Methodical Musings @ahyc-blog - Tumblr Blog

Winter-y things

I'm generally not the biggest fan of seasonally appropriate things (yes, I'm that person eating ice cream on a rainy December day & no, I'm not weird), but give me some flour, butter & sugar and suddenly I'll feel compelled to do Christmas-y things!

Without fail, making cookies from scratch always puts me into a more festive mood. I love the idea of taking a couple of hours out of my day, making something from nothing, and sharing it with loved ones.

My favorite part may be the lingering after effects. The upper arm soreness (from creaming butter) and clearheaded sensation (kind of like how you feel after meditating) somehow never get old.

If I could bottle moments for later use, I'd save this one as "underrated perfection."

#labor of love

Moving forward

A call from my dad today jolted me out of the semi-hazy state I've been in since finishing the DAT. If I were to be honest with myself, being back home has left me complacent. I'm grateful for his call because it reminded me never to be satisfied with the way things are, and to always push for something more, something better.

"Hard work and ambition are important to achieving goals" is not news to anyone but one thing I lost sight of is the realistic implementation of what has almost become a mantra. While it's okay (healthy even) to have lofty long term goals, it's even more crucial to follow them up with small, realistic steps every day.

In the upcoming weeks/months, no matter what happens, I want to remind myself to live in the moment.

Soak in the little things and approach each new day with curiosity and vigor.

#thoughts #reflections #in this moment #excuse if cheesy

#study break

Science says lasting relationships come down to—you guessed it—kindness and generosity.

"There are two ways to think about kindness. You can think about it as a fixed trait [or] you could think of kindness as a muscle. In some people, that muscle is naturally stronger than in others, but it can grow stronger in everyone with exercise."

This is so true for all relationships in our lives, not just the romantic ones.

#practice kindness #cheesy but true

the-hedgehog-whisperer

You want to see something punny ??

mochafoxblogs

#on a lighter note

Sometimes I forget how to express myself. It's especially easy to fall into my comfortable default (walling off my emotions until they're bursting to escape) when I'm with my family. So this is my reminder to self to smile more, and to share my love with my family. It's ironic; sometimes the ones who feel your love/patience the least are the ones you care for the most.

#musings #growing pains

How much easier things would be if people were born with natural inclinations to love others and be selfless, rather than with selfish (but necessary) survival instincts.

Whoever said that you need to get plenty of rest to look nice for graduation

was obviously not taking a full load of courses their last semester.

#SAVE ME #dying

small victories

1. figuring out the name to the song that's been stuck in my head for the past hour

2. finishing bac path lectures!!!!!!!! (time to move on to physics yay \o/)

Hey tumblr, it's been a while

It's not very often that I actually sit down to write long notes so bear with me on this one :)

This past year has been an odd one. There have been so many times when I've felt like I was sitting (unwillingly) on a roller coaster of emotions, flipping back and forth between self-doubt and momentary hopeful optimism, always unable to stop the ride.

Today, however, I received a powerful reminder from the world outside of the "Berkeley bubble" of my own privileges. I was forwarded an email about a mother/daughter pair in need of immediate housing. A few emails were sent, some phone calls made and (with luck), we will find a place for them soon. But this is only one case, one family.

I'm confronted with the fact that such a small action from a few people could potentially have a positive impact on these two individuals' lives. Which leads me to question things (in the spirit of Berkeley, of course). If we, as (cough) "mere peon undergrads" can do this, what could we do if people in positions of power shifted their focuses? As a society, we have a tendency to place certain things on pedestals (money, status, success), but at the end of the day, how much do these things really matter? Of course I understand that we live within the structural confines of our society and in order to "survive", we must play by some of the rules. However, if we all took the time to reflect on our values, we may see that there are other things more worthy of our time. (And, while this may be my naivety speaking, I do think the world would be a better place if we could all do that.)

On a more selfish note, for the first time in a while I can say with absolute clarity exactly why I want to do what I want to do. It's because I want to serve people. It's because I wish to make the world a less painful place. But more than that, it's because I want to be a voice for those don't have the power to be heard. My head is clear and I know that with hard work and time, I am getting closer to my goals everyday.

So yes. In conclusion, I was reminded that my issues are truly problems from the "first world" and I am more optimistic than ever as I'm looking forward.

Also, as a random "FYI BUT REALLY YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS CAUSE I'M WAY TOO EXCITED" note, Cosmos just aired on Fox this past week! Never thought I would be recommending something broadcasted by Fox Network but it really is fantastic. You all should check it out, regardless of whether you love/hate/tolerate science. Even it's just for the pretty graphics :).

#thoughts #reflections