Cosplay

Although Halloween is not till later this week, here in Korea we celebrated it this past weekend.  

In full force!

My record with Halloween is a solid 0-3.  With Halloween significantly kicking my ass every year!

And this year was no different.  

I would like to think that I put up a good fight.  Managed to stay… conscious… till the early hours of the morning.  But who really knows (sorry mom and dad!).  My text messages started to get a little wonky around 3am, so that's when I'm going to put the time stamp on my decline.  

But the night on the whole was another example of pure Busan-awesomeness!  

And my first go at cosplay!

Cosplay takes a lot of work!! 

I spent a good week assembling pieces for my costume, finding the right colors, getting the correct accessories together and a lonnnnng night in sewing just to make my costume.  I do have to admit - that I was really rather thifty and overall impressed with my craftiness.  Who knew the top half of tights could be turned into a cape?  

Not me! But I do now!!

Once the outfit was taken care of, it was time for the makeup!

We had all watched a bunch of anime makeup tutorials on Youtube - some making it look possible, others never in a million years.  

But that's where I lucked out.

One of my Korean friends, Yujin, is a professional makeup artist/makeup instructor at a vocational school, and she offered to do my makeup.  That was an offer I could NOT turn down!

getting started

Yujin was fantastic!! She brought over her whole kit to do my and Mallory's makeup and help us really kill our costumes!

The lashes were intense.  So dramatic. So fun!  I really need to learn how to put those on myself!

 finished makeup

It took about an hour to for Yujin to do my makeup.  She had asked me previously if we wanted our makeup to be soft, medium, or strong.  I told her STRONG!!!  We wanted it to pop.  And it definitely did!

My character has blue eyes, so I added cosplay blue contacts to fit the role.

While Mallory was getting her makeup done, I got my costume on and really started to transform myself.  

From Meagan…. into…. Sailor Mercury!

                

All I needed now was some blue hair.  Hellooo wig!

Once Mallory was finished, the fun really got started.  

Although we were dressed as part of a group of five, our other Sailor Scouts didn't get ready with us - so we had to head out to the Fireworks Festival alone.  We didn't stand out at all….

But soon we were united with the rest of our group of warriors and the Sailor Scouts were ready to defend the world from evil!

 Sadly I woke up with not a lick of makeup on and all lashes ripped off.  But the pictures are proof of my cosplay debut!
And how great we all looked!

Weekend Update

Only just back from the dead and really taking time off.

  

You would have thought a 3month hiatus was enough to recharge all the whatnot and get things going again.  

Good grief!

But to go slightly easily on myself, the weekend was an uneventful-eventful few days.

Friday night was spent in. Relaxing and watching a Disney movie or two.  Every since our trip to Tokyo Disney (post will come eventually!) I have set myself the challenge (thanks to the idea from Zac) to watch all the Disney movies is order of their release date.

And I know! You're thinking… 

"Meagan, you are a Disney freak! Surely you have seen every Disney movie!" 

Which, to my dismay, is not true. Oh the shame!

There are either a few films I never saw, or saw so infrequent and so long ago that I don't remember them.  So I'm enjoying going through them now!

Saturday morning I went to the dentist for the first time in a bit too long.  But I am thankful I went to the dentist here, instead of back home like I was going to do when I was home for a month this summer (post will come eventually!).  

Why?

Because, despite being a bit more painful than I typically remember the dentist being, it only cost me 13,300 won (= $12.56) compared to the ~$250 they wanted back home! 

Bam. Winning!

I even made another appointment to go back and have my one silver filling changed to a clear one.  For only 90,000 won (= $84.97) 

Baaaammmm!!

Saturday afternoon/evening I went around with Kelly to find things for our Halloween costumes.  We were highly successful and managed to head home that evening with almost everything we needed.

My shopping bag that night included: a blue wig, blue tights, and a giant light blue bow.

Kelly, myself and 3 other of our friends are going as the Sailor Scouts this Halloween. It's going to be pretty awesome if I do say so myself.  

I was up till 3am Saturday night hand-sewing my Sailor Mercury costume together!  I'm really happy with it!  Can't wait to show it off this coming weekend. 

Sunday was a week post Canadian Thanksgiving, but since it's never to late to celebrate… anything! we had a potluck Thanksgiving dinner fit with all the fixings!  Ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, carrots, pasta salad, cranberry sauce, stuffing, beverages of every flavor, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin pie and other foods to snack on while the day was getting started!  

Everything was delicious.  

So much so that we were all pouting of overstuffed tummies and the need for roomier pants!  

But it was definitely worth it! 

Not the most exciting post to bring the dish back to life, but I wanted to get something up…

 so that I did get something up.  

I'll get back in the swing of it! 

Don't worry.

"Keep the faith[," said Sheldon.] … "People relations is hard business.  Hard to keep that going.  But don't give up, something good will come of it all - things have a way of working out just fine, you'll see."

"I wish I was as hopeful as you are," Henry said.

"Hope is all I got.  Hope gets you through the night."

- Jamie Ford, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

Bums

Today was another red day.

And red days are amazing because they mean no school.

This Thursday was even more amazing because not only did we not have school, but the weather was gorgeous and the beach was beckoning!!

Beach bumming it.  And loving it!!

One Day, We Will Miss This

Looking back at moments from our childhood, our adolescence, or even just a few short years ago, it’s hard not to feel a painful twinge of nostalgia. The vague ache that leaves us wanting to send an email or have a phone call about something that you want to confirm someone else remembers is overwhelming, and even though we don’t often know what to say to these old friends about these old memories, we feel we have to say something. And yet, we often trick ourselves into forgetting that, not terribly long from now, we will feel that same ache about the things we’re living today. The mundane moments we’re slogging through, the underpaid jobs, the cramped apartments and the irresponsible but loving friends — these are things that will one day seem joyous, even ideal.

In being so quick to complain and compare what we do and do not have with those around us, we fail to take pleasure in the freedom to make mistakes. Today, a mistake has few repercussions. Our definition of broke is not the same as a family of four who has just lost their main source of income, or a senior living on fixed income. The problems we moan over are problems that, when held up to the scale of life in general, are rather manageable. This time of deciding to stay up late on a Wednesday to drink with a friend who is in town, or dating someone you know is wrong for you but thrills you in a way that is the emotional equivalent of empty calories, is a luxury we will not again be afforded. This is the time, more than perhaps any other, for nostalgia — and we can’t see it.

One day, we will miss every moment of difficulty that taught us something tangible and immediately applicable to the rest of our lives. Often the lessons we’re learning now are those that have to at least once be felt, but leave you with a maturity that will later define you as an adult. Wading through a marsh of mixed messages and friends at every stage of their lives can be, when in the moment, tedious and exhausting — but it is a time to figure out who we are and what we actually want against a backdrop of limitless options. We’re picking a constellation from a near-endless expanse of stars, defining the trajectory of a life that, at least for now, is just waiting to be lived. We should take our time, but appreciate what it means to do so.

Yes, even the occasional feeling of being unappreciated. Yes, even the flakier friends. Yes, even the weeks of eating ramen and whatever else you can dig out of your cabinet. Just as we miss the moments of our childhood that, at the time, may have seemed fraught with self-consciousness and uncertainty, we will miss them. We will miss them the way we miss the people we lost touch with through our own ingratitude or the simple passage of time, the way we miss sitting in someone’s arms and feeling loved, even if we don’t love them anymore. We will miss it all because, as with almost everything, it is so much easier to feel nostalgia than regret. We will see the good parts, no matter how unable we are to focus on them in the moment.

