[{"date":{"_seconds":1667520000,"_nanoseconds":0},"description":"","entry":"

I've known for a while that I hold social media a little too preciously; in an ideal world, we would all utilize our online presence to give friends and loved ones an unadulterated window into our lives — be it positive or negative. There is something attractive about knowing that someone is being REAL and not curating their image for some public gain; BeReal and efforts of the like seem to be a step in the right direction. That being said, there are positives to curation and creating a public image — that's what I aim at with my writing. I guess the most important thing is to do so while both telling and living the truth; this is definitely something I'm trying to improve at.

In college, I staked a lot of my self-worth in how others see me — more specifically in my identity as an entrepreneur and aspiring founder. Since starting to work full time I have been spending nights and weekends writing code for personal projects in pursuit of the fabled status of a solopreneur. It's been pretty tiring, this routine of programming for 8 hours and then coming home to write code for 3 more. The realization that recently curtailed this practice wasn't that \"it is too hard\" or \"I don't have work-life balance\" — seasons of doing something unsustainable are sometimes necessary to achieve a goal — but rather, I came to the conclusion that if I had to identify an occupation that plays to my strengths, is enriching, and has the potential to positively impact the most people, it wouldn't be programming, it would be writing.

Something else I've been thinking about a lot recently is the topic of spirituality — for some reason I find this topic hard to talk about. I grew up in a pretty fervently spiritual family — a characteristic that I have been at a loss to integrate into my own life. I'm hyper-rational by nature, a trait that I think has been making it difficult to \"find God\" in some sense. Despite where you may stand on the issue of belief, I'm increasingly realizing the unsustainability of going through this life thing without putting your faith in SOMETHING.

In summation, things are generally going pretty well; If whoever is reading this was looking for an excuse to give me a call to catch up, this is it :)

","slug":"life-work-spirituality","tags":[],"name":"life, work, and spirituality","thumbnailUrl":""},{"tags":[],"slug":"low-energy-high-hopes","date":{"_seconds":1661904000,"_nanoseconds":0},"entry":"

I was very low-energy today. My eyes were mad lidded and I couldn't muster the energy to make any conversation that was too interesting. That being said, I think I'm on the other side of the slump I've been in for the past week. A few things have been learned

Doing what you know is right is mad uplifting, even when you're terrified leading up to it
Waking up without an alarm is pretty dope
Accepting that which is put in front of you is simultaneously the most important and one of the most difficult lessons to learn in this life
For the most part, no one cares about you, they care about themselves; this is mad freeing to understand
Sometimes things have to fall apart for them to come back together
The journey inward is just as fascinating and expansive as any outward journey/ travel; most will never take this journey seriously.
Radical candor is so empowering, but really hard to force yourself to do
The fear of judgment can and should be used to make you do the things you are scared of
Accountability groups don't work unless there is some negative consequence to not meeting your goals

","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"","name":"low energy, high hopes"},{"tags":[],"description":"","entry":"

My roommate is such a good person to live with; he is exposing to so many healthy ways of living life.
I've feel very clear-minded about how to gradually move forward to better my life.
I've begun to take meditation more seriously and am already feeling the benefits
I went on a run today for the first time in a while and I feel so damn good; I have to put working out higher on my list of priorities.

","thumbnailUrl":"","date":{"_seconds":1661385600,"_nanoseconds":0},"name":"growing and changing","slug":"growing-changing"},{"thumbnailUrl":"","name":"Building Bonds","tags":[],"entry":"

I have not been consistent with this but have been doing a lot to figure out my life. I hung out with a bunch of people that I met at a meetup today and it was a super nice time; it felt like I was in a little family unit.

People keep telling me that I shouldn't feel bad about not performing optimally in this new city yet, but I know that I am totally capable of the goals that I've set for myself — I've just been letting myself succumb to FOMO and social media rabbit holes. I also think that too much of my happiness is derived from having made progress on a given task. I will work on that, hmm.

","description":"","slug":"building-bonds","date":{"_seconds":1661040000,"_nanoseconds":0}},{"description":"","thumbnailUrl":"","slug":"fomo","entry":"

I am way too susceptible to FOMO rn. I think part of it is that I haven't really articulated my values well enough and part of it is that I need to make friends who have similar ambitions as I do. I feel a little overwhelmed today and it is totally self inflicted. We will do better this week.

","name":"fomo is an issue","date":{"_seconds":1660521600,"_nanoseconds":0},"tags":[]},{"description":"","thumbnailUrl":"","slug":"my-first-contribution","name":"My first contribution!","tags":[],"entry":"

I made my first contribution to the Trello codebase today! Yesterday I was asking my work mentor a whole bunch of questions and he gave me a really good piece of advice: I should message publicly in our team chat instead of going to him in private. Being ok with not knowing is really important, especially in engineering. Additionally, things that I learn may be useful for other people on the team. I think that, in comparison to when I was an intern last year, I am much better about giving feedback and my opinion; I hope that things keep going as well as they are at work!

I am rereading \"the art of gathering\" and have been taking notes about my insights. I am pretty excited to put the lessons that I am learning about creating meaningful social interactions to work. Also, the last time I read this book I did not intentionally interface with the content as much as I am doing now; I feel like I am taking away a lot more through actually doing something with the knowledge that I am intaking rather than just learning it and storing it in the recesses of my mind.

Great day!

","date":{"_seconds":1660262400,"_nanoseconds":0}},{"date":{"_seconds":1660176000,"_nanoseconds":0},"name":"sleep is the cure","description":"","slug":"sleep-is-the-cure","tags":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","entry":"

I ignored all my responsibilities last night and went to bed early af; when I tell you today was the best day this month 🤦🏿‍♂️ I woke up MAD alert, meditated, walked, stretched, journaled, did my digital journal, made breakfast, read, and still had time left over. Having mornings that are not rushed is such a nice thing. I think that I need to spend more time with people who enjoy knocking out early. Let's continue this great week :)

"},{"name":"tired","entry":"

My not getting enough sleep came to a head this morning. I'm relentlessly dropping all other engagements until I figure out what I need so sacrifice so that getting out of bed without being exhausted is a more common occurence.

Today was good otherwise, I am working on my first real PR at work which is cool.

","tags":[],"description":"","date":{"_seconds":1660089600,"_nanoseconds":0},"thumbnailUrl":"","slug":"tired"},{"description":"","thumbnailUrl":"","entry":"

This weekend kinda sucked so I fell off journaling for a few days. I'm realizing more and more that my main issues in life boil down to a lack of sleep; I need to get a handle on going to bed on time.

Today was pretty good, I made great progress at work today, grinded on canoodle a bit, and bonded with my roomies. I think I need to learn to set boundaries with people more, I give in much too easily when someone interrupts something important that I'm doing.

Something that I need to make time for this week is writing out an articulated guide to what I value most and what sacrifices I'm willing to make to withhold those values. Too much has begun to just float around in my head with regard to this, so I need to make time to deal with it this week.

I got boba with one of our neighbors recently. I really enjoy one on one hangouts with people; they feel like the fastest route to making new friends.

