This Season’s ‘Top Three’ (Day 7)
I’ve officially made it one whole week into my 30 days of blogging challenge! *holds for applause* One week down and only three more to go. Man, when you put it like that…Today is the first day since my blogging challenge started that I’ve been at work. I started the challenge last Friday (July 1st) and have been on PTO, enjoying some time off ever since. Juggling my corporate job and daily blogging thus far (as in today lol) has proven to be an added challenge. At the end of my work day it’s hard enough to do much of anything cerebral let alone think of a blogging topic and write about it in curation of a new blog post that will engage my amazing audience - that’s you! Well, just another new challenge in my 30 days of blogging but nothing I can’t handle!
When I was researching potential blog topic ideas for this challenge, for the days when nothing in particular strikes me as a worthwhile subject matter, I came across one, well to be fair I came across many that spoke to me, but this one in particular struck a chord. It made me reflect in a way I can’t say I’ve done recently. As I’ve mentioned a few times, this phase of my life has felt frenzied. Frenzied in a lot of ways - hence the lack of time for deep reflection. While I’ve remained quite active, physically and mentally, I haven’t given proper time to reflecting on what this phase of life represents, what’s important to me in this chapter.
If you’re like me, maybe you find yourself in a constant state of movement, never giving in to your mind or body’s need to slow down or rest. To be fair, I struggle with the concept of ‘rest’ so this is not necessarily me begging for it to be more present in my life as much as acknowledging its necessity. Sometimes. Anyway, do you find yourself forever in motion? Have you ever stopped to think about why? What the ‘motions’ are going toward? What they are building or amounting to? If you’re like me, maybe you asked yourself those questions right now and realized you’re not sure. What are they building toward? Is it something you’ve identified as being important to you in this season of life?
What’s important to you in this season will of course not be synonymous with what’s important to me but likewise it won’t be synonymous with what’s important to you in your next season of life. Whether that’s next year or in the next five years. In this final year of my 20’s, I feel a renaissance of sorts coming on. To be fair I’ve felt this deep transition in my life over the last two years, since the start of the pandemic, when my priorities were truly tested and actualized. But this year, this year feels like the culmination of some pretty big changes and upheavals in my life. Both good and bad. For better or worse.
Which brings me to what I’m personally working toward and thus the topic for today’s blog post - 3 Things I’m Focused on in this Season of Life. For the sake of this post I’m defining ‘season’ as my 29th year on earth but like I said, it could remain the same as I enter my 30th year. I guess it will depend on how successful I am at targeting the below subject areas now won’t it?
1) Career Clarity — Man, I could probably have an entire blog post dedicated to this one area alone! Career Clarity. I’ve been doing a TON of introspection and reflection around the notion of my personal purpose and path on this earth over the course of the last two years. I’m starting to feel like the work I’ve been putting in is finally coming to fruition and illuminating the path before me but until I feel like I’ve fully actualized turning my dreams into reality, I’m laser focused on this area of my life. I know not everyone believes in the idea of following your purpose or passion but it’s something that’s a critical component of my life.
2) Reciprocated Relationships — Like yours, my life has changed tremendously over the last two years inclusive of where I live. I moved out of LA in 2020 at the height of the pandemic, spending most of my time with family in Northern California and then of course traveling the US in our sprinter van for a few months last summer. Naturally that means there’s a lot of people I haven’t physically seen for quite some time. Some of whom have stayed in touch, others, well, haven’t. It’s made me value those incredible relationships and friendships I do have but it’s also made me understand the importance of ’Reciprocated Relationships,’ which to me really represents a number of things. The first being relationships are a two way street - they take effort from both parties. If someone doesn’t want to make an effort to stay in my life, why would I want to do the same for them? But more than that, I see ‘Reciprocated Relationships’ as those friendships that involve people who offer something more to each other. Whether that’s someone who helps push you to achieve your annual goals, offers feedback on a project you’re working on, gives their time and expertise to help you create something new, motivates you by way of a project they’re pursuing, whatever it may be, you’re providing more than just someone to gossip and drink wine with. The best relationships - friendships or otherwise - (in my opinion), are the ones that push you to be the best version of yourself.
3) Enriching Experiences — I am a sucker for good experiences! Is my ‘Millenial’ showing yet?? I’ll admit I love clothes, shoes, jewelry and purses just as much as the next girl but as I get older I realize the value I place in trying new things and collecting memories from unforgettable moments just as much as collecting tokens. I haven’t left the country since the beginning of 2020 and as silly as that may sound, it’s something I think about every day. Enriching Experiences make me a better version of myself. They challenge me to see the world differently and approach my daily life through newly developed lenses. For me, these experiences traditionally come by way of travel but this year I’m also focused on those little, in between moments that can electrify my senses just as well.
There you have it, the top 3 things I’m focused on in this season of my life. I’m sure if I gave myself additional time to process the depth of this question, I could come up with a dozen more but I think it’s important to reflect on this loaded question and analyze the first three things that come up for you. Why did those things come up for you? More importantly, do you feel like your daily actions, the way you carry yourself, interact with others, etc. align to those overall beacons of guidance?…