Why is it so impossible to understand how incredible a time it is to be alive, and to be young? Why is easier to complain about the downsides of realizing our dreams and growing into ourselves than to sing the praises of being healthy and loved enough to have it? I don’t want the nostalgia and, possibly, the regret of not living in the moment, to hit me all at once like a ton of bricks when I’m past the point of recreating it. I want to feel the full joy of decorating my first real apartment, of making new friends while out having drinks, of saying “I want to move” and being able to pick up and do it. The aching to return to these days of relative ease and adventure is sure to wave over us at some point, and though forgetting that is too easy, it wouldn’t hurt to appreciate what we have while we have it.

taken from Thought Catalog, article by Chelsea Fagan

Soaring

Today Rachel, Michael and I are going paragliding!

Hopefully no one ends up in a tree. 

Calling Cupid

I love meeting - and having the opportunity to talk with - Koreans.  

But 9 times out of 10, the conversation routinely goes a bit like this…

Korean person - Umm… Hi, excuse me.  Where are you from?

Me - I'm from America.

Korean - Aahhh America.  How long have you been in Korea?

Me - This is my 3rd year living in Korea.

Korean - Oh!  So you can speak Korean?  

Me - No.  Only a little.

Korean - Oh, I see.  How old are you?

Me - I'm 27 international age, 29 Korean age.

… and here comes my favorite part…

Korean - Are you married?

Me - No.

Korean - Do you have boyfriend?

Me - No.

Korean - Why?

Why?
Really?!
You're asking me 'Why am I single?'.
Can we drive that knife in just a little bit more?!
Geeeezzzz.

But!!  Instead of answering your deflating and upsetting question, I'm choosing to share this article.  I will let this be… not the answer (because if I knew the answer to 'why', I suppose I wouldn't be single),  but my rebuttal in a way.

So listen up people (men)!   This is my advice to you… for me ;)

Date a Girl Who Travels

(taken (and adapted) from Solitary Wanderer)

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Date a girl who travels.  

Date a girl who would rather save up for out of town trips or day trips than buy new shoes or clothes.  She may not look like a fashion plate, but behind that tanned and freckled face from all the days out in the sun, lies a mind that can take you places and an open heart that will take you for what you are, not for what you can be.

Date a girl who travels.  

Yes, a girl who travels knows that anytime, anything can happen and she just has to be prepared [for] it.  Nothing takes her by surprise; she takes everything with equanimity, knowing that such things are always a part of life.  She's reliable and dependable, traits that she's learned while on the road.

You'll recognize a girl who travels by the fact that she's always amazed at the world around her, no matter if she's in her home town or in a place that's totally new.  She sees beauty all around her, not just [in places] featured in travel guides or shown in postcards.  A girl who travels has developed a deeper appreciation for life.  She won't judge you, or pressure you to do things you don't want to do.  She knows too much about the importance of identity and self-efficacy, and she will appreciate all the more if you won't pretend to be who you're not. 

Date a girl who travels, because when you're with her, you'll realize that even though she's napped at a temple in Angkor Wat, went boating down the Mekong Delta, ran by the streets of Saigon, or went skinning-dipping in the caves in the Philippines, she still retains that humility that is the mark of a real traveler.  She knows she's been to a lot of places, but she's humbled by the fact that the world is still a big place and she's only seen a small part of it.  Seeing this in her can make you feel all right with yourself too; there's no need for you to do more, to be more.  What you are is enough.

When you meet a girl who travels, ask her where she's been and what she'd going to do next.  She will appreciate your interest, and if you're lucky, she may even invite you to join her.  When she does, do.  Nothing bonds people better than traveling.  On your trips, you will both see each other's best and worst characteristics, and you can then decide whether she's worth fighting for.

Is a girl who travels worth it?  

Yes, she is.  So when you find her, keep her.  Don't lose her with your insecurities and doubts.  Because when she says she loves you, she really does.  After all, she'd seen so many things, met so many people, and if she had chosen you, better grab that opportunity and thank the gods that you were lucky enough she's chosen you and not that bloke she met while watching the sun rise in Angkor Wat, or while whitewater rafting in the Padas Gorge in Sabah. 

If she says she loves you, she must have seen something in you, something that can always call her back from her travels, something that can anchor her to the world in the way that she wants to after weeks and months of being on the road.

Date a girl who travels.  