Let's hope this week is just up from here :)

","name":"Starting the week off strong","tags":[],"date":{"_seconds":1660003200,"_nanoseconds":0},"slug":"starting-off-strong"},{"tags":[],"date":{"_seconds":1659744000,"_nanoseconds":0},"name":"make new friends or invest in current ones?","description":"","entry":"

I had a great time out with work friends! There was another event tonight that I wanted to go to but didn't. I was considering, should I try to increase my reach, or invest in the relationships I have already? I went for depth instead of breadth tonight, I think it was worth it. Overall, work is great, friends are great, family is great, and I am tired 🙃

","slug":"make-new-friends","thumbnailUrl":""},{"entry":"

Key insights of the day:

Coming up with business ideas is way easier when you are working on a business idea
Having a bedframe can increase your happiness by a significant amount
Rereading books is not a waste of time, but having notes in the first place is better
People always ask me for advice on how to talk to strangers; this is something I could processize and monetize
Without a system to review notes I don't revisit any insights; is this a common issue?

it's late, I will do more tomorrow 🤣

","name":"the mattress rises","thumbnailUrl":"","tags":[],"date":{"_seconds":1659657600,"_nanoseconds":0},"description":"","slug":"the-mattress-rises"},{"slug":"back-on-track","entry":"

Today was really good! The work homies did a boba run over lunch which was dope, I met up with a friend for coffee in the afternoon, and I got a lot of progress done on canoodle! I think I'm gonna meet my time frame goal for this project which feels good.

I talked about this the other day, but I think that something really important to realize about goal setting is that, if you set the desired date, that should not shift, the only thing that should be able to change is the \"definition of done.\" I think I'm gonna write about this.

I've been a little manic about coming up with a startup idea tbh looool. I know that canoodle isn't going to be a cash cow for many reasons, so I've been feeling a little like I am wasting time by working on it. The thing I need to remember is that I am not working on canoodle for the purpose of making money; it'll serve as a great portfolio piece, it'll give me the chance to iterate toward something better, it's keeping my development skills sharp, and it's solving a real problem that I have. I am rereading the mom test though; I know that the stuff in that book is the key to iterating toward a better idea so I am trying to put those skills to work when I meet people. I also want to put together a cohort of indie hackers in the bay area who want to work on projects together. I should prioritize that tomorrow!

","date":{"_seconds":1659571200,"_nanoseconds":0},"description":"","thumbnailUrl":"","tags":[],"name":"Back on track"},{"description":"","slug":"florida-friends","tags":[],"name":"Florida friends","date":{"_seconds":1659484800,"_nanoseconds":0},"entry":"

I did not get to do any personal project work or writing today which kinda sucks. I did get to hang out with a friend from home though! It is so strange seeing someone outside of the context from which you met them. We talked about startups, caught up on life stuff, and then went on a walk; walks with your homies are underrated.

I cooked Gumbo when I got home, hung out with my roomie, visited a cute local grocery store, and had a really nice phone call with a homie of mine who wants to become a software dev through a bootcamps — everyone is intrigued by the software engineer lifestyle apparently. I'm really grateful to be in this field.

","thumbnailUrl":""},{"name":"carpal boi","thumbnailUrl":"","tags":[],"date":{"_seconds":1659398400,"_nanoseconds":0},"slug":"carpal-boi","description":"","entry":"

I think I have carpal tunnel. I've been trying to ignore it for a while but it's definitely something I should start to deal with so it doesn't get worse. Sigh

I think my package got stolen; I guess that's what I get for getting home at 10 pm.

I got to talk to my brother today which was nice; he is such a good kid. I hope we stay close when he gets busy with college.

My limiting factor rn is sleep. I need to optimize for that. Speaking of which, I'm supposed to be asleep in 3 minutes 😬

"},{"thumbnailUrl":"","slug":"the-life-of-the-party","entry":"

I was so productive today; I allocated a lot of my money to the various places that I want to save, did a lot of programming, and called a friend.

Something as simple as making a Trello board has made my productivity on this project skyrocket. I have gotten into the habit of doing all of the planning for small projects in my head, but canoodle is no longer a small project. It feels good to have all of the things that I need to work on down already — a lot of planning is already taken care of so now I can focus more on development.

I just got back from a night out on the town with my friends from work. None of them seem to take the lead in social situations so I have taken that as an opportunity to be the catalyst of fun in our group. It feels really empowering to be able to include everyone in our conversations and make sure that we are all having a good time. I feel like friend groups are most successful when there are multiple people taking the initiative, but I am ok with the current arrangement bc it is enabling huge growth for ME :)

","description":"","tags":[],"name":"the life of the party","date":{"_seconds":1659225600,"_nanoseconds":0}},{"description":"oof","name":"catan and crashing","slug":"catan-and-crashing","date":{"_seconds":1659139200,"_nanoseconds":0},"entry":"

today was rough for no reason but it ended pretty great. My buddies and I had our weekly accountability call in the morning which was great; the only problem being that I woke up right before it — my day never goes well when it starts off on my phone. After that, I ignored all of my morning rituals and headed to work. Today there was technically no work, it was a company-wide chill-out and vibe day, so I got free lunch and played Catan with the homies; it was a pretty good time. We had another big group discussion about friendship and told stories of meaningful encounters we have had with strangers; it was pretty dope.

When I got home from work I was in a slump; I haven't slept well this week and that has been hampering my ability to make progress on the goals that I have. I spent an ~unholy~ amount of time on my phone, and then, after hyping myself up with enough indie hacking podcasts, started working on canoodle for the first time in a few days. I really got into a groove today, made huge progress, and had some great insights:

An insight that I have like 10 times a week is that systems are so great and useful. I typically don't have a rigid organizational structure for projects, but I made a Trello board to track my progress and my productivity has gone crazy; plus I won't forget anything that I want to do because I have a backlog to throw stuff in!
write small chunks of messy code that just works, and then go back through and clean it. I feel like spending all my time up front trying to organize logic into hooks and functions routinely hampers my progress
When you set a goal, the date of its completion should never be the thing that changes if things aren't going as expected, the scope of the project should 🤯

Looking forward to a fun and productive Saturday :)

","thumbnailUrl":"","tags":[]},{"date":{"_seconds":1659052800,"_nanoseconds":0},"name":"seyi ain't broke no more","thumbnailUrl":"","slug":"seyi-aint-broke","entry":"

SF really exposes you to the full range of the human experience. I've never been so acutely aware of how terrible people's lives can get until coming here. I've been using it as a meditation on gratitude; I am so thankful for the position I am in and the mental state I've been blessed with.

I've found a few people so far who I want to embed into my social life. Making friends really feels like a numbers game; If you are exposed to enough potential homies, there will be a few who you really click with.

I was on the phone with one of my friends today and talked about how the primary thing that makes me want to bring someone into my life is that they exhibit a trait that I find admirable. A trait I've been particularly interested in recently is when people are really honest about themselves. It's pretty cool to feel like you don't have to dig to understand who someone is.

I got paid today for the first time. More money is in my account than I have ever owned at once; more than double what I made last YEAR. I'm so lucky and thankful, man. Time to make this grow so I can help the community that has helped ME.

