#1_Heart, Tugged!
Introducing you a new monthly series :) Maybe some links to click on and maybe just some simple nice essays.
Welcome to heart, tugged! A monthly series where I talk about the things that — well —tugged my heart strings. It’s a place to really observe what sparks true pleasures in life.
*It will usually be sent out on the first day of the month, but the first one is always a little wobbly until it can stand on its own!
Why hello friends! I’ve always wanted to do a monthly series for a while and I didn’t know how to start it or what to do. When I initially started this newsletter, I had a series called #juststuff, which was fun to curate some stuff I liked, but it didn’t have a lot to do with my writing practice per se. After the Kyoto trip, I have been able to focus on my writing projects much more and I’ve been trying not to be embarrassed to identify myself as a writer. As we all know what the process of writing does to our psyche, it’s a lonely act and it doesn’t come with a lot of validation often. I’m not a ‘full-time-writer,’ and I feel guilty to say that I’m a writer! when I only put 40 % of my week into writing when others write all the time. I am at the moment, trying to overcome this theory I have concocted on to myself.
It’s easy for me to write about almost anything, that’s why I love writing. But it is difficult for me to come up with a writing a plot, a setup, a thesis that people could be interested in. It takes me a lot of thinking and time. It’s a challenge to write this newsletter sometimes but I also want to be a better writer believe it or not, and the practice of writing here has been very meaningful. I do think having a monthly theme takes some pressure off of the structural sense of writing, like I don’t have to be too precious about it. So I’m excited for that. Also, I’m going to write things that sparked true pleasures, not temporary instant gratification kinds, but true ones that potentially will stick with me for a while. It’s a meaningful writing practice, which requires a lot of reflection as well and I’m here to dive in!
Now a little background of how this theme came about. My astute sense of observation came in handy, one thing that this series and newsletter benefits off of.
It was on a Sunday at a busy bakery. A random passerby there said something to her friend and I hastily wrote it down in my notes app. It was early in the morning, and everyone was there to pick up their sweet or savory pick for breakfast. The women after observing the entire bread section and cueing for the register, went back to the bread section again and came back to the cue and said to her friend, “バナナとバターに揺らされて.” (translation: I was swayed by the banana and butter) Here, yurasarete means swayed but it can also be reiterated as something pulled her that way. The literal meaning of the word is a little different though. Yurasarate is like the leaves are being shifted through the wind, or a curtain being waved around in the wind. The word feels ethereal; humans swaying or shimmying. Sort of like a jelly fish just stumbling its way in the water. There doesn’t seem like there’s a clear objective of where it’s headed but ultimately, there is always somewhere we land.
It’s a simple statement but it was real for her. It was a visceral reaction that she had to go back to the bread corner and pick up another bread than what she had decided to buy. That is commitment, change of heart, course of action, strong will and dare I say, she was tugged.
and so here we are. I was inspired by her, not just her but by everyone. We make decisions every day and every second. In fact, an average human makes about 35,000 decisions, 2000 decisions per hour, or one decision every two seconds. Through these decisions we make, there are consequences, results and ultimately a story to tell. It feels a bit grandiose, and sometimes I might write things that have tugged my heartstrings in a monumental way, but sometimes it might just be things like, guys I played Wingspan and it was so complicated but birds are so cute! It might even be the things that I bought or where I traveled that month. There are no rules, just honesty.
(I don’t know whether a listicle or an essay style will work here, I might have several things I want to say in a month but for today, I will start with a list of things that came to mind.)
Always, let people know when their work is good.
It goes such a long way. Let me share you a heart,tugged! story between my current boyfriend and myself that led us to dating and it was sparked from this exact belief. He initially reached out to me through Instagram, but it wasn’t the ‘slid in your DMs’ type of message. He mentioned my writing that I do on this newsletter and showed genuine support that I should “keep up the good work.” (I think that’s what he said?Fact checking will take me hours to scroll up.) He actually read my work and showed genuine interest and support. Come to think of it, how often do we get any acknowledgement from friends or even strangers for that matter with the work we do? My boyfriend later on explained that even for his own work, it’s just a nice feeling to hear that your work is good and to know that someone is seeing it. It encourages us to not stop and keep going. Caring goes a long way, and when a stranger takes the time to read or watch your creative work and says something about it, that’s pretty cool.
Cut to just yesterday. I’m currently working with a friend to come up with a brand name and copy for a new service launching next year. I have doubted myself when it comes to naming stuff or copywriting because I have been told that my copy skills weren’t that amazing. But I have grown and I like a challenge. I presented her some options yesterday and she expressed genuine appreciation and excitement that if we show this to the client she told me that they will be happy — I was delighted to say the least.
It’s the simple things but you never know who wants to hear it and how it actually helps them as well.
An author photo is in the making!
This is a very exciting one! I feel like a professional freelancer now! The photos are still in the editing process but I had my boyfriend
take them,(who is on Substack and supposedly will update soon!?) who is a thoughtful photographer on top of his incredible graphic design work. (it has come to my attention that I mention him way too often here, so I shall make note of that) He is open for work (for photography)! (he’s a busy man doing graphic design 24/7 for clients and giving me very little attention these days) He’s amazing, book him before he becomes the next Martin Parr.
Cauliflower rice lives in my mind rent free
I hate that I said that phrase, but here we are. My current obsession is — you guessed it— cauliflower rice. I saw it on the
, and I was like, heard of it so many times, never made it. For a type 1 diabetic, low carb foods are my ally. Cauliflower rice only has 3 grams of carbs for 1 cup, which is insanity because a 1 cup of rice won’t fill me up( while it’s high high high carb content), as opposed to this bad boy, it does. I made a taco bowl recipe recommended by and it was so delightful. I was traveling for 10 days and missed home cooked food so this is exactly what I wanted for a healthy pick me up x
Some additional things that’s worth your time
“The love of my life” essay by Cheryl Strayed
People have diverse thoughts about her book WILD, how it can be one of those travel books when a white woman tries-to-find-her-self types, but she is a Incredibly Talented and Extraordinarily Brilliant and Successful. Such a beautiful essay.
In a recent
‘s Rat Diet, she praises Ralph Lauren. I might be bias because I recently worked with the brand, but it’s true. Most of the stuff I saw in their shop, I was like oh these are cute. I got these sunglasses, which was a great find and the NY green cap. A great color addition.If you want tugged reading content, Astray is the place to go for obvious reasons. Astray has been publishing some banger writing pieces and these are a few of my recent faves. An Ode to Markets , “One of the girls”, Tokyo Smokes .
All we all living beyond our means now? by The Cut. My brother is about to live in NYC, and I don’t know how to put this delicately but I can’t fathom the idea of living there with my current income, I will most definitely have to have several jobs I feel. My brother is not going to have a six figure income, but very optimistic about his life there. I love that for him, and I wonder if that’s just what being young is about?
This is it for this month installment. Hope you enjoyed it would love some encouraging comments x