Like most personal growth enthusiasts, I am highly susceptible to fad challenges. That, and my willingness to sell out for the sake of content creation, would have made me an excellent BuzzFeed employee circa 2016.
As I approach my 6-month anniversary in Japan amidst coronavirus halting all travel plans, I figure that March is an opportune time to hunker down and establish sustainable habits for a settled life. This time period also overlaps with Lent (March 2nd - April 14th), and the part of me that was trained to be a good little Catholic girl is always keen for fear-induced penance. Over the next month, I’m hoping to reset my lifestyle using a guiding framework that I am coining “practical asceticism” - more on that in a later post. I plan to be on my best behavior for the next 31 days as I experiment with grounding practices for intentionality, balance, and holistic wellness. I’m putting it here so I can hold myself accountable.
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hi friends. i am deep in the weeds of ethical philosophy, fervently wading through hundreds of hours worth of content in my quest to live in alignment with my morals. sounds very dramatic, but it's really me nodding in front of a laptop or along to a podcast for 4+ hours a day. in any case, i'm synthesizing and digesting and emoting (and writing) -- but badly and slowly -- so i'm uploading this instead of an actual piece.
click "read more" to see my january journal, which contains one (1) half-baked, barely comprehensible thought i had on each day of the month. i do keep a private journal for musings that are less cryptic and faux-poetic, but this format was a fun exercise in writing without the pressure to communicate. it's just me playing with words! enjoy! It is very tasty, being held in suspense by my own life. I’m beginning 2022 as a newly-single English teacher living in middle-of-nowhere Japan, whereas this time last year, I was plodding towards marriage in Napa Valley and permitting T-Mobile cell towers for $21/hour. I hope that in a few years, I’ll have fallen into even more happenstance situations, like being a polyamorous flight attendant based in the Middle East or a commune farmer crying through an Eat, Pray, Love moment somewhere humid and vaguely spiritual. Or maybe I’ll be back in San Francisco, selling my soul for stock options. In any case, I’m writing to you with optimism and anticipation, ready for the adventure to unfold and the Universe to steer me towards a greater (or just different) next chapter.
When I brainstormed what I would write for this blog post, I started with the title. It’s so dramatic, so YouTube entrepreneur trying to sell you an investing course. I imagined talking about how proud I was that I gave up a large amount of money to “follow my dreams,” and encouraging you to do the same. I envisioned coming back to this blog a year from now and elaborating on how quitting my job was the best decision I could have ever made for my mental health. Really, I wanted to broadcast that I was a little less capitalist-minded than I was the day before. That I was noble enough to turn my back on wealth in pursuit of more honorable endeavors.
But it’s disingenuous for me to convey that I am not money-conscious or motivated by standard measures of success. I did not free myself from the bounds of our financial system or the pressures of societal expectations. I am still very much entrenched in both, try as I might. I won’t try to convince you that I’ve shifted priorities definitively, because that will only make me look like a big ‘ole hypocrite when I run back to the corporate world upon my return to the States. What I am doing, then, is taking a break. This is an attempt at marketable writing, should I ever be asked to write for an audience besides my own ego. Please enjoy!
In the summer of 2019, as I headed into my final year at San Diego State University, I was selected to participate in two fully-funded study abroad experiences in Cambodia and Brazil. During my 12 weeks traveling the world, I watched the sunrise over Angkor Wat on my birthday, sipped from coconuts on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro, and gained valuable experience as a Sales and Marketing intern and social science researcher - all without spending a single dime. In fact, I actually ended up making money due to a research stipend I received. So, how did I do it? Snappy title aside, a fair bit of luck was involved in my situation. However, I believe the type of luck I experienced is fully replicable with a little bit of upfront research to make sure you’re maximizing your chances of success. The strategy that I used to win more than $12,000 in study abroad scholarships and stipends can be summed up in four words: minimize the applicant pool. |
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