Day 58: Alone isn't always a bad thing

I walk this road alone. 

Not because I have no one to walk it with, 

but because I choose to walk alone. 

Our society has this very blatant depiction of 'loneliness' in that it's a very negative thing. 

How many people our age would go watch a movie by themselves? And if you see people watching a movie at the theater by themselves, you might be thinking or saying, "aw that's sad". But is it? 

When "Inception" came out a couple of years ago, I watched it with friends. It was so fascinating to me that I watched it a second time with a couple of other friends. But there were things that bothered me even the second time around, so I went on to watch it for a third time, only this time I watched it by myself. Am I so 'cool' and antisociety, that I didn't give a damn about what people thought of me? Uh...yeah...of course. Nah, actually I thought about it numerous times before. I'm even admittedly, one of those people who thinks "aww that's sad" when I see people at a theater alone. But when I went in to watch Inception, I was DETERMINED. It wasn't that I cared what people thought and went alone anyway, it was more the fact that I wasn't thinking about it at all. I just wanted to see the damn movie because I KNEW the outcome of the ending was hidden in there somewhere and I was bothered that I didn't catch it the second time. 

When I watched it for the third time, I enjoyed it ten fold. I walked out of the theater, walking with my ipod on, listening to Hans Zimmer's mind altering soundtrack. I didn't even know where I was walking but I kept walking and thinking about the movie. I enjoyed thinking to myself. It was like, I was having this philosophical convo with myself and it felt refreshing. 

After that, I definitely knew that I wouldn't mind going to social places alone if I really wanted to. 

The point is, I do like doing things alone sometimes. I don't know, it gives me a sense of self I guess. It makes me feel like I can bond with myself and not have to put myself out there for others. Don't get me wrong, I love my friends and of course, I do feel lonely when I'm always by myself, but having time to yourself is important and it shouldn't be about what people will think about you. If I could, I would go to Disneyland by myself--probably to eat food there and come back lol. I feel like, if something calls out to you and you desperately want to go but no one wants or can come with you, GO ANYWAY. DO it anyway. Maybe it's your soul calling out to you for attention. Maybe you have surrounded yourself with company too often and your soul is lost as the outcome. Whatever you want to make of it, there is nothing wrong with a little "me time". You'd be surprised how much you learn about yourself. 

Day 57: Nostalgia

In grade school we had this playground with an awesome tire swing that could fit 2 or 3 kids at once. And a bunch of us would go on there while the rest of the kids would push the tire swing around until it was spinning out of control. Usually it would end up in at least one person getting motion sickness and puking. I think I puked twice. I really hated that thing after a while.......but I kept going on it anyway.

Good times.............

Day 56: Beauty in the mundane | An origin story

I took this photo in 2008 with a Canon XTi that I borrowed from my school. This was the first time I ever had my hands on a DSLR. I shot this little plant at my mom's apartment and although not significantly awesome or anything, this photo is one of my favorites. It was the first time I felt like I truly appreciated photography. It was the first time I saw beauty in the mundane. I mean, if you saw this plant in person, it looks boring and not really worthy of a shot. I never even thought I would find use in this 'practice' photo, but the first time I pulled it up on my computer, I realized why photography is so highly appreciated. You really do find beauty in anything, through a different perspective. We can look at this plant close up and see a similar picture, but there is something more meaningful about capturing it in a photo. 

What really made this shot significant to me over time is when I found out that this plant had died. I thought about it and it's almost like seeing a photograph of a deceased person. That's the other beauty of photography. You can capture something and it's as if photographs bring a kind of immortality to living things. This plant may be dead, but when I'm looking at it here, I feel it's very much alive. And that's how I feel about people as well. There is something hauntingly 'real' about seeing a picture of someone or something, whether it's alive or not. Maybe the saying is true. Maybe photographs do capture the 'soul'. 

Things I Love: Makeup I rarely use.

Pictured: Skin 79 BB cream "The Oriental" | M.A.C fix + (seriously this stuff is MAGIC) | Givenchy "Play" perfume | 3W Clinic foundation compact | Rimmel "Scandaleyes" mascara | Stila waterproof liquid liner in black | M.A.C. "Heatherette collection" pink/nude lipstick

To be honest, I don't really like wearing makeup. It's kind of a hassle to put it on and take it off, and since my skin is sensitive, my face rejects makeup after a while. But for whatever reason, I keep buying makeup and have a slight obsession with it. You know when someone tries to explain something girly by saying, "It's a girl thing"? Well, yeah. Makeup would be one of those things. There really is no better way of explaining it.

55/365: Me likey Americano

Ever since I was a little kid, I always had this fascination with coffee. I would take a sip of my mom's coffee whenever I could because I thought it was delicious! I also loved the smell of coffee. But I never thought I would like my coffee 'black'. I liked the aspect of having cream in the coffee but I didn't really like the bitter taste of plain coffee. During college years and teenage years, I always had frapps and blended coffee drinks. Nowadays, I always get Americano with a little room for cream. It's cheap, it's less fattening, and I've grown to like the taste of black coffee!

Why is that? Why is it that as we get older, our taste buds change? I can't drink regular soda anymore because it became way too sweet. I rarely ever eat candy, and a lot of desserts are too sweet and I usually opt for the tart kinds. I guess it's kind of evolutionary in a way. As we get older, our bodies don't function the same way as it used to. Our metabolism slows down. Our body slowly breaks down. So I guess in a way, a change in taste buds is a way to enforce ourselves to eat healthier too. It kinda makes sense I guess. Most of the things I loved eating as a kid, I can't stand to eating anymore as an adult. But one thing has remained true, and that is that I will always love coffee in whatever form it comes in.