My same person Aia and I had a long call last night for one of her projects, and it turned into an introspective ~unpacking~ / catch up session even if we talk on a literal daily basis. We call each other “same person,” not best friend, because we vibrate at the same frequency and react to 99% of situations the same way.
This year we were both burned out at the same time -- I alluded to it in this newsletter issue -- and now we’re both emerging from it at around the same time too. We started talking last night about how this season feels like we’re coming home to ourselves. I told her that I sometimes briefly have an out-of-body moment and look at myself, feeling the urge to give myself a hug, like, “You’re doing it girl; I’m proud of you.”
My energy levels are increasing. My mental and emotional bandwidths are on the rise too. I feel the urge to keep up with my chats, to reach out to people, to consume content instead of just staring into space or desperately trying to cross things off a to-do list that doesn’t seem to end. So even if the anxiety about joblessness is constant, overall I’m feeling excited and optimistic because it really does feel like I’m coming home to myself. And I’ve missed her/me.
What the future looks like, I have no idea, but I’ve never been a good forward-thinker anyway. I can adapt. I can figure this out. I have a running thread of parting words from the colleagues I’ve said goodbye to, to counter any impostor syndrome that will arise. I’m sure I will still go into anxiety spirals here and there, but this is a season of betting on myself, and I think my odds are good.
Currently...
Packing soooo many orders from last week’s sale. Thrilled but also nervous; I don’t want to make a mistake so I keep checking and rechecking!
Beginning my Invisalign journey. I am hoping once my misaligned bite gets corrected (roughly just a year from now; lucky me!) my persistent migraines will also resolve, or at least diminish in frequency. It’s only been a few hours but I can already feel shooting sensations in my jaw and neck, LOL.
Finishing Jane the Virgin. I finally have energy to consume content I’ve set aside for a year or more. Miracle of miracles!
Enjoying putting together my entry for ARMY Selca Day, celebrated on the first Tuesday of the month. Impressed with how I pulled this one off, if I do say so myself.
Crying a lot over how inclusive the new BTS video, Permission to Dance, is. This stuff is important and it matters. I have a highlight up on my Instagram stories if you’re curious about my real-time-processing of emotions. HAHAHA. I’ll post the video at the bottom of this newsletter.
Applauding this interview with BTS by Jaeki Cho. (skip forward to start at the 20-minute mark) He’s Korean-American, so seeing the boys relax once he started asking questions in Hangeul was really great. His questions were insightful and a mix of serious and light. By the end of it, they said they wanted to see him in person next time! <3
Trying desperately to be on merch ban; please stop me from buying shit!!
Forgiving.
Longreads…
The Gift of Disability Inclusion: How BTS Embraced Disabled ARMY in One Simple Dance Move -- Kate Ringland, Medium.
“The choreography for the chorus of the song is beautifully simple. In the simplicity of the moves also lies the dance’s accessibility. People of all ages with a full range of (dis)abilities can learn the dance and participate. For example, the dance moves can be done sitting. Add in the elements of the international signs and you have a wonderfully accessible BTS dance that we all be a part of. Not just participate in the dance, but feel intentionally included in it. Just think of all the potential dance cover videos in the future that are now going to be incorporating sign language into them because BTS used it in their official choreography. Then imagine those videos being viewed by people who may not know who BTS is yet, but can see themselves somewhere in the song and in the dance. I honestly can’t stop smiling about it.”
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Yours from afar,
Pinky
P.S. Watch Permission to Dance!