Monday, March 21, 2016

Some songs I'm jamming to

Feelin a bit dreamy... enjoy!





A letter to a friend and to myself

Hi WL,

I’m Vinh. I’m a male from SoCal. First off, I would like to commend you for your courage in the rawness and authenticity of your many post/blogs including that of Medium. It’s my first time in reaching out to a fellow blogger, but what really initiate it was your strikingly similar life thoughts/ philosophy/ experiences to my own. Maybe, it’s too premature to say. But on the surface it is a bit awkward and cool at the same time to meet someone that I feel I could relate a lot to.

A lot of the things I have to say below I believe in one way or another you already know. You could take it for a grain of salt. But I would like to share my personal thoughts with you and how it has enriched my life.

I know you’re going through a self-reflection/ renewal stage as I am going through one myself. I have started a blog to document this process. I guess you could read my blog to find out. ;) Anyways, the process hasn’t been all without bumps in the road. A multitude of emotions are running high including ones with high optimism coupled with ones of doubt and uncertainty. I am really happy that you’ve find the insight, and courage to go forward with this new journey of yours. Despite all the struggles, I have found this time period invaluable into building up who you truly are and what you want become. For me, the experience so far has been truly healing, rejuvenating, and inspiring. As you probably know, keeping a blog can be a source of healing in its own right. You heal by reflecting and by making amends with your past. You rejuvenate by understanding your shortcomings, and by looking forward to the future with hope and optimism. You inspire yourself and others by sharing your insights and thoughts. It’s sort of like self-affirmation. One of the powers of writing is that it is self-tool for questioning and analyzing your own thoughts as well as for the creation of new insights and knowledge. Oddly enough, it was something I only found recently.

We and countless others have gone through many emotional pains.  In some way, I am grateful for my own severity in the sense that we all know there are others who are in more dire situations than us. That in a sense could be a small source of comfort for us.  The negative thoughts do creep up at times, but I try to use those thoughts as a frame of reference. What I mean by this is that it provides you with two different mind frames to choose from. The one that is negative, isolated, careless, debilitating, sickening, stagnant…etc, the not so good part of You. The other one is positive, loving, creative, self-love and respect, lover of life and goodness, see the goodness and potential in yourself and others, full of vitality, health and optimism, progressive, dreamer of better days, empathy and sympathy, a fighter not a quitter…essentially the “better part of You.” It’s a no-brainer that everybody would choose the later or at least I hope. I believe everybody is entitled to the “better part of You” mindset even if you don’t you want it or don’t think you deserve it. I want YOU to believe that you’re entitled to it. I want YOU to fight for it.

The internal world can be a harsh place. The internal are your own internal thoughts. Self-degradation, self-pity, self-doubt, and self-defeating thoughts among others are all hurdles we all have to go through in this road of life. The second we say I can’t or I won’t or I’m worth it or I’m not good enough we inflict an emotional wound to ourselves.  A lot of times this emotional wound never really heal and we bare this wound throughout our whole lives. This wound becomes infected which can sap us the various joys and experiences of life. It can prevent us from realizing what we’re capable off or what our true potentials are. Give yourself the chance to heal your mental wounds. A lot of times we are the ones that hold ourselves back. I advocate that if you let yourself become open, vulnerable and be a maverick of new experiences it can lead to something worthwhile or something you would never imagine had you not attempted it. Like the old saying goes, “What the worst that could happen?”

Additionally, a major part in the up keeping of a healthy mind is a healthy body. So it is essential to be aware and mindful of the actions that is both beneficial and detrimental to physical health.  It will definitely take some work on your part and no miracle will happen overnight. But give yourself the mental space for the “better part of You” to be seeded in your mind because you are entitled to it!  
So give yourself the chance to succeed or the opportunity to at least “[Fall] with style” Like Buzz in Toy Story.





