good morning sweetest potatoes ~
I've been waking up at the crack of dawn around 5-ish for some time now
but since I've been working a little later
I've been listening to my body and waking up when I feel fully rested
today is starting around 7:30 a.m.
first thing I always do every single morning is brush my teeth
and it turned out to be so dry
and wash my face
I usually head out shortly after this and changing
but today I'm going to slow it down
and actually enjoy my morning
having been a planner, worrier, and rusher for most of my existence
like how I'd have to know what is going to happen exactly when and why
or how I found comfort in being in control
as a way to manage my very out-of-control life
or having this insatiable need to go harder, better, faster, and stronger all the time
these are all habits, thoughts, and notions
I've been trying to gently and gracefully confront
to determine why I am and have been driven by these tendencies
the first step to it all is really to embrace stillness
and be present in the day-to-day
the next steps will be to make time to reflect
and to put in the effort to recalibrate
but let's just focus on the first two for our morning
embracing stillness and being present in all that we do
to quote Stillness Is The Key by Ryan Holiday
a book I'm currently reading
"To the ancient Stoics, if one could develop the stillness.."
"..this peace within themselves.."
"..the world could be at war and in complete chaos.."
"..but they could maintain their tranquility."
"They could still think well, work well, and be well."
"You may be sure that you are at peace with yourself when no noise reaches you.."
"..when no words shake you out of yourself whether it be flattery or a threat."
and here's how I'm choosing to embrace stillness
by first feeding my belly so I am not hungers and hangry
this is an apple and pear soup that I made a couple days ago
and I've been trying to start every morning with lemon honey water
because I got a bag of lemons
and they have to be used up or else they'll go to waste
and of course lemon is great for you in the morning with warm water
so I turned off the stove
I'm letting the pear soup cool down as I make my bed
and if you guys have been following for a while..
I've been making my bed every morning since I've moved into this apartment
and it's low-key changed my life
I wish I listened to my mother when I was younger
and started making my bed every morning
it just.. it brings so much order into your day first thing in the morning
and when you come home after a long day at work
just looking at a nicely made bed it's just.. it's so beautiful
and here I'm enjoying my breakfast
I usually am listening to a podcast or music
or watching some Korean dramas in the morning
or when I have some downtime
but today, I chose to actively sit in silence and eat
and off to work I go
alright and we're at work ~
the first thing I like doing every morning is checking emails
and responding to anything that's urgent
then I will take a look at my calendar
to kind of mentally map out the week and weeks ahead
so I know what to tackle first
this specific day, I slightly started freaking out because there's so much to be done
but instead of succumbing to stress and worries and the incessant noise in our heads
I just put on my headphones and got to work
because videos need to be edited
videos need to be done
this was last week's video that started as a one hour video
that I had to cut down to 22 minutes
because nobody's got time for a one hour video
and here I'm taking a little snack break
*waffle fry dance* ~ yes, so good ~
and always remember to hydrate throughout the day
hydration is key and is so important
so in the spirit of being still and being at peace
I think if you start your day off very quiet and peaceful..
it'll carry on throughout the rest of your day
which is why I love meditating in the mornings
because it just kind of..
you just take it with you throughout the rest of the day
and taking time for stillness is definitely something I needed today
because it is jam-packed as you will see
I look so ratchet
wait but I feel like before when we looked disheveled it wasn't as bad
cause like at least you just tucked the hair behind
but now it's literally like..
if anything it makes me want to do my hair more
*hops on a call*
hey guys, how are you?
hello!
yes, now we can
are you guys excited?
yeah! so excited!! ~
here's a little behind the scenes
of what went into the launch and creation of our jewelry line
this is probably news to most of you
so yes, Felicia and I designed a necklace and a bracelet with Ana Luisa
it just launched today so if you want to take a looksies..
I'll link them both down below
on this call last week, we're finalizing the price, logistics..
and ironing out all the last-minute details before launching today
and this has been almost half a year in the making
and I'm so excited to be able to finally share this with you all
it's kind of like a..
like a little secret that I've been keeping to myself
there's absolutely no reason why I had to keep the secret to myself
I'm just..
I just haven't done a good job at..
I guess teasing and promoting, but it's here!!
so the idea behind the bracelet and the necklace
that you guys will see in just a second
it's a flower
and the reason why it's a flower with the square cut out
is because we wanted to tap into our roots
and put a contemporary spin on something very traditional
so we took the Chinese coin with the iconic square cut out
stacked it on top of each other to create this floral flower design
to me this bracelet and necklace serves as a reminder for me to never forget my roots
who I am and all that I stand for
like Chihiro in Spirited Away..
and how important it was for her to remember her name and her quest for freedom
for both herself and her parents
this is just what the pieces mean to me
but it can mean absolutely anything to you
thank you guys for coming to my Ted Talk
it's like you give me power in Divine Fury
but you just give me sweat instead of light
power comes in all forms
bai ~
alright so back to work I go
here I'm making some very elementary graphics
basically just doodling in Photoshop behind a transparent background
exporting it and then dropping it into Final Cut
in the past couple of videos
I've been trying to get a lot more creative with the graphics and the animation
don't know if you guys can tell
and to really step up my game..
I decided to watched one of my really good friend's course on Skillshare
as I wait for my video to export
and dude, everything she touches..
be it graphic design, murals, anything.. it turns to gold
and it's so encouraging and so inspiring
to get a peer into her brain and see how her creative process works
took that as a little break
back to making thumbnails for my video
just pulled a screenshot from here
here is the Instagram stories little teaser that I share with you guys
to let you guys know that my video will be premiering shortly
and after premiering the video, when I got home...
I decided to continue watching the course
so in this class, she's basically walking us through how she would create a piece of artwork
like a graphic design from scratch
from ideation to researching to getting inspiration
to actually drawing out the artwork
and although I didn't start drawing mine..
I started the ideation process which I'll show you guys in a bit
halfway through watching the course..
my parents called me so of course I picked up
goodnight! ~
thank you ~
love you <3 ~
bye mom
baaii ~
at this point I just washed my face
I'm getting ready for bed, but before bed..
I wanted to do a little bit more creative work
so I'm looking up inspiration on Pinterest
as Jennet had suggested in the course
if you guys want to take this course with me
or if you guys are interested in any Skillshare courses
Skillshare.. if you guys don't know already.. you should know by now
is my favorite online learning community
with thousands of classes covering anything creative to entrepreneurial
Skillshare is also really affordable
especially when compared to pricey in-person classes and workshops
and you know, I think it's gonna be pretty hard to get an in-person class or workshop with Jennet
so this is the second best option
an annual subscription is less than $10 a month
and because Skillshare is sponsoring this video..
you guys can sign up with the link in the description box below
and get a 2-month free trial
you're welcome ~
and thank you so much for joining me
I hope you had a lovely day
here's a voice hug
love you guys <3
see you guys next week!