","tags":[],"description":"we did it"},{"tags":[],"name":"Onboarding and Nostaligia","description":"","slug":"onboarding-and-nostalgia","thumbnailUrl":"","date":{"_seconds":1658966400,"_nanoseconds":0},"entry":"

Today was eventful. The new job has mostly consisted of onboarding tasks; nothing too eventful yet. I am really starting to get along with the people at my job though. I think that just by virtue of how much time we are spending together I have the potential to make some really dope friends here.

I went on a date after work and then accidentally ended up walking through the hood on the way home. There have only been a few times in my life when I was acutely aware of the potential danger I could have been in if I stayed in an area, so I dipped as fast as I could hahaha.

A friend of mine from college sent me a video of her asking me some questions about my new life and updating me on her life. It was super sweet and I kinda felt a little sad watching it; it's been so long since I've seen my friends. Anyways, I am having a great time and am grateful for my life so far :,)

"},{"date":{"_seconds":1658880000,"_nanoseconds":0},"tags":[],"description":"a great movie","entry":"

I watched NOPE today with some homies! It was a pretty great film and it was nice hanging out with some friends. I am a little socially and physically fatigued from the events of the last few days; I am having a great time though! I need to improve on most is going to bed earlier :P

I've been a bit more bullish about making daily progress on canoodle which is good! The scope of work is ballooning a bit, so I need to think about what the bare-bones version will be for an MVP. I am giving myself until August 9th to put something out :)

","slug":"NOPE","thumbnailUrl":"","name":"NOPE"},{"thumbnailUrl":"","description":"get 'em alone","name":"low social optionality","tags":[],"entry":"

I walked to a bar after work today to meet with a friend I met at a meetup the other day. We started off pretty surface level but slowly slipped into a really great conversation about tech, friendship, math, and indie hacking. After that, we walked around for a long while to sober up and then headed home. Now I have a new friend, a bunch of cool ideas and books to read, and a plan to go to a concert in October with my new buddy. SF is such a friendly place.

Figuring out my financial plan is tough bc there are so many options. Do I want to go the FIRE route and be extra frugal? Or should I save up a bunch and start to climb the real estate ladder? I think that the real answer is going to be found by exploring what my values are; I need to prioritize that.

Great day and I have a fun week planned ahead!

","date":{"_seconds":1658793600,"_nanoseconds":0},"slug":"low-social-optionality"},{"thumbnailUrl":"","date":{"_seconds":1658707200,"_nanoseconds":0},"tags":[],"slug":"meta-conversations","entry":"

I went to a picnic today which was really fun; I had a really good conversation with the dudes who I met there. At some point during the conversation, we got on the topic of creating friends: the thing that we were all ostensibly there to do. I was pointing out to the group that, unless you isolate people in a high optionality social situation (such as a group picnic) or hang out with them individually outside of the group dynamic, there is little chance that they will move past being an acquaintance. Everyone, there was floored because they had all cited this as a big issue they had, so they were happy to hear about what they were doing wrong. I had to leave the group early and grabbed the numbers of two of the dudes who I met. After I dipped I got texts from numbers that I didn't have saved; apparently, they had passed around my contact in order to see if this low-social-optionality stuff actually works :) Just bagged a whole bunch of leads for new friendships.

I've been struggling to write blog posts recently tbh. I've not been able to get all the elements of an idea down the way that I would like. I know that the cure to this is just to write more but I've been avoiding brute forcing my way to a solution for no good reason. sigh.

I recently discovered that there is no regularly convening group (that I've found) of indie hackers in SF. I'm sure that I have just not found said group, but I'm gonna take this as an opportunity to build a community of people doing the same thing that I'm doing; it's the best way to go about keeping myself on track with these professional goals. yuh

","name":"Meta-conversations","description":"Tricking people into being my friend"},{"date":{"_seconds":1658620800,"_nanoseconds":0},"description":"","name":"Turning inward","tags":[],"entry":"

I've been a little overzealous with ensuring that I am socializing and felt pretty drained this morning. Catching up on my life and working on things that I care about helped, being alone for most of the day was very cathartic. I am still trying to reorient since being here is still very new, I am doing well though.

I've recently been going deep on listening to the indie hackers podcast; I think it has really been helping me reorient to my main career goal: creating a small digital saas that will help a niche crowd and serve as my main source of income. I want to dedicate a lot more time to canoodle and have been enjoying the process of simplifying it.

That's all I got in the tank today :,)

","thumbnailUrl":"","slug":"turning-inward"},{"entry":"

I had a great day but am pretty tired so here are the highlights/ insights

Planning feels like a waste of time in the moment, but if you spend an inordinate amount of time doing it, your next steps are so much more efficient (I have not been planning out my day all week and have felt like I am floating lol)
Unless you make a very intentional effort to take control of the hours you have outside of work, they will slip away in the blink of an eye
It's ok to keep people waiting if the cost to you is a consistent loss of focus
If you make the intentional decision to find things you like about someone who you previously found annoying your life will be so much better

","tags":[],"date":{"_seconds":1658448000,"_nanoseconds":0},"name":"office of my dreams","slug":"office-of-my-dreams","thumbnailUrl":"","description":"love this place sm"},{"tags":[],"description":"random encounters make me happy","thumbnailUrl":"","entry":"

Today was such a great day. I went to the office, got to hang out with the new grad squad a whole bunch, and worked through more onboarding. After that, I went to the marina to meet up with a new friend for a drink. We had a super stimulating conversation for an hour. I think that my favorite compliment is when I get to engage people in conversation and then they are floored by my age. The homie showed me the decked-out van he lives in, we bonded over our similar views on the world and entrepreneurship, and then I headed back home. On the way home I saw this couple trying to get a huge cabinet up a huge flight of stairs a few houses down from mine. I offered to help them and ended up spending like 30 minutes in their place. They were super nice and hospitable to me, I got their contact, and they invited me over for dinner. I love knowing my neighbors, it makes me feel much more like I live in a community rather than an atomized district of random strangers.

I have been listening to the indie hackers podcast, and I think something that I have realized about projects that I make is that I am terrible at simplifying ideas. I am currently stuck on this really unnecessary feature of canoodle; I could've had this platform out to people already but I am steeped in minutiae. I need to put that down as a realm of potential improvement. I am v tired, let's hope for another fantastic day!

","name":"know your neighbors","slug":"know-your-neighbors","date":{"_seconds":1658361600,"_nanoseconds":0}},{"slug":"first-day-at-office","tags":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","entry":"

Today was so sick! I went into the office and got to spend the day with a bunch of other new grads. I really felt like an imposter being in that space; the building is so insanely luxurious, we get gourmet meals with unlimited daily snacks, and we sit on the 15th floor of a building overlooking the whole city; I'm so blessed.

I've been leaning more into indie-hacking recently. I do feel like I am fragmenting my efforts a little bit; I hope to be able to spend more of my free time on my personal project once I finish with this family interview project.

