Tag: intention

Take Yourself on a Date

Take Yourself on a Date

by semitasspace ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

    While on this self love journey, I have discovered the fun of taking oneself on a date. I have seen this idea throughout the years but I would get anxious for going to order or talk to a stranger. I thought I could never go out by myself. I have always lived with others and it was easiest to run errands with others. I never had to move out of my comfort zone. I would make strides in other ways but I never took that step out of my comfort zone. 

    With places opening up more and with me feeling more comfortable with going places, I started doing this. I did not necessarily make the conscious decision of hey I’m going to run errands and go treat myself during it. It arose from having to run an errand on my day off. With my odd schedule I get every other Wednesday or Friday off depending on when I work weekends. It does not line up with my boyfriend’s schedule. Yet, the stuff needed to be done.

    The first time I had to run out and pick up miscellaneous groceries for dinner and my boyfriend had meetings all day. So I ran out by myself, to quell some of the anxiety I picked up a treat for myself. This would come up a few times, where I had to run out to pick up stuff and I would treat myself. It was not until more recently that I would actually decide, I’m taking myself out on a date.

    My first date was a couple of weeks ago. I went out to a comic book store, coffee shop, and picked up tacos for lunch. Originally this day was supposed to be when my boyfriend and I went to run fun errands. Yet, his dad had the day off and was able to help us out with our patio. So my boyfriend stayed back and they worked on the patio. Mind you, there was only so much work. If I had stayed, I would have been more of a hindrance than helpful. I decided to still go out. I made an adventure out of it. 

    I stopped at a local coffee shop first. I talked with the barista for a bit and found out our birthdays are one day apart which is really cool. From there I went to the comic shop and ordered a series for myself. I also found a cool new series for me to start reading. I went to a taco truck and had a great conversation with the cook. He and I had a conversation in Spanish, which does not seem like much. But when you rarely get to talk in Spanish and you finally find another Latino, it is exciting. I came home and was excited to talk to my boyfriend about it. 

    My most recent date, I took myself to a local book shop. I had seen the book shop in passing but never stopped. Between my nerves with COVID and not making time, I had never gone in. I had my day off on Wednesday and my boyfriend was in meetings all day. I actually took the time to plan out my date, I would go to the bookshop and check out a local barbecue place. I went out to the bookstore and had so much fun. I would text my boyfriend with updates because I was really excited and wanted to share that with him. I spent an hour just browsing before I picked up many books. I got a few classics, a nice edition of Lord of the Rings and Hobbit, and a Disney series. The shop worker was such a sweet lady and we talked about the classics. Following I went to pick up lunch and the lady who helped me at the restaurant was so sweet and helpful. The food was amazing, and local. 

    Taking myself out on these last few dates have helped me feel more confident and happy. I feel confident in my ability to speak up for myself and do the things I want to do. I am not running on someone else’s schedule, or concerned about what they want to do next. This is not anything against anyone, it is just different. It was nice. I got to discover more of my town and meet lovely people. I had fun and I will be continuing taking myself on dates when my schedule calls for it. I love taking a couple of hours out of my day off and doing fun things. 

It was not easy to start off with. But I do highly recommend taking yourself out on a date. Start off small, take yourself out for coffee. Or go to a bookstore for a bit. As you get more comfortable with that, add to it. Typically when I would go out with my boyfriend, we would have a day out of it. We would have dinner and a movie or go out to a shopping center. Or we would go hiking all day long. So why can’t I do that for myself? Take the time and learn to be with yourself. You have been with yourself for your whole life. Why not celebrate yourself?

Using Intention to Chase your Dreams

Using Intention to Chase your Dreams

by semitasspace ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Throughout one’s life, people around you are constantly telling you to follow your dreams. But they never have an idea as to how to follow your dreams. Some people pick a dream, like go to college and follow what preplanned steps their high school gave to them. There is no special formula or steps on what program to choose or what school is the best for you. The counselors or your parents may provide their opinions but they have lived life through a different lens than you. Once you’re out of school there is no guide book on how to find a job or how to move up at your work. And if you are someone who has creative dreams of becoming an artist or musician rather than a neurosurgeon, it gets harder to ‘follow your dreams.” 

Regardless of if you want to be a lawyer, surgeon, musician, work in a factory, design art, or write a blog,  to do the things you want to do you need to be intentional with what you do. Intentionality relates to this idea of purposefully choosing your next step that aligns with your overarching goal. If your goal is to be a doctor, you need to be intentional with how I can learn what I need. This may look like I need scores to get into a university for pre medicine or another degree. I can not tell you which degree to go in, but if it’s done intentionally and you take the MCAT, you can apply for medical school. So a way to be intentional with this is, you sit down in all your classes and learn the material. Being intentional does not mean you memorize and regurgitate the information. Many people can memorize for a period and regurgitate, but are they living the life they want? 

Alongside that, being intentional does not mean solely a career goal. I used that example to help make this abstract concept more concrete since countries like the United States like to focus on what you do for a career. But this same idea of intentionality goes toward any passion you have in life. If you like reading, making a reading nook and time to read is being intentional. Your time is the same amount of time as anyone else. Time goes at the same pace for someone who is just punching in and punching out and the same for someone who loves the life that they live. So if you want to start a hobby like skating or knitting, start that intentionally. That does not mean that you will love the grind and the effort that it constantly takes to get better at a hobby. But if you’re going into it with an intentional mind and openness  to the hobby, you will stick with it more. 

When I started my minimalism journey, I thought it would be the same as when I ‘decluttered’ previously. In the past, I would get rid of a few pieces but kept pieces for very specific scenarios that never came through. Then I would impulse buy even more stuff than what I got rid of, so it would bring back the need to declutter again. So when I did my first official declutter on this journey, I was intentional on what I kept. I kept what made me happy, was multifaceted, and it fit. As I continue this journey, I am still going through and getting rid of anything that does not fit those boxes for me. Anything I do bring into my home or closet, it has to be done intentionally. So does it fit a purpose, does it make me happy, and is it multifaceted. 

Starting this blog, it began from a place of intentionality. I started this blog out of a passion to share what I learn in life and in graduate school. But I will be honest with you, I stopped being intentional about it. I stopped scheduling my time for what I wanted, and what I really liked to do. I stopped posting or checking up on my website. The other day, I was coming home from a friend’s house and it hit me that if I want a blog, I can not just post once a blue moon. I need to make the time and effort for this. If not, this just becomes one of those projects that get started and never finished. Which would just leave me in a place of resent or regret. Like why did I never post more? Why did I give up? What could have happened if I continued? 

So, I ask you what are you going to start being intentional about today? What is going to be the passion that you will work on and get better at? It could be doing your school work or starting to knit or starting a blog. Either way, it is best to start today and make the plans to be intentional. If that means calendar blocking, then calendar block. If that means dedicating a space for this, do that. To be intentional is to do. Not to sit with yourself and think of what could go wrong, and why you can not do something. Thinking such as that will be your downfall. What will you do intentionally today for your future self. A fitness YouTuber HopeScope, said that what you do today will be reflected back within 3 months. She was being specific with fitness and eating habits but that still applies to anything in life. If you dedicate the time starting now, you will see rewards for it in the future. But if you do not start now, you will see either the same thing in 3 months or an unhappier version of yourself. Do yourself the favor, do the things that you want to do.