How do you write what people actually want to read?
I don’t write for others as much as I do for myself. It is a joy to get out emotions or flesh out the characters I’ve created in some interesting way. Or if the writing reflects life, it can be a glimpse into how my mind works, so just a fun comparison for curious onlookers. Others don’t have to read my writings for it to bring me joy.
How do you make time for self-care?
Trying to block work into boundaries so I have time to relax.
What’s one thing you wish you had started doing earlier in life?
Saving & investing money (for retirement, emergency funds, and long-term goals). Learning to cook and developing a gym routine would have been good to learn earlier, but I can’t make up for years without compounding interest.
What’s your best tip for budget travel?
Stay at a friend’s place if one lives in the area, or travel with a friend to split costs for accommodations. Youth hostels are also an option.
What is the best concert you have been to?
I went to an Ed Sheeran concert last weekend which was my first big concert in a long time, but I still think the Coldplay concert I went to a few years before COVID was the best. My new roommate at the time suggested we go as volunteers so we’d get in for free, and it was great promoting Oxfam while opening bands were playing. I learned about the humanitarian organization (and how to use an iPad) and when the concert started and we got food and great seats, the band mentioned how much it meant to them to promote several organizations before the show.
The actual show was a combination of childhood throwbacks, bouncing beach balls surfing across the crowd, and newer songs with high energy that Coldplay had gone to Punjabi to film for the videos which was my roommate’s hometown. There was a fun energy about the air that night.
What’s something you do completely differently from how you were raised?
Growing up we never purposely exercised and besides playing outdoors there wasn’t much thought about it. Now as an adult, I notice my family doesn’t have my same habit of frequent walks or exercising. I also don’t snack much compared to my family, and I remember when my mom came to visit once and pointed it out to me.
If the salary was the same, what job would you be doing right now and why?
I would probably be in a garden. I loved working groundskeeping back in college, though some of the physical labor may be hard at times. Perhaps part-time gardener, but with that freedom of time I’m not grinding at work perhaps I could get income making music or art, traveling and writing about it, writing adventure novels and learning esoteric languages, maybe a university job, or run a bed and breakfast.
What’s a book you never finished but still think about?
The second book in the Twilight series – it had a big following at the time and I was in my second year of college living in the international house. At some point while reading it I just gave up.
If you had to get a tattoo right now, what would it be and why?
I wouldn’t want a tattoo because that would mean I couldn’t go to all of the hot springs in Japan, which is something I really enjoy doing when I visit.
If you forced me, I would have no idea what to get, but it better be small and hidden.
How did you meet your significant other?
We met on eHarmony in January last year, and our first in person encounter was at Freya restaurant in Detroit. I could tell at first glance something felt different from all my other first dates, like knowing a moment would play a significant role in your life. Not what I was expecting, but I was expecting the unexpected so it doesn’t count 😏
