Back in LA and reevaluating my mission
Updates to my acne scar treatment, reevaluating my goals, debunking food videos, embracing our shame, and being more mindful with TV
Hi friend!
This week, I have finally arrived back in Los Angeles at my family home. After being on the road for almost eight months, unpacking and settling in feels so foreign to me. At the time of this writing, I’ve been in LA for nearly a week, and I have still yet to unpack my stuff. (Don’t worry, I did laundry right before leaving SF!)
As some of you may know, I got a small bit of laser work done on my face last week. Really quick, I’ll share with you an update on my acne scar treatment:
You can see that the laser burnt a whole layer of my skin off. It didn’t hurt as bad as it looks, and the texture has improved dramatically. For anyone curious, it’s called a CO2 Fraxel treatment and a great last “finisher” step towards acne scar treatment. Deeper scars need a bit more invasive work beforehand. Thank you for all the emails from the previous newsletter. So many of you I would never have imagined having gone through acne too!
I was out of commission from being outdoors for almost two weeks, and it gave me a lot of time to reevaluate what I am doing with my life, the content I am creating, my goals and aspirations, and next steps.
Serendipitously, I was also skimming through the various life coaches that inspire me on Instagram, and I noticed a trend:
Out of hundreds of these motivational people, I did not spot a single Asian individual. Even in the space of mindfulness, which has deep Asian roots, the famous faces behind the Western mindfulness movement are all straight white men and women. I can’t assess and identify the deep, systemic causes of this all in an email, but this is something I am deeply passionate about learning more and investing time into.
For all of my Asian brothers, sisters, and non-gender binary siblings—is becoming the next gay Asian Tim Ferriss the best way to support the community? Or is it perhaps best represented in other means?
With that said, I’m starting to look into ways of incorporating more of the lens of who I am into my mindfulness content: Asian and queer. Stay tuned! Curious how this is going to play out.
Debunking viral food videos
Whenever there is a video by Tasty, So Yummy, or other viral video production companies, I am in a state of trance. The videos are beautifully shot, the pacing is just right, and the food looks absolutely delicious. Though, not everything is as it seems. Many of these viral videos have exposed because of their incorrect recipes, kitchen hacks, and misinformation.
I recently stumbled on this food scientist, Ann Reardon, who debunks these viral food videos. She has almost 3.6 million followers, and I learned so much from her other videos as well. I warn you now, they are very addicting to watch.
Embracing our imperfections
This past week, I was looking for a quick read and picked up The Gifts of Imperfection by Bryné Brown because of its popularity on Goodreads. Bryné Brown is a renowned shame researcher and has one of the most popular TED talks on the power of vulnerability. The book is a fantastic read on being authentic, joyful, and embracing our shame in our lives.
The TV made me do it
This article recently published by the NY Times shines a light on the impact that television has on our thinking, political preferences, and cognitive ability. (Hint: TV is not good for our cognition) With the influx of addictive programming by Netflix, HBO, and other media companies, it helps think twice before reaching for the remote for our next binge-watching session.
As always, thanks for reading!
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Have a beautiful day!
Metta (loving-kindness),
Steven