Make her feel safe, warm, and secure.  Make her believe that no matter where she goes, and however long she's gone, you'll always be there for her, the one that she can call home.

Find a girl who travels.  Date her, love her, and marry her, and your world will never be the same again.

Mondays...

...ugghh

Give Up. Be Happy.

15 Things You Should Give Up To Be Happy

(taken (and adapted) from World Observer Online)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We hold on to so many things that cause us a great deal of pain, stress and suffering – and instead of letting them all go, instead of allowing ourselves to be stress free and happy – we cling on to them. 

Not anymore. 

Starting today we will give up on all those things that no longer serve us, and we will embrace change. 

1. Give up your need to always be right. There are so many of us who can’t stand the idea of being wrong – wanting to always be right – even at the risk of ending great relationships or causing a great deal of stress and pain, for us and for others. It’s just not worth it. Whenever you feel the ‘urgent’ need to jump into a fight over who is right and who is wrong, ask yourself this question: “Would I rather be right, or would I rather be kind?”Wayne Dyer. What difference will that make? Is your ego really that big?

2. Give up your need for control. Be willing to give up your need to always control everything that happens to you and around you – situations, events, people, etc. Whether they are loved ones, coworkers, or just strangers you meet on the street – just allow them to be. Allow everything and everyone to be just as they are and you will see how much better will that make you feel.

“By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try. The world is beyond winning.” Lao Tzu

3. Give up on blame. Give up on your need to blame others for what you have or don’t have, for what you feel or don’t feel. Stop giving your powers away and start taking responsibility for your life.

4. Give up your self-defeating self-talk. Oh my. How many people are hurting themselves because of their negative, polluted and repetitive self-defeating mindset? Don’t believe everything that your mind is telling you – especially if it’s negative and self-defeating. You are better than that.

“The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly. Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive.” Eckhart Tolle

5. Give up your limiting beliefs about what you can or cannot do, about what is possible or impossible. From now on, you are no longer going to allow your limiting beliefs to keep you stuck in the wrong place. Spread your wings and fly!

“A belief is not an idea held by the mind, it is an idea that holds the mind” Elly Roselle

6. Give up complaining. Give up your constant need to complain about those many, many, maaany things – people, situations, events that make you unhappy, sad and depressed. Nobody can make you unhappy, no situation can make you sad or miserable unless you allow it to. It’s not the situation that triggers those feelings in you, but how you choose to look at it. Never underestimate the power of positive thinking.

7. Give up the luxury of criticism. Give up your need to criticize things, events or people that are different than you. We are all different, yet we are all the same. We all want to be happy, we all want to love and be loved and we all want to be understood. We all want something, and something is wished by us all.

8. Give up your need to impress others. Stop trying so hard to be something that you’re not just to make others like you. It doesn’t work this way. The moment you stop trying so hard to be something that you’re not, the moment you take of all your masks, the moment you accept and embrace the real you, you will find people will be drawn to you, effortlessly.

9. Give up your resistance to change. Change is good. Change will help you move from A to B. Change will help you make improvements in your life and also the lives of those around you. Follow your bliss, embrace change – don’t resist it.
“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls” Joseph Campbell

10. Give up labels. Stop labeling those things, people or events that you don’t understand as being weird or different and try opening your mind, little by little. Minds only work when open. “The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything about.” Wayne Dyer

11. Give up on your fears. Fear is just an illusion, it doesn’t exist – you created it. It’s all in your mind. Correct the inside and the outside will fall into place.
“The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.” Franklin D. Roosevelt

12. Give up your excuses. Send them packing and tell them they’re fired. You no longer need them. A lot of times we limit ourselves because of the many excuses we use. Instead of growing and working on improving ourselves and our lives, we get stuck, lying to ourselves, using all kind of excuses – excuses that 99.9% of the time are not even real.

