Challenging Your Assumptions and the Need to Predict
In an effort to minimize risk, we all have the tendency to predict possible outcomes and plan accordingly. To make these predictions, we can't help but draw from past experiences and preconceived notions of the world in order to keep ourselves safe. And this is not always a bad thing. Predicting and falling back on ...
A Meditator’s Advice for Measuring Progress with Anxiety or Depression
When it comes to mental health challenges like anxiety or depression, it can be tricky to measure progress in a tangible way than, say, weight loss. Progress is often slow, subtle, and incremental, and the changes we make on the inside are often barely detectable on the outside (at first). It's incredibly frustrating to feel ...
Accepting the Consequences of Living Honestly
After years of struggling with perfectionism and people-pleasing, I'd made up my mind to live differently: to focus on living in alignment with my values, regardless of how people responded. I gave up trying to control how people reacted to me (which perfectionism and people-pleasing were attempts to do), focusing, instead, on the only thing ...
Embracing the Messiness of Life
Having just moved into a new apartment, I naturally have the desire to keep it clean and tidy. My kitchen is a prime example: when I first moved in, I restricted my movements to keep it as spotless as possible, only to realize this was holding me back from actually doing anything. In order to ...
Top 5 Lessons from the Past Year
I love witnessing the excitement and buzz surrounding each New Year. There's something special about the world sitting in anticipation and wondering about the possibilities that lie ahead. It's a time to relish how far we've come, re-assess where we're going, and ultimately cling on to hope and gratitude. The past year was a special ...
Coming Home for Christmas
This morning I engaged in a gentle exchange in the "comments" section of a popular Catholic Instagram account called @LitCatholicMemes (which I typically enjoy, by the way). I rarely ever comment on stuff, but this time I felt like I had to speak up, because this topic has been weighing on my mind for some time ...
Overcoming Perfectionism: A Designer’s Mindset
Last week I spontaneously took a sample introductory course to UX & UI design, since both are increasingly becoming more and more relevant to my field of communications. I found it very stimulating, not just in terms of course content, but in terms of how designers approach failure. As the course progressed, I found myself ...
Top 3 Life Lessons from Partner Dancing
Last weekend I attended my first three-day congress for a partner dance style called Brazilian zouk, which consisted of back-to-back workshops and nightly dance parties known as "socials". Only since returning home have I begun to process the full weight and significance of this experience, which I'd like to share with you now. It sounds ...
We Can’t Always Protect Other People’s Feelings & That’s OK
Yesterday I accidentally upset a woman by texting very briefly in the movie theatre (mind you, I was texting underneath my jacket with my screen dimmed to maximum, but I guess she still caught a glimpse of the glare). It was the kind of text that needed an urgent reply, but I get it: people go to ...
Say “Yes” to Life — It Might Surprise You
As sobering as it is to admit, I allowed many years of my life to be governed by fear. Almost every move I made was done out of self-protection or self-preservation. I'd approach most situations with caution, paranoid that a good moment would go sour or that a bad one would go from 'worse' to ...
Celine Diaz: Real Talk 