2015 Recap — Year of Wow

First off, Happy New Year to you! We made it through another year and that deserves a round of applause!👏 🎉2015 was a blur. Like a cheetah-running-on-2x-speed kind of blur. I’d often forget to catch my breath in-between the exciting events that occurred throughout the year . A lot has happened to me this past year and as a result, I felt obligated to actually recap my year through writing. Let’s do this!

Moving away from home

I finally packed my bags and flew out of the nest early 2015. I signed a contract for a new role in a new city that’s approximately an hour and a half drive away from my home in Toronto (if rules are obeyed). It’s not too far away from home but not too close. And since ain’t nobody got time for that commute, when opportunity knocks you got to say hello! And additionally in this case, goodbye!

Living on my own for the first time this year has taught me a lot of invaluable lessons such as time management, clean eating, and communication. Being in a new city, I wanted to take advantage of the fact that I was away from any other obligations so rather than signing one-year leases, I committed to three different four-month sublets. I’ve lived in three different homes this past year, which has helped narrow down the qualities of what I want for my future home. I love switching up my environment because it keeps me sane in this lacklustre city.

Moving out has given me a whole new appreciation for my parents because the shit they do at home ain’t easy! If you’re someone who frequently gets annoyed with your parents, try moving out and living on your own. You will grow to love them a lot more. Trust me.

Life is short, don’t take anything/anyone for granted

This year, I nearly lost someone close to me (twice) on account of severe health issues. But luckily they are back on their feet and going through treatment. I was reminded to never take anything or anyone for granted again because life is short, and it’s scary how something can quickly vanish from your life. These circumstances are extremely horrifying but the goal is to always stay strong.

Positivity goes a long way. I realized how valuable time is and that I should spend it with people I genuinely care about these days. I never want to waste time ever again, especially with negative people who find joy in hurting or judging others. So let’s have a toast for the douchebags! 🍻

It’s okay to let others know when it’s not okay

This past year, I really tried my best to be less mysterious than I typically am. I usually hate talking about myself because I believe in dealing with my own shit alone or with whomever is involved so everyone else can be left in the shadows. But it wasn’t until my second sublet that I genuinely felt homesick. I needed to talk to someone about it. I missed my parents. I missed my friends. More importantly, I missed my own bed. It was such a burden hiding my emotions from the ones I cared most about. But then I realized that it’s okay to tell my friends/family that sometimes I was not having an okay day.

I knew I had to stop pretending that I was fine when I had other thoughts clouding my mind. So I finally started to share minor fragments of my life with a few selected individuals whom I trust my life with. After providing my friends with more context, it’s been reassuring to hear their fair share of similar experiences. I’ve concluded that the more you decide to share with others, the more feedback you’ll receive in order to grow into a stronger person. Sharing is caring and I will continue to reveal more about myself opposed to retracting into my shell. It’ll still take time for me to do so but I promise that it won’t take as long as it used to. Being more transparent with others has been rewarding and oftentimes, conflict is avoided/resolved immediately. It feels so good to be blunt. But make sure you’re not an asshole about it.

Understanding the art of self-discipline

Balancing a 9-5 job, working out, and cooking every day is not easy. I’ll admit, I had no idea how to cook during the first six months of living on my own. I had zero motivation to learn either because I was so busy. Or so I claimed. Instead of cooking I had granola/cereal bars stocked up every day for breakfast. My colleagues and I would always go out for lunch (~$12-15/meal). For dinner, I’d just eat rice and salmon. Every day. How I “cooked” for the first six months only required a rice cooker and microwave—no pots and pans. Every other week, my parents dropped off pre-cooked pieces of salmon for me so all I needed to do was make rice and heat up the salmon. I also had boxes of nuggets stashed away for emergencies. Everyday eventually felt like an emergency. But don’t worry, I always made sure I stayed healthy by stocking up on tomatoes, cucumbers, and celery. Looking back now, I call it the “wtf I can’t cook for shit and am too ignorant to learn how to” diet. But I somehow disciplined myself to continue this lifestyle for six months. It was bad to the point that my housemates would sometimes cook meals for me because my dinners were so consistently basic.

While unintentionally “dieting,” I had more motivation to frequently hit the gym. I realized that all the McDonalds meals from post-secondary were finally catching up to me. So I would hit the gym at least 3–4 times a week and noticed a tremendous difference inside and outside. Contrary to popular belief, I actually enjoy going to the gym. Running and lifting weights while jamming out to my Spotify playlist is equally as satisfying as blasting your tunes while driving on a clear freeway. As I continued my gym routine, I became more aware of what I was consuming. Shortly after, I developed a sudden interest in home-cooked meals.

By my third sublet in the city, I decided to take the initiative to cook more because I was spending way too much money on takeout. Plus it is a lot healthier to eat home cooked meals. Fortunately since my third sublet, my current housemate is a friend of mine who graduated from the same post-secondary program as me in the same year. She is also coincidentally working in the same city. We’ve been cooking together quite often and she’s helped me channel my inner Ratatouille. This sublet has been the best so far because it’s a lot more refreshing to be living with someone you know well and share mutual interests in such as design, food, etc. 2015 helped me become more discipline with my routine and break a few bad habits. This is definitely carrying over to the new year because I want to apply my new mentality to a sugar-free diet. Wish me luck because this may require a lot more discipline.

Having a provisional patent filed under my name alongside four other inventors

I made an excellent decision with this job. By the fifth month into my job, we were able to file a provisional patent for a prototype we’ve all worked hard on. Given the freedom to operate further on this prototype is exciting and I am stoked to announce that you’ll see this product available to the public in mid-2016. Stay tuned!

Respecting the true hustlers

Normally I’m inspired by other creatives (designers, filmmakers, photographers, etc.) who are hustling hard to produce something beautiful yet practical and simple to use for today’s consumers. Or just producing and creating to inspire others to continue the trend and be a part of the movement. But lately I’ve found myself inspired by one person, a writer to be specific. Shonda fuckin’ Rhimes.

I started the TV series How to Get Away with Murder the moment it was debuted and have been following it since. One of my friends told me that if I liked this show so much, I would love watching Scandal. It takes me time to start a TV series and commit to it. However when I finally made time to start it, I could not stop watching. I caught up in a week. Olivia Pope, you win my heart. Ever since Scandal, I’ve just been so involved with Shonda Rhimes’ work process and her story on how she got here today. It’s extremely inspiring and I can honestly say that it’s refreshing that I finally know of someone so successful who shares very similar values as me. I am excited for her shows to pick up again this February because I will be at the edge of my seat.

I managed to pick up a copy of her book Year of Yes and finished it in a day. I told myself that this is the Year of Hustle and I’d love to always refer back to Shonda Rhimes to hold myself accountable. And she works hard so I’m not going to let anything get in my way this year. No distractions. I want to be a true hustler this year. I’ve got a lot to prepare myself for and I’m just going to keep doing instead of announcing it. A separate post about Shonda Rhimes will be coming soon from me.

Travelling all by myself

2015 allowed me to learn a lot about myself and the potential I had on my own. I was hungry for more new experiences. Subsequently in mid-2015, I decided to travel to the west coast all by myself. I was afraid it was going to be a recipe for disaster but fortunately one of my close friends from my post-secondary program was hitting up LA at around the same time. So my vacation worked around his schedule and we planned to meet up for a few days in LA. Just a nice safety net because it’s always better to be safe than sorry. Especially in case I ended up in any sort of trouble, which I successfully avoided for the most part! My itinerary consisted of SFO to LAX to LAS then back home to the YYZ.

Fortunately I had some friends who work in the Bay area so it was nice seeing familiar faces and being shown around by trusting locals. It was my first time hitting up San Francisco and prior to my arrival, I had a different perception of the city. Can’t say that I’m disappointed, but it was definitely not what I had originally pictured SF to be. However, I did most of the exploring with my rental car. Upon returning my rental car, I decided to walk around SF for 4+ hours with my carryon as a way to kill time before my Megabus. Note to self: Next time you’re travelling to SF, do not rent a car! Just take Lyft.