13. Give up the past. I know, I know. It’s hard. Especially when the past looks so much better than the present and the future looks so frightening, but you have to take into consideration the fact that the present moment is all you have and all you will ever have. The past you are now longing for – the past that you are now dreaming about – was ignored by you when it was present. Stop deluding yourself. Be present in everything you do and enjoy life. After all life is a journey not a destination. Have a clear vision for the future, prepare yourself, but always be present in the now.

14. Give up attachment. This is a concept that, for most of us is so hard to grasp and I have to tell you that it was for me too, (it still is) but it’s not something impossible. You get better and better at with time and practice. The moment you detach yourself from all things, (and that doesn’t mean you give up your love for them – because love and attachment have nothing to do with one another,  attachment comes from a place of fear, while love… well, real love is pure, kind, and self less, where there is love there can’t be fear, and because of that, attachment and love cannot coexist) you become so peaceful, so tolerant, so kind, and so serene. You will get to a place where you will be able to understand all things without even trying. A state beyond words.

15. Give up living your life to other people’s expectations. Way too many people are living a life that is not theirs to live. They live their lives according to what others think is best for them, they live their lives according to what their parents think is best for them, to what their friends, their enemies and their teachers, their government and the media think is best for them. They ignore their inner voice, that inner calling. They are so busy with pleasing everybody, with living up to other people’s expectations, that they lose control over their lives. They forget what makes them happy, what they want, what they need….and eventually they forget about themselves.  You have one life – this one right now – you must live it, own it, and especially don’t let other people’s opinions distract you from your path.

Homeward Bound

It's not just the name of a fabulous movie from my childhood - that I knew verbatim - but it's also my directional course this coming summer. 

HOME!

I'm going home!

(via a bunch of stops in between)

I'll be Stateside for just under a month.  Making stops in several places - seeing family and friends and squeezing a little bit of adventure out of America!

There will be a trip up to the Land of 10,000 Lakes, a few days out west in the Golden State, and then Say WA! I'll be making my first trip to the Pacific Northwest.  All before coming back to Korea.  Phew!

In total I'll be air bound 10 different times - crossing the ocean, plains and mountains - to get home and see people that I love and a place I haven't been to in over a year.  But it will be worth it!

So mark it in your calendars everyone!  

I'll be home in 2 months!  

Get ready! 

^^

Anne smiled and said, "My idea of good company, Mr. Elliot, is the company of clever, well-informed people, who have a great deal of conversation; that is what I call good company." "You are mistaken," said he gently, "that is not good company; that is the best."

-Jane Austen, Persuasion

Right now I'm...

1. Reading… "Persuasion" by Jane Austen

2. Following… the boys of Big Bang (@IBGDRGN, @Realtaeyang, @ForvictoRi, @topofbb)

3. Saving for… upcoming trips - home and TokyoDisney

4. Obsessed with… Game of Thrones and Black Dagger Brotherhood*

5. Busy doing… drying my hair

6. Outraged by… the weather - rain is the worst

7. Clicking on… The Beauty Department

8. Wearing… a hoodie and leggings - it's bedtime on my side of the world

9. Thinking about… midterms and getting all my lessons covered before my students' test day

10. Excited about… a few days off in the next coming weeks and the day trips I have planned**

*I have been telling every female I know to read this series!  And only some have taken me up on it.  The rest are fools!  But they friends who have started reading it are sharing with me how much they are liking/loving them and it is driving me mad to re-read them.  But I can't abandon Ms. Austen.  I just need her to get over the verbose, superabundant, wordy text so I can get back to the humping! 

**May 1 - Labor Day - going to SpaLand

**May 17 - Buddha's Birthday - going paragliding

Happiness

That is how I feel about today!! 

Best. Day. Ever!  

Why is today the best?  What has made it better than any of the other days this week, month, year so far!?*

Because today we booked our flight to Japan! ^^

And I know.
You're right.
I've already been there.
Twice.**

So why is this time so special that today is the best ever?!

BECAUSE WE ARE GOING TO GO TO TOKYO DISNEYLAND!!!!!!

Sure.  I'm 27.  Nearly an adult for all intensive purposes.  

But I don't care. 

I'm soooo excited!!