I took a dance class today! It was great for multiple reasons:

I was kinda scared to do it because I know that I'm bad at memorizing choreography, but I did it anyways
It's a way to get my physical activity in on days that I'm not trekking across the city
It's reinforcing my knowledge that people don't really care about you, they care about themselves

The instructor also said some dope things that are applicable cross-domain:

\"Going way too hard is much better than being shy/ constrained; it is easier to dial it back if you're too energetic than it is to amp it up if you're used to being timid\"
\"If you're spending most of your time looking at what other people are doing, you're probably not doing it right\"

Every day here makes me more excited for the next!

","name":"First day at the office","description":"I've got imposter syndrome","date":{"_seconds":1658275200,"_nanoseconds":0}},{"thumbnailUrl":"","entry":"

My first day of work was today! It was pretty chill — I worked from home and got my tech set up. I'm pretty glad to be working on a product that I enjoy and use frequently, I'm sure it will make the work more fulfilling.

I need to figure out how I plan to embed exercise into my life here. Gym memberships cost literally 10x the amount that they did back in Florida, but I think I might invest in a personal trainer for a bit. I also have it as part of my plan to take swim lessons at some point 🤣 I think that's something I should get good at eventually.

I talked to a buddy of mine today about our life paths. He has taken this time after college to travel and see the world. I have chosen to move to a new city and start my career. He is feeling a lot of FOMO for having chosen a radically different path than a lot of his friends, which is interesting because I think a lot of people are looking at him thinking the same thing. We discussed the fact that you really have to make intentional choices about what path you take in life; you can do anything but you can't do everything. We specifically talked about how, if you want to be the best in any field you really have to be willing to make the sacrifices of relationships and leisure necessary to get there. There is definitely some pathological element driving those who we idle as being at the peak of their profession, but the tradeoffs they made are rarely discussed. Fundamentally though, I think that relationships with others and building community are part of the cornerstone to a good life, but they necessarily come with constraints: You can't be a nomad for extended periods of time AND build a thriving community simultaneously. Community building necessitates extended periods of investing deeply into the same people. I am still trying to figure out what things I want to prioritize in my life; these things are so easy to parse.

Overall great day, I'm looking forward to *maybe* going into the office tomorrow :)

","description":"","tags":[],"name":"First Day as an Atlassian!","date":{"_seconds":1658188800,"_nanoseconds":0},"slug":"first-day-atlassian"},{"description":"","slug":"new-grad-hangout","name":"New Grad Hangout","thumbnailUrl":"","date":{"_seconds":1658102400,"_nanoseconds":0},"tags":[],"entry":"

Today was such a dope and productive day! I went to a cool church in sf with some real nice people, got groceries, and cooked a fat meal. After that I headed to this event to meet all of the other atlassian new grads at a brewery! Everyone was so cool, Atlassian goes dumb with their hiring decisions.

I start work in the morning; I'm not sure if there is even a way to start a new job without feeling unprepared tbh. I look forward to being a beginner for a while though and hope that I have a great team. I don't have any super interesting insights besides feeling optimistic for the future. :)

"},{"slug":"the-social-landscape","thumbnailUrl":"","tags":[],"entry":"

Today was such a dope day! Every day I am experiencing new parts of the city which is exciting. I'm realizing that the fears that I had about creating community in this new city were kind of unfounded; not only am I more than capable to connect with most people that I meet, this is also probably the easiest city in the country to meet cool people. Everyone is so sociable, there are a million meet-ups happening on a regular basis, and there is always something fun to do.

I got to hang with a friend from high school and her mom today — it feels like the second I moved to this city everyone I know just happens to be here. I think that I need to up my system for keeping track of friends and stuff because I am meeting so many new people that it is hard to keep track of.

So thankful for the life I have! Also, work starts on Monday, I'm hyped for that :)

","description":"making friends is easy","date":{"_seconds":1658016000,"_nanoseconds":0},"name":"The social landscape"},{"thumbnailUrl":"","name":"social combat","tags":[],"entry":"

Today was pretty dope. I got a great night's sleep, did an interview with my mom for my family tree project, and had a productive programming sesh at this coffee shop I've been frequenting. It's interesting becoming a regular somewhere, I've never done that before. I can't wait until they know to have my order ready when I arrive 🤣

I went to a social event today. Here are a few things I learned:

pushing the conversation away from work and toward people's beliefs and desires is the best way to go deep quickly
Asking for contact info isn't weird, they probably also don't have too many homies
say yes. When people offer to diverge from the group say yes. When people invite you to something fun, say yes. The amount of crazy and fun experiences I've had as a result of being liberal with my use of the word yes in social situations is actually crazy

Today confirmed a very deep belief I have; everyone is interesting, but it is up to you to find out what is interesting about them.

also, i called this \"social combat\" because I feel like the past 4-5 years have consisted of me sparring with my social skills; now is the time to put them to full use :)

","description":"putting all I've learned into practice","slug":"social-combat","date":{"_seconds":1657929600,"_nanoseconds":0}},{"entry":"

I only slept for 4 hours last night so I'm not sure how I've been so effective today.

I pinned a jazz playlist at the top of my Spotify home page yesterday. This one change has made such a huge difference in my productivity. Typically when I go to study I just put on the first playlist that I see is even moderately suitable. I know that I can't do anything productive when music has lyrics, but the playlists I see first always contain songs with words. This results in me getting distracted from my work and eventually giving up. My typical study playlist is Beat Tape 2 by Tom Misch, a great album, but only the first half is free of lyrics. After that point, I pretty much inevitably get distracted. I succumb to this stupid level of distraction largely because I have so many playlists saved that I either can't remember the name of the one I want to search for but can't find it by just scrolling through. The tiny change of pinning the thing I want to the top had singlehandedly removed me from the rut I'd been in for a few days. Yuh.

I've been putting myself out there by trying new tactics for making friends in SF; it's working! I baked my neighbors banana bread and left them a note asking to go get coffee sometime; they said sure! I also hit up a member of this young professional cohort I joined to plan an event. I start work on Monday and have tried to be intentional about reaching out to those that I remember from my internship about planning things to do in the first week. In keeping with my recent Instagram post, you must be ok with being the initiator in order to have friends!

","tags":[],"name":"Sleep deprived and effective","date":{"_seconds":1657843200,"_nanoseconds":0},"description":"systems are king!","thumbnailUrl":"","slug":"sleep-deprived-and=effective"},{"date":{"_seconds":1657756800,"_nanoseconds":0},"name":"the creative flame is back!","thumbnailUrl":"","entry":"

I think that the two most impactful productivity practices that have changed my life for the better are the following:

Have a morning routine that includes journaling/ planning out your day
Eat that frog: tackle the task you least want to do as soon as possible

I have to consistently remind myself that eating that frog routinely results in my happiest and most productive days, it's just such a counterintuitive way to conduct your work; I always want to start my day with the thing that I've been looking forward to.

Here is another major key that should be taken away from this blog post: if you have trouble with addiction to your phone, I found the app that is going to fix your issues. Using the iphone screen time feature doesn't work; it is too easy to bypass; pure willpower basically never works either. The app is called \"one sec.\" Basically what it does is, after some small configurations, it redirects you to the app any time you try to access your digital poison of choice, forces you to meditate for 5 seconds, asks you if you really want to use the offending app, and then, if you want to proceed, makes you write an explicit reason why you need to access it. I've only had it for a short time but it is the only tactic that feels like a sufficient slap on the wrist to prevent me from mindlessly clicking on instagram or twitter when I am bored. god bless Frederik Riedel.

