautiful, it makes me cry every time... you get the idea. For Christmas, the main character, Charlie, is given a copy of
Catcher in the Rye by his English teacher, Mr. Anderson. Mr. Anderson tells Charlie
Catcher in the Rye was his favorite book as a kid, and he wants Charlie to have it. Now, we're currently reading
Catcher in the Rye in my English class. And. Guess. What. My English teacher is named Mrs. Anderson. So... that makes me unreasonably happy, and also makes the book that much more magical. Really though, I'm enjoying it. It's not at all what I was expecting, the writing style is really relatable, and the symbolism is neat. I 100% recommend.
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The Victorian Art of Letter-Writing. One of my friends from my old school is called Clary, and she's fashioned a cool way of staying in touch with me. Instead of texting, we exchange letters. I've never consistently written to someone before, and it's actually been a lot of fun. You never know when the next letter will arrive; it's always a treat to find one waiting for you when you get home from school. It also feels like such a more genuine way to talk to someone than texting does. Letters have this really awesome feature called
handwriting, which is pretty, pretty, pretty! Also, you can add all sorts of little drawings, and bold and italicize words, and underline things! So much better than texting. So, thank you Clary, for introducing me to this fun form of communication.
There you have it, my friends. August 2019 Favorites. Here are a few of my intentions as we move into September: I'm going to be braver. You can't really complain about sitting alone at lunch if you don't ask anyone if you can sit with them. Shyness is no longer an excuse I'm accepting. Quietness isn't, either. You can be shy and quiet and still make new friends. In the words of Hanya Yanagihara,
“Wasn’t friendship its own miracle, the finding of another person who made the entire lonely world seem somehow less lonely?” I'm oh so very ready for that miracle.
Additionally, I'm embarking on a 30-Day Procrastination-Free Challenge. I don't think of myself as a huge procrastinator, but I definitely put off homework and chores more often than I'd care to admit. It's kind of embarrassing to realize that you're on season seven of
Friends, but still haven't finished your dimensional analysis worksheet.
Lastly, this month, I'm going to be kinder. We can always, always be kinder.
Much love,
Maya
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