 Most people my age are this chump on the left, but I'm like the little old pops on the right! 

Happy and eager and ready to go!!

Who am I kidding.  I'm more like this..

 It's just like Wendy said...

Not fan of Disney?!  I don't mind.  There is no raining on my happiness!  

I'm going to the happiest place on Earth!! 

*best day this year, could be a bit of a stretch, but that's ok, because I'm that excited.
**I never blogged about the second trip to Japan.  I should do that one of these days.  

Vacation Cha-Cha

This is definitely my school.  

Or at least... it is this year.  

Good grief! things have gone all topsy turvy at Daepyung, and I can say it is NOT in the fun way.

A lot of things have changed this year; but with the Korean school system - that is how things work.  Teachers are required to change schools every 4 years, while vice principals, principals and other head administration people change every 2 years.  They say it is to keep any one person from becoming too powerful/influential at a school, but I say it's a bunch of phewy.


Anyways… this year, at my school nearly half the staff changed!  The first couple weeks were disorienting for me - seeing all the new faces and having to figure out who was who and what they were teaching.  However, not much of it effected me.

What did effected me was: a new co-teacher, Jeong eun, and a new vice principal.  

Jeong eun is great!  She is really kind, friendly and willing to help out with all manners of troubles that I have.  The new VP is… he's new.

And being that he's new (both to our school and to the job - yay!... this is his first every job posting as a VP…) he comes across a bit timid and reserved.  That coupled with this persistent need to consult my contract and adhere to every letter of it is driving me ever-loving-mad.

Sure, I will admit that some of the things I have asked him for, I did so (mainly) because in the past, with my old VP, I would have been allowed to do as I wanted and gotten no gripe for it.  So this year, I've asked for things thinking that since the principal is the same - part of that old mantra had to still be around.

Right?  

Noooo, wrong.  So wrong.

It's all gone out the window! and with it some of my sanity and 83.7% of my patience.

Why the correlation to a latin dance?  Because...

With the program I work for, EPIK, when NETs renew their contract for another year - they are given a bonus vacation.  It's 10 days that should be used after the start of the new contract and within the first 6months.  It is encouraged that this bonus vacation be taken in conjunction with a holiday/when school is not in session period of time.  Most NETs take their renewal vacation during Spring Break at the end of February.

• I had asked my school - back in November of last year - if I could pair my renewal vacation with my summer vacation (8 days) so that I could go back to America for a long period of time.  
• I asked back in November, because I wanted to make sure all the i's were dotted and t's were crossed to ensure that everything was in order before Mrs. Jang left.  (at that point I had no idea who my new co-teacher was going to be.  And co's can be a real toss-up here.)
• My VP said yes, my principal said yes - I hugged her - and I told my family and all of Facebook I would be home for a month this coming summer.

And now the dance…

I asked Jeong eun if we could get my vacation dates confirmed this week, so that I could start looking-to-buy a flight home and get things sorted with family and friends as needed.  She was all for it, and on Tuesday (the day of my amazing open class) we asked the VP if he could sign off on my leave.

He said a lot of things in Korean, most of which was not translated to me; but the part I was told was that:

• I couldn't take that much time off.
• I couldn't miss school.
• I had to do camp.
• It wasn't possible.
• I couldn't go home.

What I did was cry.  

I was so frustrated from the wasted open class, so tired of the back and forth with my new VP, so over the vacation struggle that I just didn't know what to do.  However, some part of my brain knew what to do >.< and its response was to ever-so-coolly send water running down my face.  Freakin' fantastic.

It was a giant step backwards.  Not only for my summer plans but also for my coolness.

But as Mr. Brault said above, it's a cha-cha.  

And so it was with my school.  Because within a few days, my VP and principal turned around and said I could have the time off and leave on the date that was agree upon back in November.

Good grief indeed!

cha-cha-cha!

Happiness is the consequence of personal effort.  You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it.  You have the participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings.  And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it.  You must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it.

- Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love

Find What You Love

I'm not sure if The Onion is actually a credible news source.  Some days I see an article from them and it's solid.  Other days its about as factual as Fox News.

