Life Lately
Here's a bunch of random life lately thoughts and events
I feel like every night right before I sleep, I just have this internal word vomit that is worthy of several substack entries, until I realize that I really cannot be bothered opening up my computer to type it up just out of sheer exhaustion and the ‘prioritization of the self.’ Hence, I would have to wait for that opportune moment which, lately, has been almost impossible. What happens is that my substack dashboard is filled with half-baked entries - some have been left stale (that’s how fast my life, priorities, and internal struggles can shift).
But this space was always meant to chronicle my journey as a parent of two and, maybe a memoir of the many hats I wear for my own personal consumption. I should start writing more and make sense of all these thoughts that need to be expelled from this hybrid mom-lawyer brain. I had to write and highlight the lawyer side because I just finished drafting very interesting legal work (which is very commercial in nature) that I have never done before in the realm of Intellectual Property (my legal industry practice) and I feel mentally drained but accomplished. The high from all the morning productivity has pushed me to continue writing.
This post might be a bit longer than usual as I will try to include all the half-baked entries resting on my dashboard drafts. Here we go…
I had a draft about dealing with my three-nager testing out all my gentle parenting skills. The past month up to the present has my three-year-old being quite the person that she is. Headstrong (stubborn), spirited (shouts like 85% of the time), and with quite the logic, rationality, and verbosity of a teen. I have got my hands full! The science behind this suggests that this is all normal and part of their development and while I know all that, it still does not make it easy.
One of the posts I meant to write more about is this process of decluttering and intentional consumption. After my trip to Japan more than a month ago, I felt like I had to make this decision to have intentional consumption as part of my goals. This is not really a move specifically towards minimalism, but more of a mindset shift and value reflection. I read, researched, and watched a lot of videos on this. It was extremely satisfying to be able to look at this from various perspectives and align it with the kind of lifestyle we have now as a family. Satisfying but so so difficult. But while in the process of being more mindful about this, I get to learn more about the psyche or my underlying thoughts and feelings that challenge this goal. There has definitely been a shift in mindset but the implementation is not 100% (or even 80% there). I’ll update you guys about this sometime.
Both my kids now are in the mama all-the-time mode and it has been very challenging to work and accomplish all my tasks. While it is pretty sweet and endearing that they just want to spend time with me, I may have to assess my working situation at home and consider *gasp* actually going to our office (since we now have one). I swear, the moment I have figured out a stable schedule that meets all my needs (family, health, work, self-care), something just throws me off and makes me reassess everything. Of course, that’s just life. But it can be frustrating. Recently, I had a really bad gastro-related nightmare and it just left me feeling obviously physically weak and emotionally distraught. I had this thought cross again during those moments while recovering and gaining back my strength that my existence is now more about others and goes way beyond myself. I say this as a wife, a mother of two very young kids, an employer for our household/law firm/colleagues, and a counsel for my clients. It is a life of privilege but one that also carries so much weight.
I figure I’d like to share something with my very limited readership of things that have helped me go through life lately:
Music - I have been obsessed with NWJNS (NewJeans) lately and I feel very weird stanning this new group because of my age. As someone who does not need to add another fandom (apart from being a proud ARMY), I am really perplexed. But they are addicting and their sound is so good. The Y2K vibes and 90s moves just get me. I absolutely love watching the video below of them recording because they’re adorable and just extremely talented for their age.
Parenting - Social Media is filled with a TON of parenting accounts that are extremely helpful and comforting. My current favorite ATM is this account by Dr. David and Amanda Erickson. The one below is my recent “saved” post under my “Parenting” IG folder.
Series - Not gonna lie. I still haven’t caught up on Last of Us because I’ve been either working, watching NewJeans or BTS Reactions, or tending to my two kids. I recently discovered the K-Drama Love to Hate You just yesterday because I was nursing a massive headache and wanted to watch a K-Drama. So far, I like it. I find it very entertaining.
Tech - I’m still being mindful of my consumption but I have invested in the Airpods Max headphones in pink and I LOVE IT. The noise canceling is awesome and kinda dangerous since I almost hit my son when apparently he was just beside me when he touched me and I got so startled. He has been there for a few minutes and calling me out and I did not hear it all.
Photos - I’ll leave this post with these lovely instax mini film shots that I took of my daughter when we were in Pico de Loro last week.
Would love to hear about your life lately, as well.
