＊•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙˚ Gimme the trip photos ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊
For the past few months, I’ve been working on a web design template targetting wellness and travel industry. The idea first sparked in February, but the execution only began in August.
Knowing the project would be very demanding, I had to readjust my life around it. By mid-August, I’ve partially retired Found.social, putting off all meetups and socialising efforts, paused my gym membership, bought another ergonomic chair and went back to work at hometown.
The focus I get is incredible, bordering on harmful at times with the occasional 70-hour workweek and looming burnout. But even then, I could just decompress with a full day of Monster Hunt and go back to grind the next day.
By October, my life revolved around just Fred Again mixsets on repeat until I called it a night. I was absolutely LOCKED IN.
Backstory
This dedication stemmed from a general dissatisfaction with my life post-COVID. During that time, I made a drastic career shift from graphic design to UI/UX design, and picked up web development just to boost my “employability”. I also started a few side projects to continue building my design portfolio, so that I’m not dependant of company works (that are bound by NDAs). To be honest, these side projects felt inauthentic, but at least I get to explore new technologies and even improved my workflow during work.
On the other hand, my social life hasn’t improved. Wherever someone asked about my social life, I sometimes vent how hard it’s to find love in a self-deprecating manner, then conclude the topic with “I’ve tried meeting new people, but found that I’m not ready, so yeah”. But the truth is, I’m always ready - I’m just saving myself for the those who are willing to commit living their life to its fullest potential, regardless of their personal goals.
Using dating apps also felt demoralising, like I was a pawn to algorithms. There were quite a few times I’ve matched with someone, just to get unmatched in minutes. Slowly, I realized I was spending so much time worried for uncontrollable outcome, when I could be using that time more wisely to create things I can own and enjoy.
Life feels so much better after deleting the dating apps. Ironically, I feel the best way to find love is by doing what I’m passionate and finding new connections through them. Still gonna make love (happen), but in a different way.
I also noticed a lot of mediocre things that people produce, yet they’re able to make a living, which frustrated me because I “wasn’t given the same opportunity and platform”. But now, the same observation motivates me because I came to the realisation that with enough effort and patience, opportunities are actually everywhere, we just have to carve a pathway for ourselves.
It’s also during this time that I kept mentioning to my family: “我不要做钱奴了” (I don’t want to become a money slave). Living frugally was a habit I adopted when I was unemployed during COVID times. But that mindset doesn’t serve me anymore, as I find myself ruminating too long over activities of self-indulgence, then end up reseting myself even more for not treating myself well (when I’m able to afford).
Now, I’m more willing to spend for personal joy, and more importantly, spend to create joy with and for others. I used to only see time and wealth as pure commodity, now I treat them as a currency to create memories.
Anyway, it’s three months until 2025, so let’s LOCK IN.
Terengganu Trip Photos
I had a cool stay at Terrapuri Heritage Village, specifically at the Rumah Kubang Jela villa. The whole area is far away from the heart of Terengganu, so it’s a good place to find some tranquillity.
The first day at Terrapuri Village was … moisty •·.·”·.·•
The second day was sunny, so we went around taking pics ツ
⇢ ˗ˏˋ Gotta stay hydrated ࿐ྂ
⋇⊶⊰ Dropped by the Ganu Museum and bagged a baddie ⊱⊷⋇