After my lovely walkthrough the city, I made it for my Megabus down to LA. If I wasn’t travelling alone, I would’ve kept my rental car to drive along the Pacific Coast to LA opposed to this less scenic Megabus route. That was the only downside to that solo trip. But no worries, that’s going to be a trip set for this year. I arrived in LA at 1am and realized that my Airbnb was located in a not-so-thriving neighbourhood but I’m not one to judge. But I was careful of where to place my belongings. However my Airbnb had three rooms and there were two other guests who stayed with me. They were international guests from China who came down to LA solely for the E3 event. It was absolute insanity because I lived right by E3! I’ve always wanted to go but it was too late to nab tickets, however funny story, I was able to attend the secret E3 afterparty ft. Skrillex, DJ Snake, Diplo, CL, Zedd, etc. One of my highlights of Summer 2015.

This was my second time being in LA but this time I was situated in a more central area opposed to last time when I was living in Anaheim with my cousins. I was definitely more spoiled this time around. I got a chance to go to Disneyland (for the first time btw) with my friend and his significant other. It was a magical time and I am definitely going back; I’m a sucker for breathtaking light shows and fireworks. It was great timing because we were there for Disneyland’s 60th Anniversary! What a perfect first time experience to Disneyland for me! The weather was gorgeous, I tried Dole Whip, went through a handful of rides, and got to experience the childhood I’ve always wanted. Did I mention we got an exclusive Dance parade at the end? I love Disneyland. Next up, Disneyworld.

Travelling on my own gave me some insight on what type of person I am. I realized that I am constantly on-the-go, even when it’s just me travelling by myself. And my way of relaxing is simply by taking nice photographs of anything I encounter that I think is beautiful. It was risky deciding to bike around LA for an entire day with a bike route that my Airbnb host sketched out for me. Fortunately I had Google Maps guide me through the unfamiliar realms in each city. Would I travel alone again? Hell yes, now that I know that I can trust myself. Would I choose to travel alone again? Preferably not, I think going with close friends would be ideal. Though travelling alone allowed me to talk with all different types of strangers and it was exhilarating every time.

After LA, I went to LV, again via Megabus. Travelling within the west coast is significantly cheaper than travelling from Toronto to Montreal! And the distance is relatively the same. My friends were there for EDC LV for a third time. Since I was in close proximity, I knew I had to go see them after LA to hit up a few pool parties together. Vegas was not a foreign city to me at all since I’ve been to EDC LV twice too. It was easy finding my friends and we had a blast together, which concluded my trip on a very good note. Overall, I was really responsible on my own (for the most part) and left with a ton of memories and a few more IRL to URL friends.

Musical eargasms

I have an eclectic taste in music, it can vary from electronic to hiphop, r&b to classical, funk to even kpop. Sky’s the limit. Finally being able to witness artists perform live that I’ve been dying to see years ago is something that I’ve always been grateful for. Here are a few artists whose performances made a tremendous impact on me this year: Jack Ü, Major Lazer, Big Bang (yes, this was their first Canadian debut and I’ve wanted to see them since high school), CL (another high school dream fulfilled), Sam Smith, Girl Talk, and Kendrick Lamar. 🙏💎WATTBA💎🙏

Conclusion

2015, you were definitely the Year of Wow because I got to learn a lot through these new experiences. Looking back on this year makes me smile and excited for the upcoming year so I can fuck shit up with the knowledge I have now.

2016 Resolutions?

I no longer believe in creating bullshit resolutions, because let’s be real, most of you will be eating McDonalds again and skipping the gym by the end of January. So what I’ve done this year is set recurring action items for myself in order to achieve my specific goals for 2016 and the following years after that.

If you have resolutions, good for you boo! But before you add “Stop eating junk food” to your list, think about how broad that sounds. What are you trying to achieve? What recurring actions will you take in order to achieve this goal. Let that marinate for a bit and really think about what you want as the final outcome.

Overall, I’ve got a really great feeling about this year. One of my good friends, Rosemary and I always designate a theme for the upcoming new year based on our gut feeling. For 2016, we established that this will be the Year of Hustle. I’ve learned a lot in 2015 but I am ready to apply what I know into this year and work my ass off, metaphorically of course because I do love my glutes.

I have this strange obligation to prove myself this year and I’m not going to let anything/anyone stop me from destroying 2016. It’s going to be an exhilarating year and I’m ready for the ride. If you’ve made it this far in my post, then I am sending you positive vibes for the year because I genuinely believe that you are also going to slay 2016! 🔥