Big things come in small packages

SORAH YANG: USC Business School Graduate - Aspiring Dancer/Choreographer - Marketing & PR Professional - Singer - Life Lover - Excessive Smiler Hi! Thanks for visiting. I tend to think a lot and that results in me writing overly verbose posts about the broke and optimistic pursuit of my dreams. :) Whatever your reason is for stumbling upon my blog, I hope my excessive rambling reassures you that whatever you're going through, you're not alone. Have a nice day! "When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me.'" - Erma Bombeck

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My Golden Rule.

The one mantra that I truly believe I live and breathe by is that if life is being good to you, it is your responsibility to thank the Universe by being the best freaking person you can possibly be. Which is simpler than most people make it out to be - be a good person, do the right thing, make excellent choices and be kind to everyone. Or, even more simply put - if life is giving you things to smile about, do all you can to make as many people around you smile. 

I also believe that when life hits you with those inevitable hard blows, those inevitable moments of "what the f am i doing with my life," those low moments when nothing can console you except the artificial ingredients in ice cream and Netflix, and those "when it rains, it motherfuggin pours" days, it is STILL your responsibility to be the best human being you can possibly be. Because I believe in Karma, I believe that life fights for good people, and eventually things will come around for you and look up.

Moral of the story: Just be the best person you can possibly be. Always.

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Lay Me Down - Sam Smith (Acoustic Cover) 

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Car Rides with Oko

Rich conversations feed my soul :) Just thought I'd share a few gems from my road trip today with the amazing Alisa Okamoto:

- Always do what's right with no attachment to the outcome. Good intentions will always carry you through to what was meant to happen. And why stress about things that are beyond your control?

- Leadership is about Service, not Status. (So. Important.)

- If you want to empower others, you first have to empower yourself. (Really though - if you don't believe in yourself, how are you going to convince others to believe in themselves?)

- You can't control fate/destiny; all you can do is trust yourself to do what's best for yourself in the present moment.

- Understanding that Life happens for you, not to you. 

- India Arie is amazing. 

- The Universe typically has your back. (If you're nice.)

- And really, gratitude is everything. 

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Great read from a great choreographer.

Stumbled upon this blog post by the beautifully successful choreographer Tessandra Chavez. I can definitely relate multiple elements of her reflection to my life and just thought I'd share, since I haven't posted in here in a while.

"I was at Walmart with my brother on Thanksgiving and a man walking by says, “man the shoes here are so over priced!” He was definitely serious and appeared stressed. His comment put many things into perspective and made me realize how different my life is now compared to my childhood.

I remember as a kid my mom putting clothes on layaway and also me yearning for certain material things that my mom couldn’t afford. I was raised on welfare and money was always the barrier to me obtaining many things I wanted. I fell in love with dance at 5 years old and thankfully my mom worked endlessly to nurture my passion. I didn’t grow up competing dance or going to dance conventions but my mom made sure that I was constantly dancing and training. She allowed me to fly in the field that made my heart happy. She allowed me to believe that this dream could be a reality. She NEVER once told me that it wasn’t possible. She just kept trying to open more doors for me to walk through.

Ultimately I worked obsessively in the profession that brings me happiness. I earn a solid living and I never want for anything anymore and most importantly I love what my “job” is. I often feel like I’m stealing because to me it isn’t a job. A wise woman recently told me (Julia Eastwood), “if you don’t understand the business of your art then it is just a hobby.” I innately understood this theory early on or you could say the desire to succeed made me understand this theory early on. Either way, understanding the business of my art has allowed me the ultimate freedom in life; doing what I love and making money while doing it.

What this Walmart experience gave me was the reminder that through hard work, passion and devotion you can achieve anything you want in this lifetime. It may not be in the perfect package and it may take longer than you desire but ultimately if it’s what you really desire then you will eventually be rewarded. For me, not having the finances to be on the fast track to dance success held me back from immediate success but it allowed me to appreciate every opportunity and accomplishment which ended up being a blessing in disguise. Just 20 years ago, I was in a store like Walmart with my mom financially imprisoned just like the man I spoke about earlier. We all have decisions and we can always change our path. Do you choose to turn lemons into lemonade? I did.

In 2012, I purchased my mother, 13 year old brother and aunt a home in my hometown of San Diego. It was a very proud moment to have the ability to do such. As I sit here typing I’m enjoying the view from my balcony here in San Diego. I worked hard for this moment and I am grateful.

I hope that I have inspired you to pursue your dreams or change your life for the better. It’s always in your hands." - Tessandra Chavez

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"'Kindness' covers all of my political beliefs. No need to spell them out. I believe that if, at the end, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try. I didn't always know this and am happy I lived long enough to find it out." - Roger Ebert

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this inspired me beyond belief. 

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"Not good enough"

I spent my whole life telling myself that I was not good enough to pursue anything artistically, be it dancing or singing. But lately, and particularly while reading this book on work ethic vs. the falsely preconceived notions of "natural talent," I've come to the realization that no one starts out "good enough." It doesn't matter how great they are now, or how great they seemingly were at a younger age. You have to work your butt off until you become "good enough" -- and if you still don't think you're quite there yet, then all it means is that you need to work harder and you need to work smarter. the reason why only a small few rise to become "good enough" is because they keep going. they persevere through both internal and external discouragement when everyone else gives up. 

So yeah... no matter what you're doing, keep going. you can't just work hard and expect that to be enough -- you have to work harder. 

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"Give the world the best you've got anyway."

One of the greatest things you can ever do for yourself is to ignore the people who try to bring you down. Being an overly sensitive specimen myself, this is something I've always struggled with. But recent events have caused me to confront this issue in its ugly face and re-evaluate what's worth my energy and what isn't. Think of the greatest figures in history: Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Jr., Gandhi. They're all extreme examples, but the reason why they're so GREAT is because they had tremendous hearts and rose/persevered with good intentions against negative opposition. Imagine what tremendous civil progress would have been prevented if they allowed themselves to be stopped and discouraged by "haters."

This brings me to my favorite quote of all time:

"People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway. If you are successful you will win some false friends and true enemies; Succeed anyway. If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway. What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway. The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you've got anyway. You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; It was never between you and them anyway."

- Mother Teresa

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I was having a bad week and then....

best.boyfriend.ever. :) 

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On humility --

Random thought: I think the idea of being "humble" has a lot more to do with how you treat others than it does with how you view yourself. Oftentimes, insecurity is mistaken for humility, and confidence is miscategorized as lack of humility. But my personal opinion is that the core of humility is treating others with genuine respect and compassion, regardless of who you are or what you have accomplished. 

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I remember when Pat asked me if I wanted to be in this video... i think i died a little (a lot) (completely) (entirely) (nothing left) (just dead). i've been going to his classes religiously ever since he moved down to LA because i haven't felt so much growth learning from a single teacher in such a long time... he totally reignited my desire and love of LEARNING, as opposed to just trying to become a better dancer for the sake of getting better.

It makes me so proud to look at all the amazing people in this video who are all doing wonderful things to represent the Bay Area so well. Maybe i'm biased, but i've always thought Bay people have a different vibe to them... and i love it. so, so, so, so unbelievably blessed. can't even put into words. stay grounded, humble, and never ever forget where you came from. 

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Sharing this because it's been almost a year since my last singing video, and i'm excited to release a new one in the next couple of weeks!