Happy Sweet Sixteen to the third millennium! 
It's weird the way the time vanishes... I swear I still feel/behave like it's 2007. 
Though not typically one for New Years Resolutions (I find continuous self-evaluation and improvement to be a more noble and benchmarkable cause), it is an indisputable fact that goal setting is paramount to one's personal growth and success. So why not let the start of the new year coincide with some of your short and long term objectives? No harm there. I just wouldn't go calling them "New Year's Resolutions," because as that Jan 1st square on the calendar shrinks further and further into the background, so might your motivation and incentive (At least from my own personal experience).
That being said, I thought I would use my first blog post of 2016 to showcase a few of my own goals for this year, as well as some books that I'm currently reading, products I'm enjoying, and songs I'm bumping like errryday; Enjoy.


My Goals for the Year:

1) Blog more (at least once a week)
2) Swear less (word to Ma)
3) Finish writing my novel
4) Master the practice of Meditation
5) Photograph for at least 5 minutes every day
6) Exercise 3-4 times a week
7) Send a hand-written letter to a friend each month
8) Get promoted at work
9) Journal Daily

* When setting goals, it's important to try and use specific numerical values and time frames-- This will hold you accountable to a certain standard which will remain clear even if you become less motivated. I've also tried to include at least one goal in each category of wellness: Intellectual, Social, Spiritual, Physical, Emotional, and Occupational. Balancing your objectives this way will lead to an overall improved sense of well-being, even if you don't achieve every single one. 


Books I'm Currently Reading:

1) The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche - This book is crazy deep, insightful, and is sure to expand your mind in some way. It explores themes of impermanence, karma and rebirth, the nature of mind, meditation, the practice of compassion, how to care for and show love to the dying, and much more. Although written from a Buddhist perspective, the book is not matter-of-fact or condescending toward people of other faiths in the slightest, and in fact most of the themes within can be applied to any religion or spiritual disposition. 

2) The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho - On the surface, The Alchemist is an easy-read fiction novel about an Andalusian shepherd, but truly it is much more than that. Written as an allegory for achieving one's true destiny/personal dream, the story is more of a self help piece than light literature. So far I've been very inspired and cannot wait to finish reading. 


Products I'm Currently Using:

1) LUSH Breath of Fresh Air Toner - Contains seawater, seaweed extract, rose absolute and aloe vera to soothe and balance dry or damaged skin.

2) MIZON Snail Recovery Gel Cream - It might sound nasty to put snail secretion on your face, but there's definitely something to it. Korean skincare is years ahead of us-- after using this for just a few days in collaboration with my LUSH toner, my complexion cleared up and I saw reduced redness and oiliness in my skin, as well as shrunken pores. It is not, however, a moisturizer. If you are prone to dry skin, you will need to apply lotion after this cream. 

3) Natural Anxiety Remedies (New Chapter Holy Basil Force, Life Seasons Anxie-T, Herb Pharm Kava Root Extract) - A big thing I struggled with in 2015 was anxiety/some accompanying depression (the two are very closely linked). It took me a while to pinpoint anxiety as the root of my issue, as it wasn't something I had ever had problems with before. I started taking these all-natural and non habit-forming supplements, and it's crazy the amount of improvement I've experienced in a few short months. Highly recommend if you wrestle with anxiety. Life is short; stress less :)

4) B12 Vitamins (any brand, I use Nature Made) - B12 is a vitamin which carries innumerable positive benefits-- including increased energy, stress reduction, protection against heart disease, cell reproduction for healthy skin and hair, and even alleged protection against cancer. These little miracle pills can be found at any drugstore or supermarket. Take on a consistent basis to feel results!


My Current Playlist:




That's all for now folks. Hopefully (per my above goals) Boho will be comin' atcha much more frequently this year, and I hope that you can extract some inspiration or utility from the ideas and items mentioned in this post. 
Try new things in 2016. 
Go harder; Dream bigger; Love more. 
If there is one sentiment that is consistently drilled into my head and heart each New Year, it's that we don't have time here to waste. 
Own this life. 
xx

glass

I've spent a lot of time thinking lately.

