what are you passionate about?

In today's day and age, the normal thing to do after graduating from college is to either find a job in what you majored in (or somewhat related to what you majored in) so that you can start your career or go to graduate school and get a Master's degree. Rarely is there passion in wanting to pursue either of those two (or somewhere along the way, that passion is lost).

Having been out of school for almost a year and having recently accepted a job offer, one of my biggest worries, now, is that I'll become someone who has lost focus of what my passions are. When I graduated in June 2012, all I remember thinking was that my next step was to get a job within a couple months of graduation and then maybe go back to graduate school a couple years after that. Of course, things didn't go as planned. I found myself having been graduated for over 4 months and jobless with my parents hovering over me with the plans that they had for me: "You should be job searching and preparing to take GREs so that you can apply to Graduate School at the same time. You need to have a backup plan."

Of course, getting pressure from my parents and the people around me on top of the pressure that I had on myself, things started to feel hopeless. What was I going to do with my life? Am I going to be jobless forever? When is this feeling of hopelessness ever going to go away? What am I even passionate about? Do I want to do Civil Engineering even? All these questions and doubts started popping up in my head and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. I didn't have any answers (which only led to more frustration).

Now that it has been almost of year since I graduated, I want to say that one of the best advice I got was when someone told me: Enjoy the time that you have now while you don't have a job because you WILL get a job. And when you do get a job, there are going to be so many things you wish you did while you didn't have a job.

Also, having walked with some of my friends through this post-grad stage, I admire how some of them have pursued what their passions are. They've worked part-time at restaurants because they want to pursue a career in the food industry instead of an office job. They've picked up and moved to another country because they wanted to experience a different culture. They've quit their current full-time job so that they can be an intern somewhere else to pursue a completely different path. They took all these risks so that they could do what they were passionate about.  A year ago, I probably would have thought that they were crazy, but now, I know that they aren't. They may defy the norm of society but I know that they are all much happier doing what they enjoy and love.

What are you passionate about? Are you pursuing and fighting to do what you love?

<sorry if there are any typos or grammatical errors. it's late...haha goodnight!>

art and makeup

Since my blog is titled, My Road to Self Discovery, I thought I'd blog about something along those lines. Haha

So... since I graduated in June 2012, I've been trying to figure out what to do with my life (as most postgrads do) and what God's purpose is for me. With struggling to find a full-time job, I've had a lot of time to dabble in things. The main thing I'm trying to figure out now is whether these things that I've been doing are part of a phase that I'm going through or if it's actually something that I've found to be part of who I am.

From my previous posts, I'm sure you can tell that one of the things I've been doing is making cards and selling them for a special cause. At first, when I made them for MOCA, I thought I'd be a one time thing. Then when the opportunity came up to sell them at my new home church, I decided to do it again! Some people who purchased some from me at MOCA have also requested for more! :) I'm so grateful for the support that I've been getting from my friends and family. I've always really enjoyed art (whether it be painting, scrapbooking, graphics, crafts, etc.). I'm starting to see that art is part of who I am. I may not always have an idea when it comes to what to draw or make and I know I'm not the greatest at it but it's definitely something I enjoy.

Something else that I've been really into recently is makeup. I'm not sure if this is just a phase or not. It might be the endless possibilities of makeup that intrigues me but one thing is for sure, I love how one can express themselves through makeup. I currently follow a couple YouTube makeup gurus and I like how they can inspire you to try something new with makeup. Much like a painting, you don't need to have the exact colors or medium that the artist uses; in this case, you don't need to have the exact color or brand of eyeshadow. They are simply sharing with you their ideas which can help to inspire you into finding what you like or creating a new look.

I will end with two quotes from Bobbi Brown:

"Makeup is a way for a woman to look and feel like herself, only prettier and more confident."

"Beauty isn't about looking perfect. It's about celebrating your individuality."

Let's embrace our individuality and who God has created us to be! :)

joy

"Even on the worst days, there's a possibility for joy." - Beckett (for Castle)

One of the shows that I've been watching recently is Castle. It's about this writer, Richard Castle, who follows a detective, Kate Beckett, around on different cases for inspiration in writing his books. This quote stuck out to me because after thinking about it, it's so true! 

In the midst of all the bad things that can happen to us in a day, it makes us lose sight of the joy that can happen.