Someday Starts Today

One day? Some day? Today.

Year: 2017

Life Lesson Rambling Simple Things

This Year, Ruin Thanksgiving

Sejal

For most people, the holiday season is a time to get together with your loved ones, eat great food, and be merry as you create new memories for the future. You may see the family who you haven’t seen since last year, and can’t wait to smoosh them up in a huge hug, but you might also see that one relative that you dread seeing because they always give you a hard time about your life choices or maybe they have opinions that fundamentally go against what you believe in. Whatever the case may be, it’s a once-in-awhile type of get together so you bite your tongue, turn a blind eye, and keep the peace.

Maybe it’s time to ruin Thanksgiving.

Rambling

Your Board of Directors

Sejal

On a job interview for an internship 10 years ago, I got some of the best advice of my life.

The interviewer, the head of one of the HR departments, had received my resume in advance along with a list of questions to ask me. Before we could even start with the questions, she said, “Before we get started, I have to ask: Bollywood dance team?! Wedding planner?! How cool! Tell me about those things.” And I did.

Around the house

Cleaning Up

Sejal

I looked at my shoebox of a room the other day and thought, “Where did all of this stuff come from?” I had sworn that I would only keep some stuff with me here in SF while the majority of my things were in Portland, yet somehow my room was full. Not only was it full, it was full of stuff that I wasn’t sure I needed. It was also a reminder that there was ALL THIS STUFF in Portland that I didn’t need, considering I had been gone for almost two years and much of my stuff was/is still there.

Everyday Adventures

Spreading the Joy of Snail Mail

Sejal

Writing is that loyal love that always makes me feel great, yet I neglect. Whenever I make the time for it, I feel empowered and more creative and genuinely happy. It’s my way of taking all of the thoughts, ideas, and feelings that I have running amuck in my head and getting them out. Then why don’t I do it all the time? I don’t have an answer for that, just excuses.

Last year, I decided to no longer neglect my loyal love and to dedicate more time to writing. I set a stretch goal of writing every single day. And not just jotting down an idea on the Notes section of my phone or scribbling in a journal, but writing to someone. Every. Single. Day. Whether it be a 3 page letter, a post card from a new destination or even a quick hello on hotel stationary, I was going to be writing. To connect with people through prose. To spread the joy only snail mail can provide. To improve my penmanship because even I can’t read it sometimes. To commit to something.

Everyday Adventures

Reigniting My Love for Reading

Sejal

Reading 1000 books is on my bucket list, number 16 if we’re being specific. As a kid, I used to go to the library almost every week and check out as many books as I could carry. I would read these books late into the night, going into the bathroom for hours under the guise of using the potty when I was secretly just reading. I could finish Book It challenges in a week, easily earning my free personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut. My parents would punish me by taking away my library privileges when I misbehaved–which might be why I was such a good kid. In grade 2, I won a school wide contest for the most pages read in a month, and my school went from Kindergarten to grade 8. I was a bookworm and I loved it.

Everyday Adventures

“Can We Talk?”

Sejal

I have had more difficult conversations this week than I have had in a long time. Some have turned out better than expected while others really cut me to the core and drained me of my energy. Though some were initiated by my, not all of them were my choice. A few of the difficult conversations from this week were in my professional life, a few were in my personal life, and a few were internal ones that I was having with myself. Here are a few things that I’ve learned to help me have better difficult conversations: