Love Equals (Promo)

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Watch the Love Equals Promo video!

LIFE without a doubt IS HARD. It’s hard when you’re trying to figure out what your next steps are (let alone who YOU are). It’s even harder when every week (every day) there’s another tragedy happening in our world and especially in our own neighborhoods. I don’t know about you, but the constant headlines and constant hashtags and constant breaking news is TIRING. And it makes me lose my breath if I think about it too much – but at least I have clean air to breathe. It makes me want to keep scrolling down the newsfeed – but at least I have my electronics and electricity. It makes me want to write my troubles away – but at least I am able to write and form ideas with confidence. Not everyone has these privileges.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what I can do and what I actually do (I’ve also been thinking a lot about what OTHERS with power can do versus what they actually do…) and I’ve had this itch to do more. Over the last year, I’ve grown as an independent young adult in many ways and I know I’m capable to support others’ growth and regrowth.

As a result, I’ve teamed up with super thoughtful mindfulness master Serena Wong to do more! Starting next week, we will be kicking off our donation initiative #LoveEquals, where we will give to and raise awareness of various causes that are dear to us. #LoveEquals is our way of showing love and sharing the love with our communities. This life IS hard, no doubt – but there ARE lil things we can do to make it a lil bit better. ^_^

Watch out over the next couple of days and weeks ahead as we share more information! And please – join in, ask questions, and spread the love. 🧡

This Summer (2017)

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This summer, I realized that I write about summer a lot. I realized, while planning a summer program for youth, that I really cherish summer. Summer has been my favorite season for my whole life, primarily because my birthday is in the summertime. But this summer, I realized that I hold summers very close because so much can change in a summer and so much can happen in a summer… and then towards the end of the summer, I turn a year older. ☺️ Hold on to those personally transformative times, peeps. It’s our time. ✨ Anyway, I’m 23 now. 

On Fresh Starts

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It’s the end of January and I’m realizing that fresh starts can happen whenever you goddamn please. Back in December, I spent a lot of time just waiting for January 1st to roll around so I could get started on my resolutions. Once it did… I felt like January 1st showed up on my doorstep and I started a pleasant conversation with it, but then soon, January 1st just shoved itself into my life and into my home without letting me know what it was doing. January 1st—and the rest of the month—had a mind of its own.

No matter how much time and energy I put into the last weeks of 2016 to make sure my 2017 would go “according to plan,” 2017 decided it was gonna throw all that to the wind. I guess I should have known, predicted the unpredictability of life. It’s kinda funny—I feel like we all kinda know that life is unexpected and you can’t plan everything to the minute. And yet, we still try anyways.

We want to control the things we can’t control. We plan out our resolutions in hopes that in 365 days, we’ll be a better person. A more put-together person.

In the first weeks of 2017, I realized that that is one source of stress and insecurity for me. I’m just trying to keep it together but the more I try to do that, the more I realize that I’m just pretending. Sometimes, you just need to face the fact that you can’t control everything and you are not the most put-together person on the planet. And maybe, you’ll realize you’re a better person just for just facing that fact. I know I am. I feel relieved.

I also think we all know that resolutions are only as meaningful as you make them. They’ll only make you a better person if you actually stick to them. We all know this. But we rarely ever change, thinking the resolution will just happen—or be forgotten.

I wanted to write more this year (among other things). I found that I couldn’t bring myself to write even briefly… It was a little heartbreaking to even think that I couldn’t do this thing that I love, and the only thing holding me back was myself. It wasn’t a big deal at first, but I soon found myself really unhappy and I think it was because I wasn’t pushing myself to write.

Like the saying goes, “it has to get worse before it gets better.” So, things have gotten worse in a lot of different ways: politically, nationally, personally, emotionally. But sometimes that’s just the wake-up call we need. Whatever “fresh start” you want, go get it. Do what you have to do.

As for me, I’m writing and I’m reading. And I hope I continue to do so for the next 11 months.

14 days into 2017…

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As I write this, it is midway through January. I, like many others, have been back to work for two weeks after the holidays concluded. It’s been two weekends and 14 days into 2017. I have already felt a range of emotions, been bombarded with a few unexpected incidents… and recovered (or, in the process of recovering). I have seen a few friends, texted a few others, and hung out with my parents. In a nutshell, that’s how 2017 is going so far. Normal, I suppose.

I’m not sure I’m doing a ~fantastic~ job on my resolutions, but I am more than halfway through a book (!), well on my way to contributing to a theatre production (!), and attending TWO art-type events this weekend (!).

I did something a little different this year: I tried to “map” my year through a future log (i.e. bullet journal). I thought about all the goals and tasks I wanted to do every month and I wrote it down. I want to be on some-type-of track this year. I don’t want to be bogged down, however. I just want a little direction.

Think about it: How is your 2017 going? Is it going the way you thought it would, two weeks ago? What do you hope to accomplish by the end of these 365 days?

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Twitter: @marissamaym

Instagram: @marmaym, @sadwalletshappytummies, @paperstonehearts

2016 Reflection

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Everybody lived their year this year and as always I have reflected a lot on the past 12 months. In fact, I’ve been reflecting since Thanksgiving. I’ve spent the last six weeks thinking about 2016 and gearing up for 2017. Pondering the lessons I’ve had this year and wondering what lessons the new year will bring. I think I am setting high expectations for myself to be organized and successful next year.. but when you really think about it, it’s just another loop around the sun like any other loop.

Anyway, 2016 was a year of endings (college, childhood, living at home) and beginnings (adulting, moving into my own place, first job outta school). It was a year of lessons. Learning about how to adult, learning about myself… I hope that I can take what I’ve learned so far and apply it to the next chapter.

I don’t want to dwell too much on 2016, mostly because I feel like I summed it up in the previous paragraph. I really feel like maybe this year wasn’t that spectacular aside from graduating. Graduating opened up the floodgates to so many new opportunities and they are gradually flowing into my life now. So I’ll focus on 2017 now and how to make it one of my best years yet.

For more life tidbits, please follow me on Twitter @marissamaym or check out one of my Instagrams @marmaym (personal), @sadwalletshappytummies (food), and @paperstonehearts (writing, journaling).