summer reflections
Summer 2025 was an intermission, a momentary lull to the ceaseless drive that defined me for years. I allowed myself to really slow down, though it proved astonishingly challenging for a workaholic like me. Stillness felt foreign: my body seemed unsure of what to do without motion. Yet, I surrendered, spending warm days in quiet rebellion against my restlessness.
Since late June, I haven’t written as much as I should've. I am typically consistent with writing, even when I am not actively posting. I habitually jot ideas (that, for some reason, I believe would change the world), excerpts, rough blogpost drafts on journals, notebooks, and blank Word documents. However, this summer, I let myself live unrecorded moments.
If I were to distill summer 2025 into a single word, it would be connection. I sought pleasure in deepening existing friendships (friends I have known for over 10 years!), as well as cultivating new ones. Arcade dates, laughter over dinner, and meandering conversations about love, ambition, and uncertainty of the future - I drank it all in and felt an unexpected, profound fullness settles over me.
It's mesmerizing how connection can find you, often when you least expect it; how someone enters your orbit in a way that shifts everything. How dizzyingly electric it feels, an undercurrent that hums through your chest. Movie nights, midnight phone calls, texts that stretched into the night and towards dawn - moments so immersive I lost all sense of time and myself. For someone like me, who often guarded myself behind busyness (and fear), I felt myself unravel.
Career planning, too, has significantly preoccupied me, especially since my graduation from June. I contemplated what I truly wanted: Do I pursue research or continue building on my industry experience? The weight of these choices linger, yet alongside comes an exhilarating anticipation standing at this crossroad. I envision the person I could become in either direction.
Now, I feel inspired to return to my typical rhythm of writing. I am challenging myself to write more for the upcoming days. If you have made it this far, thank you as always.