Mary’s Morning Musings: More distracted musings in strategy class
Hi friends — guud morning!
Yet again this morning, I felt quite inspired to write. :) Thanks for showing up to my virtual space.
Usually, at the end of each month, I feel inspired to sum up my month in a ‘lil Instagram reel. I started doing this at the end of last year, and it’s been great to help me reflect upon all the blessings I received throughout the year — especially when I forget, need a morale boost, move too quickly, or lose track of time.
This month was particularly amazing, and so I want to elaborate in a bit more detail. Listing the moments and people I feel extremely grateful for this month below:
- Out in Business community ❤
- Main character walks
- Random London-only outings :)
- Splurging, but in a mindful way?
- Stream C (for chaotic)
- Sibling visits
The details —
Out in Business community ❤
To some degree, I am a bit surprised by how much I have grown to love and adore the Out in Business Club. This month, there were 2–3 things that occupied my mind in this space.
First, was our exco offsite in a countryside English manor. Second, “Coming Out Week” content creation. And 3) EUROUT (pronounced “you’reeeee OUT” like an American baseball umpire might belt out).
ExCo countryside retreat
I had such a blast just basically doing nothing for a weekend in queer-safe space. Relishing in multiple massive home-cooked meals. Teaching poker to beginners. Experiencing a non-alc hangover from… a Nozeco Rose sugar overload? IDK… But it was a vibe. I love some low-lift travel.
Coming Out Week Videos
Not featured, but I helped put together some sweet videos to celebrate “Coming Out” videos. Queer folks shared some honest tidbits of their coming out journeys — some were quite moving, others straightforward. All beautiful in their own regard.
I feel like I touch upon this/my journey a lot/enough, but even so, it was still a super introspective experience for me. In just producing the videos, I was able to think back (a year ago) as to how big of a deal it was to me then — and how big of a deal it doesn’t feel anymore.
Thank you everyone for participating! ❤ You ARE making a difference.
Ummm, EUROUT & the BALL!!!
Just look below at these smiling faces below and that AMAZING party venue. The EUROUT Conference, hosted by LBS’ Out in Business Club, was just such an inspirational experience. I loved all the panels, the speakers, meeting queer folks and allies from other schools, and just being somewhat apart of the behind-the-scenes! Go team! Y’all did so great. :-)
Also, the ball was easily the best party I’ve attended (and maybe will ever attend) at LBS, hands down. A jaw-dropping venue, lovely company, sexy outfits?? Ooof. Thissss is what I will remember from bschool looking back FR.
Main character walks
To me, this means “me time.”
Each day, I typically take an 18-minute walk to get to class. It’s nearly my favorite time of day and quite a bit meditative.
I blast a little feel guud music, something I know the lyrics to, and can do a lil shoulder dance too. (Picture a little side-to-side head swaying).
I often run into a classmate. Lately my Peruvian friend, Santiago. Today, it was my building-mate, Ankit, facetiming his sweet mama. Even though it’s imperative for me to get to class, it’s the 18 minutes I give to myself to get centered — let my mind wander (without judgment). So grateful ❤ :)
Random London-only outings :)
The big one coming to mind was my invite to the Great British Baking Show last-ish week. Probably one of the most random weekend outings to date. Yet it brought to life how thankful I felt to pursue my MBA specifically in London. We barely made the cut to watch (mostly due to our own doing). Think our group made it into spots like 114/115.
Anyways, we got made fun of by the American emcee, watched the upcoming episode, got our ~authentic laughs recorded, and waved some pom poms. It was so fun. Since going, I’ve also become quite meticulous when coming across the sweets at Patisseries by the Thames. Not the education I anticipated coming out of business school but really love that strategic thinking.
Splurging, but in a mindful way?
Okay, a huge win for me this month was not reacting too much during Black Friday sales. Mindful spending has been a huge goal since imparting on the student budget. I’m not perfect, but I’ve more or less remained within budget since moving. (Go me ❤)
I bought an “out there” (questionably essential?) snow suit for the upcoming snow trek, and that’s it. :) I feel pretty good about it. And broadly, I’ve only purchased event-specific functional clothing since coming to London. Otherwise have borrowed clothing from friends. Sounds like a win to me.
Side bar — Perhaps I’ll retroactively add in my crayon-colored snow suit pics later. Probably not. It really is a lil out there, soo… let’s see if it shows up on the trek 🤷🏿
Stream C (for chaotic)
Coming towards the end here — but a really significant blessing to me has been my stream. (Hi, any friends who may be reading.)
There’s something quite bonding about mutually having no idea what’s happening in Finance class.
Outside of class, last week we completely p’owned the Diwali Ball dance-off. Everyone looked stunning. I lost my voice cheering for our superstar performers. And the class camaraderie of cheering obnoxiously yet somewhat playfully was a core memory.
I honestly died at the slightly aggressive undertone of my classmates — “We came here to wiiiiin, amiga.”
Honestly, I watched our dance video about 40 times, and I’m still so proud.
Separately — I have seriously grown to love the word “chaotic.” I frequently hear it in an Australian accent… 👀 😂 for no reason at all. And it feels a lot lighter than it used to. Sorry again for the random tangent. Why am I apologising? Moving on.
Almost last: Sibling visits!
My brother and sister both visited this month! Shan absolutely drained me with her “just graduated, let’s travel the world” energy. But I relished in it. And Jer and I got lunch and played poker for about an hour.
With Shan — we visited Camden Market purely to take pictures of spots in Taylor Swift’s “London Boy” song. I destroyed afternoon tea that I didn’t pay for. Yeet. And we went to Winter Wonderland and had a blast at the ice bar and ice rink.
We did an early morning Disney/Nickelodean-theme spin ride, and lightweight argued about whether we should visit Big Ben late at night. She did. I didn’t — just can’t keep up with youthful energy anymore.
Anyways, had a blast — thanks for visiting, anak! Come back soon.
Bonus: Reverse spiraling
Finally, the super random afterthought I wanted to drop in here — is the fleeting thought I had this morning during my main character walk.
Reverse spiraling.
It was overly optimistic college student Mary’s necessity: reverse spiraling concept. Back in college when I was a spiraling girlie, I challenged myself to let micro-moments radically increase my mood — as opposed to letting small things like a bad grade make me feel like I’m on the verge of failing a class then failing in school then failing “in life.”
Yeah, we don’t do that anymore.
Last night, I wrote a ‘lil little things piece that made me reflect on the little moments that keep me grounded. Just one moment at a time. We’re bringing back reverse spiraling. Below is one of my latest fave main character songs that I’ve had on repeat. Take a listen if you want.
Okay, I’m getting kind of tired of this post. You get the point. This month was the best. I hope it was for you, too.
If not, December is coming. And I am rooting for you.
Thanks for reading my ramblings. :)
With love,
Mary xoxo
Oh, a side note — I’m so impressed with myself for participating in class while writing this article. And I am sincerely sorry to everyone watching me write this post behind me in class. I’m sure it’s distracting… and it’s against class policy. But…I hope you enjoyed the journey? or my writing process. It’s the last session of class anyway. I’ll do my best to not let it happen again. Ily.
Other lovely November highlights
