Vivian: Spring 2018
Class of 2016, Vivian moved back home before taking a job as a UI/UX designer in SF.
Health: 7/10
I’m working on reversing some bad habits that I’ve built over the years. One of them is eating too much sugar, or relying on it to give me a sugar high to entertain myself. With cooking too, this week I ate out a whole lot because I didn’t want to cook, but now I have this invigorated sense to eat right and better in general.
With mental health, I’m still dealing with a lot of ups and downs, and one of the things I’m focusing on is how to control it better, so I don’t let the down go too down. It’s not so much about avoiding bad things, but not letting the things I feel unhappy about just sit there and actively making myself feel better.
Integrating exercise as part of my routine is a long process in the making, so I’m figuring out what I like and how often I want to do it. I started physical training twice a week with my trainer, and it’s motivated me to keep up and do right by my trainer. I’ve also gotten into soul cycling and dancing a lot more — just in general learning how to make more time for it and not worry about “wasting my time” when I’m exercising.
Work: 6/10
In the past 4–5 months, I’ve been seriously thinking about what I really want to do, and I’ve learned a whole lot in this time. I’ve gone from the mindset of making a more extreme career jump and fulfilling that one goal to taking a more exploratory approach where I have an idea of what I like so let’s just explore and move in that direction. Part of that is learning how to balance those interests with my current job, sometimes parts of my job don’t relate to what I’m interested in, but I’m also remembering that whatever skills I’m learning now can all be applicable in the future because I want design to be part of my future.
I also feel poised for more success at work, my supervisor is someone who looks out for me and looking for ways that I can improve, and I work with a very nice team.
In terms of side projects, I get a little antsy about it because I really want to work on them but sometimes I feel like I can’t hone in on something. It’s somehow difficult for me to figure out what is worth my time, then just doing it. The ones that I have in mind are illustrating something for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, which is almost ending because it’s almost the end of May; another one is actively searching for inspiration through watching films and creating graphic art from it; another is signing up for relevant courses at the City College of San Francisco for things like sociology research and Asian art history.
I’m still on the search for a clear intent for one side project.
Play: 9/10
I just went to watch a film this afternoon, hosted by CAAMfest — a festival dedicated to Asian and Asian American artists. The film was really great, it’s called “Dead Pigs”, and I came home to think about it more and maybe write about it. I have a few trips planned this summer, to Glacier National Park, Seattle, and China. Yesterday I went cherry picking, and that was a lot of fun. Usually I get anxious when I do “nothing” because time is so precious I feel a pressure to always be searching for inspiration, but yesterday it was the first time in a while where I just relaxed. Also meeting a bunch of random people has been fun.
Love: 10/10
With my sister, our relationship has improved a lot because I’ve started to open up to her much more. Before there were things I kept away from my family, I didn’t try to explain what was going on in my life and that was harmful in both directions. This year I finally opened up, and I was honest with my family about what I went through and it’s been a lot better. We’re more tentative to each other’s interests and thoughts.
My friendships are constant — it’s not like there’s an outpour of love everyday and friends blowing up my phone, but in a way when I interact with people in my life I know it’s a valuable interaction for both of us. It’s one of those things where even when we’re not talking I know you’re there, and that kind of assurance is important to being a happy person, and I feel closer to finding it than I ever have been.
In the literal romantic “love”, it’s not super clear. There’s a guy I’ve been casually seeing, and it’s very easy to be around him. He’s so… calm, and he’s the kind of person that when things happen he just takes them in stride and rolls with it. He’s not intense in the way that I am, like constantly provoking what’s possible and intellectual stimulated, but when he’s interested in something he pursues it to the end and he’s so consistent with it. We’ll see.
Let me contextualize this
This is one candid snapshot from a chronicle of a few people’s post-graduate journeys. Some of us graduated Class of 2017. Others, a few years out. Each of us are on an unmapped journey to somewhere, optimistic that the dots will somehow connect in the future.
My hope to you is that when you follow along with our stories you will find comfort in the intentional randomness of life, and find courage in your own seemingly “monumentous” decisions.
The format will be simple — every four months, I will ask each post-grad to gauge 4 areas of their life (as inspired by the highly recommended book Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans):
- Health (physical, mental, spiritual)
- Work (9–5, side projects)
- Play (things you do purely for fun)
- Love (from you and to you)