Presumably, more thoughts would produce more to write about...

And this is usually the case-- when my thoughts are the kind that allow me to kick back in a warm pool of pensive reflection and, after a bit, surface and towel-off with all of my inquisitions resolved.

But I have spent the last month drowning in the kinds of questions and cognitions that one might wail into the universe as death nips at their feet;

The questions that often do not find their corresponding answers.

This process is somewhat regular in my life.

I spend a few weeks being tossed around mentally by everything beautiful or unbearable in the world

until I cannot tell which way is up,

and then eventually I get my balance and find myself back at Go.

And while I may not have resolutions to all of my life questions,

the same few things can always be derived:

I will never again be as young as I am now.

One day I will have obligations... people who need me in specific places at specific times.

One day my soul will long to do things that my body simply cannot do.

One day I will die. I will not know which day.

But today I am free.

Today I am alive as ever.

Today, the entire world is at my feet and society is just a bad dream. 

Today I am drenched in sunlight. It swallows me. I am on fire.

Today is the day.

Don't wait to be happy;

don't wait to apologize;

and absolutely don't wait to love.

We cannot control when the last grain of sand will fall from our hourglass,

but we can make each grain so compelling that the world wavers to send us off. 

xx

reflections

It is apparent to me 
that in this world, most everything that we do and strive for centers around who 
or what we are going to be.
We spend our lives working toward this divine calling;
this destiny that we, or perhaps even someone else have laid out for us
telling us, this... THIS is you. This is what you are good at. This is what you were born for.
And we listen to them, to ourselves. 
We hurdle down these tracks on a one-way train
not realizing that the only limit to our opportunity is our mentality...
And those of us who do not yet know what we are going to be have been made to believe that we are the lost ones. 
But I don't feel lost.
I feel multi-talented.
I feel boundless.
Because, you see, everyone is anything. Anyone is everything.
Picasso was no more an artist than you are,
and Steve Jobs was no more an innovator.
I am an astronaut who has never been to space.
I am a scientist who's yet to make a discovery.
I am a mother with no children.
Only when we put ourselves in these labeled boxes
with the misconception that we "can't" and that we're "not,"
only then are we truly lost.
Passion is good; to be engulfed in flames that don't burn... Do what you are passionate about, always.
But don't do something simply because you think that that is the only thing you are capable of doing;
the only thing you're "good at."
You don't have to limit yourself like that.
Break those chains, baby.
Be a rock star.
Be a stunt-man.
Take every train you can. Maybe you'll catch one you'd like to stay on a while.

Never let them tell you who you are or where you're going.
You are you, 
and where you're going? 
Wherever you want. 
That's TBD on this here itinerary.

Much love.
xx

 

 

 

little boxes

Days like this one are especially precious to me.

Sometimes I like to leave the world

to slip into my own quiet oblivion where nothing is real but everything is magic,

and all life seems to be tied together with a fine gold thread.

There my eyes are susceptible only to beauty,

and everywhere I look I see fire and stars.

These extra-heady days call for nothing besides inquisitiveness and bewilderment.

Obligation is merely a noun,

and time is but a spectrum.

I sit and let my mind unpack little boxes of thoughts I've never had before,

or maybe revisit old theories that I embarked upon but never curtained.

It's great to remember that I am in the driver's seat in this crazy, 

messed up, 

marvelous, 

puzzling, 

sad, 

spectacular journey. 

And whether I'm at a trough or a crest, it's always beautiful.

Being alive is always beautiful.

Which is why I know right now that today is going to be the best day of my life,

until tomorrow, which will be even better.

And so on.... and so forth....

I invite you to take this day and make it yours.

Revel in your solitude, or let your world collide with another.

Each person has one.

Maybe you will learn something new,

or perhaps you will teach someone else.

It doesn't matter

this journey is all-inclusive.

Take full advantage.

xx