I am in a better headspace today. I got a whole lot done, felt more in control of my time, and initiated a social engagement with my neighbors; let's hope it pans out. I also finally have a mattress; no more couch sleeping for me :)

Great day!

","description":"got the spark back!","slug":"the-creative-flame","tags":[]},{"tags":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","description":"freedom is restrictive","entry":"

Although I'm now living in a new city with so much I COULD do, I find myself falling back into patterns that are familiar. As a college student, you can find a place to go study/ conduct knowledge work at pretty much any time; Out here in the ~real world~ there aren't really that many options for going to use your laptop past 8pm. While I could be out meeting people, I've relegated myself to doing that same things as I am used to. I think there is a system that I can put in place to aid me with this tbh. I talked to a homie today about how meta work is much more important than work: I need make time for the tasks that will increase my ability to do the tasks that matter to me (which in this case is building a network of friends and refining my personal goals). I think I'm gonna go make a list of a few things that I could be doing when I find myself drowning in a sea of infinite possibility.

I recently rediscovered the concept of a \"digital garden\" which is essentially just a public zettelkasten. I might consider open sourcing my unfinished ideas, hmmm.

","name":"I could do anything, so I do nothing","slug":"doanything-donothing","date":{"_seconds":1657670400,"_nanoseconds":0}},{"slug":"figuring-out-life","name":"figuring out life in a new place is hard","thumbnailUrl":"","entry":"

I had a disjointed day, still pretty great though. I did a morning run to a grocery store and then spent a whole lot of my day figuring out what to do with myself. I felt tethered to my apartment because I ordered something and packages get stolen here, but I did not have the resolution necessary to prioritize any work that I could do from home. I did end up visiting the office of my new job, but most of the day was kinda just spent walking around in a stupor.

In the evening my friend and I played WNRS; that came can always break down barriers and evoke interesting conversation.

Speaking of interesting conversation, people are so willing to talk to strangers here, way more than Florida. The amount of people I talk to in a day has at least quintupled since I've come here. It makes the whole day feel that much more meaningful, I 'm into this culture!

","date":{"_seconds":1657584000,"_nanoseconds":0},"tags":[],"description":""},{"tags":[],"name":"The beginnings of a social life","entry":"

Today was pretty interesting. I've joined this cohort of young professionals who all want to meet new people in the city; it helps a whole bunch because it gets rid of the initial friction of having to build rapport with a complete stranger. I met a lot of cool people from it which I'm thankful for.

I didn't realize just how much beauty is added to a landscape when a city has hills. This is a realization that was impossible in flat Florida. Also, my calf muscles are about to go hard after a few months of being here.

When you have a regular group of homies you kinda get used to the feelings of conversations going smoothly since you are comfortable around them. I sorta forgot what it feels like to sit down for an extended period of time with someone you don't know well and try to find the places where you see eye to eye. Something that is helpful about being a good listener is that people tend to show all of their cards and flesh out how they feel about controversial topics, even when you might not agree with them. Then, if you're brave, you can talk about the ways that you don't agree with them; it always evokes interesting conversations and has changed my mind about a lot.

Great first weekend in the city!

","slug":"social-life","description":"meeting people is fun!","thumbnailUrl":"","date":{"_seconds":1657497600,"_nanoseconds":0}},{"description":"a surprise guest","thumbnailUrl":"","slug":"hospitality","date":{"_seconds":1657411200,"_nanoseconds":0},"entry":"

A homie of mine saw that I had just moved from my social media and told me she planned to stay in a hostel in SF today, the day after I got to the city. There is no way I was letting this girl stay at a hostel when I lived in the same city, so I offered that she stay at mine! We got breakfast, I cooked, and we spent the day exploring the city; it was fun! The thing I have been thinking about, however, is what heights one should go to for hospitality.

There is this story that is echoed in tens of ancient cultures in which a prophet goes to the home of a stranger in disguise. When they are greeted, the homeowner cuts corners when it comes to the comfort of the guest, prompting the prophet to turn them into an owl. What heights should one go to for hospitality? While I enjoy having a homie to see the city with, I am also becoming acclimated to living in a new place. I think I will continue doing what I can to make her feel as at home as possible, this is definitely a learning experience. In addition, it is even just nice to have a home that I can offer up to visitors.

I had a great day today but feel this low rumble of anxiety because, although I love it here so far, it so does not feel like home yet (which I can't really expect having only been here for one night.) I have a few social engagements lined up for tomorrow, wish me luck :,)

","tags":[],"name":"The heights of hospitality"},{"name":"The big day!","description":"I am so happy","date":{"_seconds":1657324800,"_nanoseconds":0},"tags":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","slug":"the-big-day","entry":"

I have so much to say but I am very tired so I will probably keep this short. I am so happy, this feels like a dream. Strangers have shown me so much kindness today, and I've really lucked out with having two really dope roommates. San Francisco is SHOCKINGLY beautiful. The trip here was a whole adventure, but I will write about it another day. For now I'm gonna knock out and try to fix my jet lag 🤕

"},{"date":{"_seconds":1657238400,"_nanoseconds":0},"thumbnailUrl":"","slug":"the-last-supper","entry":"

What a great close to this chapter of my life. I spent a lot of time with my bro, hung out with family, and got countless calls with various well wishes. I have packed up my entire life and am about to make the most significant change of my whole life. I am so thankful that I'm in a position where this is possible.

I don't really have much that is too profound to say, I am just going to do my best to remember where I came from, conduct myself in truth, and do what I can to help others.

Onto the next chapter!

1 day!

","description":"goodbye florida, I will miss you :,)","tags":[],"name":"The last supper"},{"entry":"

Today I got to spend a lot of time with two of my best friends, one who I consider my first REAL friend, and one who was the first friend I made in college. I made a tweet yesterday that said \"I love really good chats with old friends where you're reminded of what enchanted you with them in the first place\" and that was really exemplified today. Man, I am so lucky to have so many wonderful souls in my life. I really love the people who I have been blessed to be around and feel like I grow when I have the good fortune of spending time with them.

You know when you have a conversation with someone and, not only does it feel like you're learning, but it feels like you are jointly uncovering truths that neither of you knew going into the discussion? How happy it makes me to know people that I can make emotional and moral discoveries with. I think that before today I was feeling a little \"see ya never\" about Florida (at least for the time being) but now I really feel like a part of me is left here that I have to come back to nurture and develop.

Not sure if it is because of the conversations I had today, or because the time of my departure is drawing near, but I am starting to feel a little sad. I didn't feel sad when I left for college, but this feels like a more momentous departure, largely because there is no script dictating what life will look like soon and no guarantee when or if I will be back in any sort of permanent sense. Tampa has served as a home for me since 2010 when we got off that plane to start a new life, and I look forward to seeing how my time in California will shape me into an even better person.

Last full day in my home state tomorrow!

2 days!