But this article got my attention.  And since it is all opinion and not fact based, there's no real question over its credibility, just - does it apply to you and your life.

And I'd say for a lot of people my age, both in Korea and back home, this does apply.

Give it a read and have a think.  

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Find The Thing You're Most Passionate About, Then Do It On Nights And Weekends For The Rest Of Your Life

(taken (and adapted) from The Onion, article by David Ferguson)

I have always been a big proponent of following your heart and doing exactly what you want to do. It sounds so simple, right? But there are people who spend years - decades, even - trying to find a true sense of purpose for themselves. My advice? Just find the thing you enjoy doing more than anything else, your one true passion, and do it for the rest of your life on nights and weekends when you're exhausted and cranky and just want to go to bed.

It could be anything - music, writing, drawing, acting, teaching - it really doesn't matter. All that matter is that once you know what you want to do, you dive in a full 10 percent and spend the other 90 torturing yourself because you know damn well that it's far too late to make a drastic career change, and that you're stuck on this mind-numbing path for the rest of your life.

Is there any other way to live?

I can’t stress this enough: Do what you love…in between work commitments, and family commitments, and commitments that tend to pop up and take immediate precedence over doing the thing you love. Because the bottom line is that life is short, and you owe it to yourself to spend the majority of it giving yourself wholly and completely to something you absolutely hate, and 20 minutes here and there doing what you feel you were put on this earth to do.

Before you get started, though, you need to find the one interest or activity that truly fulfills you in ways nothing else can. Then, really immerse yourself in it for a few fleeting moments after an exhausting 10-hour day at a desk job and an excruciating 65-minute commute home. During nights when all you really want to do is lie down and shut your eyes for a few precious hours before you have to drag yourself out of bed for work the next morning, or on weekends when your friends want to hang out and you’re dying to just lie on your couch and watch TV because you’re too fatigued to even think straight—these are the times when you need to do what you enjoy most in life.

Because when you get right down to it, everyone has dreams, and you deserve the chance—hell, you owe it to yourself—to pursue those dreams when you only have enough energy to change out of your work clothes and make yourself a half-assed dinner before passing out.

Say, for example, that your passion is painting. Well, what are you waiting for? Get out there and buy a canvas and some painting supplies! Go sign up for art classes! And when you get so overwhelmed with your job and your personal life that you barely have enough time to see your girlfriend or boyfriend or husband or wife, let alone do anything else, go ahead and skip classes for a few weeks. Then let those paint brushes sit in your room untouched for six months because a major work project came up and you had a bunch of weddings to go to and your kid got sick and money is tighter than you thought it would be and you have to work overtime. And then finally pick those brushes back up again only to realize you’re so rusty that you begin to question whether this was all a giant waste of time, whether you even want to paint anymore, and whether this was just some sort of immature little fantasy you had as a kid and that maybe it’s finally time to grow the fuck up, let painting go, and join the real world because, let’s face it, not everyone gets to live out their dreams.

Not only does that sound fulfilling, but it also sounds pretty fun.

Really, the biggest obstacle to overcome here—aside from every single obligation you have to your friends, family, job, and financial future—is you. And I’ll tell you this much: You don’t want to wake up in 10 years and think to yourself, “What if I had just gone after my dreams during those brief 30-minute lunch breaks when I was younger?” Because even if it doesn’t work out, don’t you owe it to yourself to look in the mirror and confidently say, “You know what, I gave it my best half-hearted shot”?

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Did you get it?  

Did you have to read it twice?!  

I did.  

I had to let my brain catch-ups from all the 'what?!'s it was saying before it could properly place all the sarcasm.  

The sarcasm that's at the truth of a lot of our lives that we are letting go by while we work to maintain a life we don't really like so that we can "live".  

When what we should be doing is finding what we love, so that what we do for work is what we love and it makes everyday that much better!

What Another Year Looks Like

Here's a look at what life was like my second year in Korea.

*here's a look at my first year