lifestyle
The importance of self care and why it's all Hawaii's fault
Self care is important.
It's really, really important. Almost as important as not forgetting to fill in your brows during your morning makeup routine. Or remembering not to leave the house without at least a little mascara and a swipe of lipstick. And remembering never, never, never to wear white after Labor Day. That, my friends, is a big one.
Haha, kidding. But really though, all jokes aside, let's be real here - self care is SO important, and this is something so many young, hard working people in today's fast-paced world tend to forget. I'm definitely not an exception. If anything, I exemplify everything that happens when - for the sake of work, school, and more work - you ignore self-care completely. This isn't something I've been able to particularly hide very easily, if at all, especially when the culmination of everything I stress out about tends to reach it's breaking point in (and I mean this in terms of myself and everyone unfortunate enough to be around me) awkwardly public spaces.
It doesn't help my case that I've always been one to wear my heart on my sleeve. Once I reach a certain zone of comfort with you, I'll tell you everything about myself, past, present and future, whether you're interested or not. This blog itself is HIGHLY personal, and there's a reason why. I have never been the type to run away from anything, to hide anything, or to give up. I have always seen life as a constant progression rife with hidden opportunities to expand and grow, and because of that, sometimes it feels like I'm a different person every day, and it's difficult to summarize myself to others when they ask. Sometimes I feel like a person who's lives a thousand shallow mini-lives, each so unique from the last, with so many others left to go. Does that make sense? Hopefully that makes sense.
But given that, there are a few things I DO know. When I mess up, I always own up to it. Because honey, you know I don't know everything. I know I don't know everything. So why would I act like I know everything, especially when life exists to afford us the opportunity to make mistakes and grow?
Life is hard, shit happens. But you get up and learn (albeit sometimes slowly).
And never, under any circumstance, do I take the "easy way" toward anything in my life. This, I know, is something about myself that's never changed.
To put things into context, as always, I feel the need to mention my upbringing in Hawaii. First of all, anyone who's anyone knows that public education in Hawaii is atrocious. I haven't looked at the statistics, but I feel like it's somehow safe to assert just through personal experience that Hawaii's public education system, if ranked among others nationally, would tank somewhere in the bottom five.
Anyway, the point is, public schools there suck - so much so, in fact, that anyone serious about making something out of their lives (that DOESN'T include working at 7-11 for 20 years and pitching a tent on the beach and pretending dreadlocks are suddenly cool) leaves. We get the hell out of there. The system sucks SO much, actually, that instead of choosing to go to a public high school for four years 30 minutes away (which would have been easy), I chose to commute three hours by bus - three transfers - every morning to attend a small, private high school across the island. I woke up at 4 am every single day for four years. For the sake of an education I was proud of and believed in. And honestly, if you ask me, I think it was worth it.
This might explain why even under extremely inconvenient and difficult circumstances, I made the choice to come to Missouri and pursue my dream career in journalism - flabbergasting to some, I know. I traded an ocean view and palm tree silhouettes for Sperry's and cornfields (also, since we're on the subject- Sperry's are ugly. Everyone knows that. I'm convinced everyone in Missouri is in on some sort of conspiracy to make them look super trendy and cool, but anyway, there's that). And honestly, if you ask me, I think it's worth it.
In the end, however, I think it's still possible to prioritize my career and schoolwork while also maintaining some level of self-care. This is something, I'll admit, I've lost sight of. For me, that's a really easy thing to do. But from here on out, I'm making it a goal for self care to be something I prioritize, at least some of the time. Because whether I like it or not, self-care is important. Almost as important as remembering not to wear white after Labor Day.
-----
In other news, I've already started my journey to a healthier, happier me. I ordered coldstone delivery while pumping out an essay at midnight last night, and took the opportunity I had covering a KBIA story this sunny Saturday afternoon to actually stop and smell the flowers for once. Who knew this campus was so pretty!
It's really, really important. Almost as important as not forgetting to fill in your brows during your morning makeup routine. Or remembering not to leave the house without at least a little mascara and a swipe of lipstick. And remembering never, never, never to wear white after Labor Day. That, my friends, is a big one.
Haha, kidding. But really though, all jokes aside, let's be real here - self care is SO important, and this is something so many young, hard working people in today's fast-paced world tend to forget. I'm definitely not an exception. If anything, I exemplify everything that happens when - for the sake of work, school, and more work - you ignore self-care completely. This isn't something I've been able to particularly hide very easily, if at all, especially when the culmination of everything I stress out about tends to reach it's breaking point in (and I mean this in terms of myself and everyone unfortunate enough to be around me) awkwardly public spaces.
It doesn't help my case that I've always been one to wear my heart on my sleeve. Once I reach a certain zone of comfort with you, I'll tell you everything about myself, past, present and future, whether you're interested or not. This blog itself is HIGHLY personal, and there's a reason why. I have never been the type to run away from anything, to hide anything, or to give up. I have always seen life as a constant progression rife with hidden opportunities to expand and grow, and because of that, sometimes it feels like I'm a different person every day, and it's difficult to summarize myself to others when they ask. Sometimes I feel like a person who's lives a thousand shallow mini-lives, each so unique from the last, with so many others left to go. Does that make sense? Hopefully that makes sense.
But given that, there are a few things I DO know. When I mess up, I always own up to it. Because honey, you know I don't know everything. I know I don't know everything. So why would I act like I know everything, especially when life exists to afford us the opportunity to make mistakes and grow?
Life is hard, shit happens. But you get up and learn (albeit sometimes slowly).
And never, under any circumstance, do I take the "easy way" toward anything in my life. This, I know, is something about myself that's never changed.
To put things into context, as always, I feel the need to mention my upbringing in Hawaii. First of all, anyone who's anyone knows that public education in Hawaii is atrocious. I haven't looked at the statistics, but I feel like it's somehow safe to assert just through personal experience that Hawaii's public education system, if ranked among others nationally, would tank somewhere in the bottom five.
Anyway, the point is, public schools there suck - so much so, in fact, that anyone serious about making something out of their lives (that DOESN'T include working at 7-11 for 20 years and pitching a tent on the beach and pretending dreadlocks are suddenly cool) leaves. We get the hell out of there. The system sucks SO much, actually, that instead of choosing to go to a public high school for four years 30 minutes away (which would have been easy), I chose to commute three hours by bus - three transfers - every morning to attend a small, private high school across the island. I woke up at 4 am every single day for four years. For the sake of an education I was proud of and believed in. And honestly, if you ask me, I think it was worth it.
This might explain why even under extremely inconvenient and difficult circumstances, I made the choice to come to Missouri and pursue my dream career in journalism - flabbergasting to some, I know. I traded an ocean view and palm tree silhouettes for Sperry's and cornfields (also, since we're on the subject- Sperry's are ugly. Everyone knows that. I'm convinced everyone in Missouri is in on some sort of conspiracy to make them look super trendy and cool, but anyway, there's that). And honestly, if you ask me, I think it's worth it.
In the end, however, I think it's still possible to prioritize my career and schoolwork while also maintaining some level of self-care. This is something, I'll admit, I've lost sight of. For me, that's a really easy thing to do. But from here on out, I'm making it a goal for self care to be something I prioritize, at least some of the time. Because whether I like it or not, self-care is important. Almost as important as remembering not to wear white after Labor Day.
-----
In other news, I've already started my journey to a healthier, happier me. I ordered coldstone delivery while pumping out an essay at midnight last night, and took the opportunity I had covering a KBIA story this sunny Saturday afternoon to actually stop and smell the flowers for once. Who knew this campus was so pretty!
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