","name":"Bittersweet goodbyes","date":{"_seconds":1657152000,"_nanoseconds":0},"tags":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","slug":"bittersweet-goodbyes","description":"The foundational friends in my life"},{"tags":[],"slug":"meaningful-packing","description":"I'm ready to go!","date":{"_seconds":1657065600,"_nanoseconds":0},"entry":"

Today was chill. I packed a lot, took some stuff to goodwill, shipped a box to SF and blew a bag on buying a mattress for my new place. At this point the nerves of moving have worn off, and the giddy excited feelings have worn off too — I just wanna be out there already!

I had a really good convo with a friend today. She was having issues with one of her longtime homies and felt like too much was being expected of her; she didn't have the bandwidth to be there for the homie the way that her homie needed. I found that around this time a lot of my friends are reckoning with the fact that their friendships need to be given intentional effort and require difficult conversations; maybe it is because of the transition into unstructured adulthood. Growing up it is easy enough to find new friends when your current pals are being doo doo heads, but it seems that is not the case in adulthood; friendship goes from being in abundance to a scarce resource. I guess this is part of maturing. We live and we- learn!

3 days!

","thumbnailUrl":"","name":"Meaningful conversations and packing"},{"entry":"

I love when you have a conversations with a homie and you can very clearly see the inflection point when it becomes a great conversation. Feeling like you are both stretching each other's understanding is so refreshing.

I talked to one of my homies today and he was telling me about the obvious dominance of video as the medium for content creators. I have dabbled with video before but hate the editing process. Regardless, I think that repurposing my blog content to also serve as videos would be lucrative. You know when you are presented with a ton of great ideas and opportunities but you are scared to divert from what you're doing because you have a track record of not sticking to things? Yeah, me rn.

Today was July 4th and the family and I went to watch fireworks. Maybe it's because I've been consistent with meditation or something, but I feel like I was a lot more enchanted by fireworks today than I have been in years. The fact that we've been able to create something so beautiful and insane blows my mind.

4 days!

","tags":[],"slug":"conversations-of-progress","description":"","name":"Conversations of progress","date":{"_seconds":1656979200,"_nanoseconds":0},"thumbnailUrl":""},{"tags":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","entry":"

I am enjoying the last of my chill, do-nothing days; I'm hyped to throw myself into the grind of building a friend group and getting ready to start working in a few days. I am packing up my entire life for the second time in two months; you don't realize how much you own until you try to fit it into two suitcases, a duffel bag, and a backpack.

I have been reading Tough by Terry Crews and rereading The power of strangers by Joe Keohane, both really impactful books that I think will help me focus on the right things in this new chapter of my life.

I've been really into memoirs in the time that I've been home; if you like reading the stories of people's lives I would highly recommend Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaouad and educated by Tara Westover.

Anyways, that's the end of Seyi's book reviews, today was pretty fire and I got to catch up with some old friends. My goals for this week are to finish packing, do the last of my family interviews, and mentally prepare for the huge life event that I've been waiting for for the past 8 months.

5 days!

","name":"Packing up my life again","description":"suitcases are expensive","slug":"packing-my-life","date":{"_seconds":1656892800,"_nanoseconds":0}},{"description":"Large cranium boi ™","entry":"

Today was pretty dope. I slept well, had an accountability call with the homies, and am seeing results from stretching every morning. SF feels real now, the pressure to tie up loose ends before leaving tampa is mounting.

I interviewed my grandma today for the family tree project I'm working on. She is declining from dementia, but I didn't realize how bad it was until I tried to have her recount her life; so many of the details were out of wack — it felt like I knew her life story better than she did :( Anyways, I am glad to be coming to the close of this project, only two more family members left to interview!

My mom, brother, and I went to a restaurant for dinner. I brought WNRS with me; having a social lever always helps to make time together so much more meaningful. I also had some pretty significant insights today:

I've grossly underestimated how many people you gotta talk to in order to validate/ market a startup idea
I fail to tell people in my life about stuff I made that I want attention for because I am insecure. This has resulted in me trying to shill my creations out to internet strangers, something that works but is much more effortful

I've believed for a while that if you want people to pay attention you gotta meet them where they're at, so I should try to utilize my Instagram for the purpose of telling the people who I care about in my life about the things that I care about making; I am sure that they will help to support me in whatever way they can.

7 days!!!

","tags":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","slug":"big-insight-day","date":{"_seconds":1656720000,"_nanoseconds":0},"name":"Big insight day"},{"tags":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","description":"Why am I always sick on my birthday","name":"A tame birthday","date":{"_seconds":1656633600,"_nanoseconds":0},"entry":"

Today was my big day! I didn't do a lot; I think I caught a stomach virus. I pretty much just lay in my bed all day while my phone exploded. It is always nice to know that I am loved, however :) The days of my trip are sneaking closer and I am realizing that I have much less time to tie up loose ends in tampa as a thought.

8 days!

","slug":"tame-birthday"},{"entry":"

Nothing I set out to do today materialized lol. I went to my grandma's to interview her; that plan folded, I needed to grab some stuff from the store: out of stock, I planned to make progress on canoodle: no time. I did get to take some fire pics for my yearly birthday instagram post, so check that out if you get a chance :P

It's almost my birthday!!

9 days

","slug":"derailed","date":{"_seconds":1656547200,"_nanoseconds":0},"description":"when plans fall apart","thumbnailUrl":"","name":"Derailed!","tags":[]},{"slug":"idk-birthday","entry":"

Today was pretty freakin sick. I called two homies who I haven't talked to in a few months, both of who are insanely technically impressive as software engineers and into entrepreneurship. It is always nice catching up with people who make you better.

I have been getting better at brain-dumping the first draft of blog posts that I write. it is so tempting to try to fix errors in the first round, but it always results in me taking 3 hours to flesh out an idea. I am really happy with the flow that I've gotten in with writing since being home, hopefully that persists in the life that awaits me on the west coast :o

I've been helping my mom with her website since she is starting a business. While it is often frustrating, seeing the process of writing copy has given me much more respect for copywriters.

It is my birthday eve-eve, can't wait to be an old man in 2 days :D

10 days!

","name":"idk what to do for my birthday","thumbnailUrl":"","tags":[],"date":{"_seconds":1656460800,"_nanoseconds":0},"description":"almost my jordan year"},{"date":{"_seconds":1656374400,"_nanoseconds":0},"name":"Small wins","description":"","entry":"

Today started off bad — I lost a lot of sleep bc of an interpersonal issue — but we bounced back. Here are a couple small wins today:

I was able to employ writing and meditating to stop myself from engaging in unhealthy use of technology
I met with an old friend from middle school and had a really meaningful conversation
I have been stretching every morning for a few weeks and am starting to see results
I reached out to a homie to vent (something I've been historically bad at)
I refactored a bunch of code on Canoodle

Small wins really hit. Even thought there was plenty I could complain about today, the good most definitely outshines the bad; I just have to make that more of my primary focus when I am in a bummy mood.