The external world can be an equally challenging place. Social norms or preconceived notions are the various obstacles that may come into battle with our values and beliefs. That is why it is so important to clearly define our own belief system. I would say it’s the life’s blood of our existence. It gives us meaning to our life, to our work, and can commands our daily thoughts and actions. It’s what makes us whole as a person as well as unique. I would assume that many of the world’s innovations and breakthroughs came from people who were unique in their right.  Like many have probably said before me, I continue to believe that the people who remain unfazed by external pressures, that live and act on their own values and beliefs remain the happiest and have the most fulfilling lives. That is why it’s so important to not deny yourself of your values and beliefs. In fact, it is equally important to forge these values and beliefs onto the world. It could literally change the world or at least an individual. It could save a life otherwise stuck or blinded by our societal expectations. 
I believe everybody is entitled to a happy and fulfilling life. You should believe that for yourself. No one said life was easy. This entitlement will not come without the price of hard work, perseverance and courage. Heck, sometimes the hardest part of the day is getting yourself in the right mindset when you start your day. The second hardest is literally getting yourself out of bed. Haha.  I can’t always say I am “the better part of” myself, and sometimes I fail at that. But at least now an inner voice tells me I could always do better.

Learning from mistakes is worth noting. To acknowledge the mistake is one thing and trying not to repeat it is another. This is where we hold ourselves accountable. To put it in a lighter term, if we truly value and respect ourselves, our time and effort then we shouldn’t be in action of self-repeating deflating actions. A buffer towards this is where “the better part of” you can come into play. Sometimes it’s good to remind yourself of the “the better part of” you so that we can be redirected in the right direction. I try to strive for it EACH AND EVERY DAY. Yes, rain or shine through thick and thin through sickness and in health. Well, it may sound like a wedding vow and essentially it is… it is to yourself. You make a vow to yourself to love yourself whole heartedly and to take care of yourself in all aspects. I believe if you stay truly faithful and act upon your values, you won’t fail yourself at the end of it all.

I am driven each and every day that “I” can and will make a positive difference in this world. If not the world at this moment, then be a positive influence to yourself or the people around you. I acknowledge and take pride in my uniqueness. I value my presence and existence in this world. I view myself and others as gifts to this world, all with special gifts, talents and skills. I could learn as much from them as they could from me. The world has various people with various potentials. Some have tapped into them while there are others who have not realized or acknowledged it within themselves. Furthermore, there are those whose potentials are hindered by various unfortunate circumstances or means. The untapped potentials within and outside of schools, the pushed-under-the rug potentials, the trampled potentials, the self-defeating potentials, the potentials affected by war, and poverty and among others are the things I fight for. I believe in the collective effort. And it’s my belief that when we value ourselves and help reveal and support the potentials of others the world will truly be a better place.

I hope to be reminded of all the beauty of this world. At least for me, I haven’t come across a person besides yourself that romanticizes so much about life itself. Then again, I only know a handful of people. We think too deeply and sometimes are trapped in own minds. But it is through this introspective approach that we gain our strength in seeing with clarity and wisdom through all the noise and chaos. We need time, space, and silence to ponder and explore. I guess it’s a silent code we all share. I think we’re all trying to forge our own values into reality itself. It may take some time, others who pursue this path might fail, others might succeed, but it’s the pursuit that keeps us all sane. We want to live in the moment, or at least try to. Our life’s works trumps everything else. We hope for better days and leave every rock unturned. We feel we are called for a higher mission. We like to think Big ideas and/or would like to grasp the broad picture of things. We try to use our skills and creativity to sympathize and empathize with others. We believe in the potential of human potential. Ambiguity excites us and normality bore us. We appreciate beauty and try to see beauty in all things as well as try to bathe in its glory.        

In ending, I hope you could nurture and exercise the strength to always be reminded that “the better part of You” is always inside of you. If there is one thing that you’re entitled to then it should encompass all that make you wake up each day energized, to start the day and end the day with a smile, to romanticize about yourself and about life, to be able to express yourself and connect with others, to love and to be loved, to be creative, to be open to new ideas and experiences, and to have actions and thoughts align with your values and beliefs

There’s no time to waste! So get out there and be “the better part of You!!”

-Vinh:)