February 1^st 2019

For the last 20 days, I’ve been reading a lot about people defining their passion. This topic has been the talk of the digital world and turning to be a big part of youth culture today. Everything is driven by passion. You work because of passion, you struggle because of passion, you success because of passion. Passion this, passion that. I can’t help but tossing my 2 cents about this hot topic to the fountain of wish.

What the freak is passion? Why such a fuss?

To be completely honest with you, I don’t have any fancy explaination about this. I don’t have inspirational quotes under my sleeves. But I do know several people that are so passionate, whether about work or carreer or life in general. The very first person I find very passionate is Diana Rikasari. I’ve been reading her blog since 2008 and she’s still blogging regularly until now. She also manages to grow a little family and 2 fashion companies and 3 best seller books. She’s, in my opinion, an epitome of a balance life cause she checks all the boxes: great carreer and joyful personal life. The other person that has been my biggest inspiration and radiating such a strong passionate vibe is Casey Neistat. The first time I watched him being a content contributor for Vogue Met Gala back in 2015. Then I discovered a true gem on Casey’s youtube chanel: his adventure movie called Make It Counts. That movie was the beginning of everything for me. That movie is the core of my own journey, the one that sparked my passion. Then he produced some more movies that were like, the answers for all of my unsettling doubt and midnight thoughts.

So, what happen?

Watching, following and observing both of them have given me a realization about this subject. Why do some people can find their passion early on? Why do some others struggling about finding the answer? I think I’m gonna go with something so simple, something that is open for more perspectives to come, to keep reinventing itself as you grow. Passion is a state of love. When you are passionate about it, you’ll learn to love it, almost unconditionally. It always in your mind, it always stays as your heart beating fast thinking about so many amazing ideas in your mind you want to make them true. To have or find passion is to be in love. And to grow passion you need commitment and consistency.

Is this some overly romanticizing story? Probably. Should you throw away everything you have now to chase after passion? Not really. I think all you have to do is loving what you have now, then look deeper to find something that becomes the source of your joy. Once you succesfully identify it, nurture it by commiting to master it and consistently building your personal brand. After all, it’s a state of love, it will naturally come to you as you and your soul grow kinder and wiser.

I can guess your next question: how do I make a living out of my passion? Well, take it easy dear friends. For now let’s just let this idea sits still in your mind. Embrace it for now, as you can’t rush love, right? 😉

January 30^th 2019

Who’s been putting “Brand New Me” on the top of your new year resolutions? Or nobody does resolutions anymore?

I did it all the time. I used to wish that I would be someone else, someone “better” on the new year; better at making friends, better at speaking in front of the crowd, better at taking care of my appearance, better at being a good kid for my parents, and another million “better” scenarios in my head. I wished that once the clock striked 12, I would magically be all of those betters. Or at least, I would become that one friend at class that everybody liked. One that, in my 9 years old mind, had a perfect little life.

I think it’s a good thing to explore yourself and try out the possibilities. But it will be quite an issue if it comes from a jealousy or envy or anger, just like my 9 years old self did. Brand new me doesn’t mean you dismiss your old self and wake up with a completely different personalities. I always know that I was super shy, but I wanted to be friends with everyone. I was thinking that if I was easy going, I might get a chance. But what I did was copying my friend so everyone else liked me. And the outcome wasn’t as favorable as I might like. I needed another 15 years for trial and errors, and every single year the top list was always the same: brand new me.

There was only one mistake I did in my 15 years journey of finding myself: I never listened to myself. I listened to my mom, I listened to my dad, I listened to my friends, I listened to the boy I had crush on, I listened to the teachers, I listened to everyone but myself. I never gave myself time to process all the changes I made over the year. I never asked myself whether I wanted to do it or not, whether I was comfortable about it or not. I used to think that everyone else knew better than me, so I just needed to do as they say. But nothing during that 15 years gave me the satisfaction of becoming a person I dreamt about. I was lost in the maze that I created myself. Until I finally asked to myself: what do you truly need?

It’s not easy to believe your own self when everyone else has a lot to say about you. It’s not easy to stop our obsessive side over the idea of a perfect life. It takes courage to admit who you really are, the good, the bad and everything in between. I guess my revelation was to finally accept that I didn’t have to change myself for everyone to like me. It’s okay to be me, with a little improvement here and there. Improvement, not replacement. It’s okay if the parents, friends, your crush, the teachers questioned you at first. With a lot of patience, late night chit chat, 2 hours phone calls, ugly cry confession and ice cream dates, they who truly care will come along eventually. Repeat after me: it’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay. Take a deep breath and exhale all of your worries.

Now, what’s on the top of your new year resolution? Mine is “To be Content with Myself”.