SF is coming fast and I have a lot of loose ends to tie up before heading out so I need to start attacking some of those goals this week. Also, I think I'm gonna take dance classes in SF, the kid in me has always wanted to be better at top rock, tutting, and house footwork; I think I owe it to my inner child :)

11 days! (and 3 days to my birthday)

","slug":"small-wins","tags":[],"thumbnailUrl":""},{"entry":"

Today was really good! I didn't get all the things got that I had hoped to (partly because I was a little overzealous with the number of items on my to-do list) but I did do a lot that was useful and unanticipated. I wanted to start doing a lot of changes on canoodle.vercel.app but decided instead to keep doing research and due diligence for my family tree app idea. One of these ideas will work one day 🤕

A mental model that I use whenever I want to talk to someone but I feel weird about calling them is this: \"If they randomly called me right now, would I be thrilled to hear from them?\" If the answer is yes, I always bite the bullet and it's never gone badly.

12 days!

","slug":"recalibrating-reconnecting","thumbnailUrl":"","tags":[],"name":"Recalibrating and Reconnecting","date":{"_seconds":1656288000,"_nanoseconds":0},"description":""},{"thumbnailUrl":"","date":{"_seconds":1656201600,"_nanoseconds":0},"tags":[],"description":"Discombobulated","name":"Get back in the groove","slug":"get-back-in","entry":"

I've been kinda all over the place for the last few days; we visited my brother's college and being out of town + getting poor sleep multiple nights in a row is a recipe for disaster.

Today was great, my bro and I got lunch with some family and then he had a \"beat battle\" which is an event where producers show their technical chops by compiling a bunch of their music abiding by certain guidelines; seeing him get accolades for his talent and learning how to network is pretty cool.

I listened to an episode of How I Built This which has kinda rekindled my belief in Canoodle, an idea that I was pursuing earlier this year.

Not too much to report besides the fact that my time in Tampa is coming to a close!

13 days!

"},{"date":{"_seconds":1655942400,"_nanoseconds":0},"entry":"

Productivity was not on point today; my day kinda got derailed and then I never recovered. I spent 3.5 hours in the car taking my brother to his school for orientation which was actually kinda nice, I got pretty far into a book called \"The Awkward Black Man.\" This is the second book I've read recently that is a collection of short stories — I really like this format. They have the prose of a typical fiction book but leave me with the emotions of a poem; it feels like I'm observing a slice of someone's life — I enjoy reaching the end of a short story and having to parse out what feeling the author hoped to portray in such a short format.

I have been writing for a long time and it's the activity that seems to come easiest to me, but I definitely feel a modicum of imposter syndrome when I try to claim \"writer\" as part of my identity. Over the past few years, people have regularly told me that I should consider writing a book; It is definitely an idea that I have toyed with. Recently, the two people who I respect most as writers have expressed to me in all sincerity that I should seriously consider writing a memoir — I am not really sure what to do. While this is something that I envisioned that I would do at some undefined point in the future, I do think that I have some interesting lessons and experiences that would inspire others. On the other hand, I feel like a fraud to even think that I have lived enough life to think about writing a whole book about it. I do respect those who have told me that this is a path that I should consider so I am going to bump up this project on my laundry list of projects.

16 days!

","name":"Orientation Trip Day 1","slug":"orientation-1","description":"Should I write a book?","tags":[],"thumbnailUrl":""},{"name":"Given enough time the truth will come","slug":"time-equals-truth","thumbnailUrl":"","description":"You can only hide for so long","tags":[],"date":{"_seconds":1655856000,"_nanoseconds":0},"entry":"

I had a real dope convo with my mom this morning about belief. I have a pretty tenuous relationship with spirituality but this period of being home has helped me become more grounded in that respect. It's interesting, because I think that just from being in the same space for 2 months, my family has been able to intuit some things about me that I haven't mentioned explicitly at any point. Not that I was making an effort to hide things about myself, but, given enough time, the truth finds a way to surface.

It's funny how quickly we forget; I write blog posts, and after reading through some from the past year I realized that I've touched on topics from the same conceptual sphere like three times. I think that's a good thing though, each time I dug deeper into the same subject matter.

I posted on a facebook page about geneaology and got a bit more insights into what things would be desirable in a collaborative family tree builder. I am going to try my best to document this process on twitter.

Life is great rn!

17 days!

"},{"date":{"_seconds":1655769600,"_nanoseconds":0},"tags":["conversations"],"slug":"conversational-sparring","entry":"

I met up with my best friend from high school today! Sitting down for 3 hours with someone is often intimidating, but I've been viewing every conversation that I've had recently as an opportunity to improve at an aspect of conversation. The thing I've been getting better at lately is surfacing interesting topics. Listening is a skill that I think I've got down pat; I am fairly good at parsing out interesting aspects of what people are saying and digging deeper into the facets of their life that haven't been breached before. I'm not so great at reaching a lull in a conversation without floundering; I've realized that this is because I am chronically ineffective at surfacing the things that I have been thinking about — you can't always be on defense, a conversation is for both parties. Anyways, it was really fun and I think I made progress with my sojourn to be a better conversationalist. I also think that I might be hyper-intellectualizing something that is really simple??? That's probably the case but whatever 🤷🏿‍♂️

I watched some videos today about frontend architecture and testing, I am trying to become a more conscientious software engineer now that I will be working in code bases with people other than myself. I am learning a lot and am actually excited about software testing? Who would've thunk it? If you're an engineer and are interested, here's what I was watching.

Another insight from watching that video: You can apply most principles from one domain in a lot of places in your life. From this video about software testing best practices he kinda touched on the idea that, to decrease complexity in a system, decrease the number of parties that you have to appeal to. I saw this same concept crop up in The Art of Gathering, a book about meaningful social gatherings, and in a lot of entrepreneurship circles — it's in the same conceptual sphere as \"niching down,\" just applied to a new topic. I need to work on my Zettelkasten to visualize how all these ideas connect :P

18 days!

","name":"Conversational Sparring","description":"Every conversation is practice","thumbnailUrl":""},{"date":{"_seconds":1655683200,"_nanoseconds":0},"thumbnailUrl":"","slug":"hs-reflections","tags":[],"entry":"

Without revealing too much, I had a pretty life-changing talk with my family this morning; the past can really give you so many insights on how to proceed in the future. Just when you think you know everything, details about your childhood can bring your current situation into a clearer view.

I met up with an old friend from high school today and we reflected a lot on how we, and the people we used to know, have changed. My perception of myself in high school was not bad, but I definitely compared myself to others a lot. Hearing from my homie about how a lot of the people in my class ended up kinda helped me dispel the myth that anyone is better than me or that I am better than anyone else.

19 days

","description":"The past has an endless amount to teach us","name":"Family insights and reflections on high school"},{"tags":[],"slug":"return-to-twitter","description":"Examining my intentions","thumbnailUrl":"","date":{"_seconds":1655596800,"_nanoseconds":0},"name":"The return to twitter","entry":"

I did another interview with a family member today, my aunt. It was really good; I really feel like I am rounding out my understanding of my family. I also got lunch with an old friend which was gratifying; it is always touching to know that someone who keeps a pretty small, selective group of friends has chosen you, haha.

