Writings and Travels of Lina Em
From the age of 16, I knew I wanted to be a designer, specifically graphic. I couldn’t imagine myself otherwise. So when things had gone downhill the past few months and interviews were few and far between, my conviction as a designer started to waver. Was I even good enough to be a designer? Or will I ever find a job that will make me happy?
Continue reading “On Leaving My Job”
For a normal 9-5 person, most of us spend 1-2 hours of daily commute. We race out the door in the morning to get to work on time. We race out of the office to get home to spend as much time as possible with our loved ones. But it never feels like enough time spent with your loved ones. So I am a big believer that dinner is an important aspect in a healthy relationship.
Continue reading “Dinner is Important to a Relationship”
It’s a firm belief of mine that the destination of my life is not marriage, family, and children. There is and will never be a destination for me because life is too wonderful to have an ending. I’ve always followed the belief that finding happiness by means of traveling, exploring the world, creating art, and writing pieces that bring joy to other people is the most important aspect of this life’s journey.
Continue reading “First, Comes The Ring”
One of the things I love most about my boyfriend is that he’s well traveled. I’m a traveler at heart, a dreamer by day, and a writer at night so I always knew the person I would end up with would enjoy traveling as much as I would. Traveling is not just about hopping on a plane and seeing some exotic location. It’s also about exploring your own backyard.
Continue reading “Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder”
It seems apropos that I read an article by Sasha Sagan on her father, Carl Sagan, the day before learning of the death of someone close to me and my boyfriend. I think, in part, we knew that her time was coming to an end. We both know time is not a fixed object, aging and death is part of a mysterious cycle that we’ve yet to explore. Is there an after-life? Is there reincarnation? Or do we disappear into energy, scattered back into the universe? With all the various ways we try to comfort ourselves by the passing of our loved ones, are we ever ready when the time comes? The real question is, must we be ready or do we play on with the age old rituals of births and deaths with tears, doubt, disbelief, laughter, and acceptance?
Continue reading “Are You Ever Ready?”
As part of my new year’s resolution, I had decided to learn to control my anger and in turn, started to look out for ways to approach it: through reading, finding a meditation class, and taking time out from work. I’ve recognized that my anger comes from a direct contact with stupidity, ignorance, laziness, and inappropriate behavior. But we all know that these behavior exist and cannot be avoided.
Continue reading “Lesson 1: Recognizing and Acknowledging Anger”
A job is a job is a job.
At the end of the day, you know you need it to pay the bills.
Growing up, my parents never talked about being happy or fulfilled at their job. They only worked to feed us, to have a roof over our head, to have a car to drive us around. When I got to high school, there started to be guest speakers who talked about being happy at a job.
Continue reading “What Is A Job But A Game?”
A quiz I helped designed for an old job. That was the fun old times.
I love quizzes. I can’t get enough of them. If I could, I would spend all day taking all sorts of quizzes. Once I start, I cannot stop. It’s such an addiction. Worst is when I find a quiz I like while at work, and find myself spending my entire lunch break taking quizzes. (Where was that sandwich I bought? Hmmm…)
Continue reading “Reasons Why I’m a Quiz Addict”
Debbie Millman: 10 Things I Wish I Knew Sooner Rather Than Later
Recently, I went to a talk about rejection—in particular, how rejection can shape your life, hosted by Designers + Geeks. The speaker was Debbie Millman, the president of AIGA. She spoke candidly about her experiences that led up to her role, with lots of fun and sad and poignant anecdote.
Continue reading “Busy is a Decision”
I had never doubted my feelings for him nor his towards me. But I would not go so far as to say our relationship is a dream with roses and happiness all the time. After all, a relationship is about growing and changing with someone and like many changes, it’s hard and often scary. But the highs are high and the lows are just average, never so drastic as to make me waver or question the relationship.
Continue reading ““Ring”-ing the New Year”