Finding my calling
Securing an apartment, my past life as a baker and dancer, how to heal addiction, daily mindfulness prompts, an ultimate guide to sleep, and a quote on self-improvement
Hi friend,
So I am proud to say that I have finally secured an apartment! 🎉 In just a few weeks, I'll be finally an official NYC resident again! (I am looking forward to receiving fewer emails from all of the home search engines I’ve signed up for and grubby brokers that keep asking me to look at homes I’m not interested in.)
As many of you know, I'm dipping my foot back into the design world as part of finding a balance with a steady income and my mindfulness projects. My portfolio is still coming together, but if you know of any clients or agencies looking for some help with strategy or UX in NYC, send them over to my LinkedIn.
To be honest, this exercise of refreshing my portfolio and resume reminded me that I still love design. I remember picking up a pirated copy of Adobe Photoshop back when I was in elementary school and how much joy it brought me to make websites. (Total nerd, right?) Life has thrown so many things in my direction in the last few years and I am trying to figure out how to decipher it all. Perhaps we’ll see where things go in the next few months as I start settling into my new home and plant some roots in this city.
When it comes to career, how do we know what we’re meant to do? In the past, I used to want to be a doctor. I used to want to be a pharmacist. I used to want to be a software developer. I used to want to be a baker. I used to want to be a dancer too.
(Back when I used to sell cupcakes for events)
(Back when I was dancing)
So many different paths and such a different mindset I was in during each of those moments. Where will I be in the next 3 years? 10 years? Who knows?
But I hope that I will be closer with my heart and continuing to do something that nourishes my soul.
Do you ever feel like you have so many callings? Which one do you follow?
Everything we know about addiction is wrong
Another amazing TED talk by Johann Hari on addition.
I'm guessing you guys could afford to be drinking vodka for the next six months. You wouldn't end up homeless. You're not going to do that, and the reason you're not going to do that is not because anyone's stopping you. It's because you've got bonds and connections that you want to be present for. You've got work you love. You've got people you love. You've got healthy relationships. And a core part of addiction, I came to think, and I believe the evidence suggests, is about not being able to bear to be present in your life.
To fight addiction, we have to look outside of addiction. People use substances to heal and to cope. By criminalizing the tools, we are going after the wrong thing.
Daily mindfulness prompts
I love to write every day and Cactus is a website that sends very simple one-minute prompt to make each day a little happier. I love how simple and delightful the prompts have been each morning.
Reddit’s guide to sleep
Stumbled on this Reddit thread that puts together a lot of the insights I've read from various books into a really simple post. If you're having trouble with sleep - I highly recommend you to check this out.
Quote I love
"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self." - Ernest Hemingway
As always, thanks for reading!
P.S. If you enjoyed this, share or sign up here:Â mindfulmoments.substack.com
Anything else? You can always hit "reply" to email me directly. 💌
Have a beautiful day!
Metta (loving-kindness),
Steven
Yellow Glitter Podcast | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | StevenWakabayashi.com