I got back on Twitter yesterday, I think I have a better idea of what I want to use the platform for — I feel like if you aren't intentional about social media you'll end up doing a lot of wacky stuff that you don't actually care about.

I don't really have a whole lot to say today, I feel pretty bummed rn and I'm trying to figure out why. Anyways, here's a reminder to drink more water and call your mom if you haven't spoken to her lately :)

20 days

"},{"description":"Not everyday is gonna be great","thumbnailUrl":"","date":{"_seconds":1655510400,"_nanoseconds":0},"entry":"

Today was just kind of a mess. I went to bed late, used my phone too soon after waking up, napped in the middle of the day, and was pretty distracted by my phone. I'm thankful to have been able to catch up with some friends over the past few days; Knowing that the systems I have set up for myself allow me to stay consistent with my relationships is pretty nice!

I was hanging out with my brother in my room today and reading him some old journals of mine — being able to go back and read what past-you was thinking is such a profound gift. I have been thinking about what the best way is for me to sytematize the revisiting of these entries for a while. This, in conjunction with the family interview project I am working on is all coalescing into a magnum-opus level idea for a platform that can help you document and revisit your whole life. I am not sure what this will look like, but it is an idea that I am pretty sure I will be working on in the future — stay tuned :)

21 days!

","name":"Bad starts and the dividends of documentation","slug":"dividends-of-documentation","tags":["documenting"]},{"date":{"_seconds":1655424000,"_nanoseconds":618000000},"name":"Slowly chugging along","description":"Slow progress is still progress","slug":"6-17-22","entry":"

I've been trying to make progress on a lot of goals while home, but I seem to always end the day with unfinished things on my to do list. I am recently reminded of the book Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy, the main premise of which is to start everyday with the thing that you want to do the least, then you can at least be able to say that you have gotten that out of the way. This approach is helping me to slowly make progress on all the things I would like to, even if the pace is not optimal

A friend of mine once told me something in the same vein: \"The only things you can be sure that you'll do are the things that you do in the morning.\" Regardless, I am having a good time being at home — I am trying to savor it before my life changes very soon!

22 days

","tags":[],"thumbnailUrl":""},{"name":"The stranger in the lifeboat","tags":[],"description":"Put all your effort into relieving the bottlenecks","thumbnailUrl":"","slug":"stranger-in-the-lifeboat","entry":"

I am reading this book by Mitch Albom, stranger in a lifeboat, it's a pretty compelling story!
\nI've developed the habit of always having a physical fiction book that I'm reading and a non-fiction audiobook that I'm listening to. Last week I found myself reading two books that were not compelling, ending up with me ditching my reading practice altogether. Today I spent like 5 minutes finding new content to read and it feels like my quality of life has jumped 200%. Fixing the bottlenecks in your systems should always be the priority

Today I interviewed another aunt for my family documentation project and she cried at a point; Giving people a reason to reflect on their past is a powerful exercise.

23 days!

","date":{"_seconds":1655337600,"_nanoseconds":0}},{"description":"Sometimes it all hits you at once","slug":"my-future","entry":"

I woke up this morning at like 4am and lay in bed thinking. While I've known that my life is about to change substantially since october, it is only last night that the realization that I am about to move across the country to start an exciting life felt real for the first time. I know that the next stage of my journey is going to be filled with a lot of discomfort (starting a life in a new city is no easy feat) but I am so grateful to be able to call this my life.

I am trying to stay open to whatever happens and not be to stuck to any specific plan of my own. There is this thing called the \"end of history fallacy\" which is basically the tendency of us, in our newfound wisdom, to think that we can make cohesive decisions for our future selves. The reason this is an issue is becuase, we are still works in progress, not some finished piece; we will almost definitely see the world differently as we gain more information in the future, so to lock yourself into some myopic view of the future may close you off to positive life changes that you never could have seen coming. As my family likes to say, let go and let god :)

24 days!

","date":{"_seconds":1655251200,"_nanoseconds":0},"name":"Realizations about my future","thumbnailUrl":"","tags":[]},{"description":"This won't last forever","thumbnailUrl":"","entry":"

I did another family interview this morning with my aunt; super dope experience, I love hearing about people's life. I feel like you can gain so much wisdom just from hearing someone reflect on the mistakes they made. This project (which I explain in yesterday's post) is also cool because I get to hear about a bunch of crazy family drama that I never would have heard about otherwise.

I got home after the interview and spent 5 hours hanging out with my brother and cooking a huge meal. Then we ate and I went to bed at 8 pm and woke up at 3 am. It's kinda weird not having to feel guilty about a wonky sleep schedule, I am going to enjoy this luxury while it lasts. That being said, it is actually a lot better when I am consistently waking up at the same time; I guess some monotony is the price you pay for discipline.

","date":{"_seconds":1655164800,"_nanoseconds":0},"slug":"no-sleep-schedule","name":"The joy of no sleep schedule","tags":[]},{"slug":"first-family-interviews","entry":"

My mom and I went on a walk a few months ago and she told me some crazy stories that gave me new insight into my family's history. I asked her if any of these tales were documented and she said no, so I took it upon myself to start a new project while I'm home: interviewing my grandma and her children about their life, creating a digital and interactive family tree website, and becoming more intentional about documenting my life and the lives of those around me.

It's been a little tough to find times with everyone, but I interviewed two of my uncles today about their time growing up, their trajectory as young adults, and what they're looking forward to in the future. I thought these conversations would last around 30 minutes, but they ended up being over 2 hours long! I guess there is something cathartic about having the chance to reflect on your whole life.

While it has been nice to lounge at home, having a project to devote my time and effort to has been really enriching. I still have 6 more aunts and uncles to do, looking forward to seeing how this project pans out :)

P.S. 26 days to SF, yuh

","name":"Starting The Interviews","tags":["family","documenting"],"description":"Getting to know people is fun","date":{"_seconds":1655078400,"_nanoseconds":0},"thumbnailUrl":""},{"slug":"purgatory","name":"Purgatory","tags":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","date":{"_seconds":1654920000,"_nanoseconds":0},"entry":"

Heyo! I've been writing a personal journal everyday for a few years which is cool — I like being able to look back on my thoughts — however, I don't currently have a platform where I can document my life more publicly and put mid-length thoughts when I have them; substack is for more well thought out writing, twitter is too short form, and finsta is too... 9th grade. I built this journal/blog thing from scratch to fix my issue, hopefully someone besides me finds my thoughts interesting :)

I am in this weird season right now bc I just graduated college a little over a month ago, but I have about a month before I make the big move from Florida to San Francisco. It is not often that I get 2 months of uninterrupted time with my family so I am trying to do all I can to remain present; I'm just so excited for the next chapter of my life. Overall, things are pretty dope for me right now, hopefully they stay that way.

I plan to do this everyday but with my track record of consistency, who knows if that is gonna happen. I hope whoever is bored enough to be reading this is also having a great day :)

","description":"The between place"}]

Daily Journal

life, work, and spirituality

low energy, high hopes

growing and changing

Building Bonds

fomo is an issue

My first contribution!

sleep is the cure

tired

Starting the week off strong

make new friends or invest in current ones?

the mattress rises