Birthday Q&A - 2019
Hello! It's the time of the year where I do a Q&A in lieu of my birthday!
1. What aspect of your life are you excited about reaching 28 on the 28th?
There are a few things! I will be talking about them on Monday's post about my thoughts on turning 28. Long story short, I'm mostly excited to be entering an age where my confidence about who I am and my comfort levels/ boundaries are more respected. Rather than being told "Oh you don't know, you might feel differently next year. You're still in your 20s anyway." Or being told to push myself because my 20s are to make mistakes. Other than finding out about my mental health, I've never had a major identity crisis. The mental health thing more like tripping over the lump in the carpet because you had swept away so much and hidden them under there. I've never been unsure of what I like or what I want either and for some reason, the older I get, the more it seems to be accepted rather than dismissed. So yes, it's mostly a "coming into my identity" thing.
Oh and also because I like cliches and cheesy random things - I'm never going to turn 28 on the 28th again!
2. Associate the word tenacity with a colour and explain why.
I would go with magenta. I think it's a very passionate colour, but it's not exactly something that you would turn away from because it's too "intense". It's a very strong and striking colour (by strong I mean in contrast to pastels and colours like blush - you get the idea) so if you had an object in that colour in a space, it's usually quite noticeable. Even if it's small. And that's what I see my tenacious women as. I choose to share the stories of everyday women, especially women of colour as they are often overlooked. Or they are often seen as the colour of their skin and nothing more when in fact they have so much to offer. Everyday women's tenacity is like that little magenta cushion you would place for a pop of colour in a white/beige room. It's there, you can't overlook it, and its contrast is what makes it and the place around it so special.
3. How is your 2020 looking?
To be completely honest, I'm feeling more at peace about the dawn of 2020 than I was about 2019. I still think it's nice - the whole "new year, new beginnings" thing. But while I was almost desperately excited for 2019, it's a calmer and more measured excitement for 2020. I think I see more clearly now that there's pretty much nothing a new year can bring you. You can bring a lot of things to a new year, make changes or plans in lieu of the new year. But the year on its own doesn't offer more than the promise to start over. I'm really trying to make sure it doesn't come across as pessimistic here. I do have a few goals and intentions that I hope to achieve in the new year. But I also understand that it's not the year that's going to bring me these things, it's me. And if I don't and the reasons for that are justified, that's okay too. I just have my expectations managed more. Like how once upon a time I would say every year "THIS is the year I drop a size!" And when it doesn't happen, I get all upset and say "Damn it! 20xx was supposed to be MY YEAR." While ignoring the muscles I have built or the healthier eating patterns I have developed. So, while I'm not crazy excited for 2020, it's more of a pleasant excitement. Maybe it's part of the whole getting older thing? I did a lot of mental health work this year and I'm eager to see how it all pans out in the new year. It's also a leap year and leap days are like the bonus you earned so that's nice too! I was working my old job during the last leap year and I took leap day off to have brunch with my friend simply because it's leap day. I would probably do something nice this leap day too!
4. How did you survive your researcher job (something so science-y) since you're a writer (something creative) at heart?
I had fun at my research job! I would say it definitely requires some creativity of its own - in seeing patterns or trends in your data, understanding the data, writing papers, communicating your study objectives ethically while still convincing someone what their participation could mean for the study. I stuck around because I thought the writing papers part was fulfilling my own interest in writing. I also stayed because projects that required me to do qualitative research (interviewing people) kept coming up. I loved interacting with so many different people and listening to their stories so that kept me going. It didn't take long to figure out that the creativity my research job required from me was not the creativity I was interested in using and that the writing I did was not the writing I desired. I do miss collecting data and doing data analyses on some days actually!
5. What is your favourite movie from 2019 so far?
I automatically thought of Endgame because it was the conclusion to the cumulative impact MCU has had on me for about 10 years. But when I consider the amount I cried and some of the "waaaait a minute" I had in retrospect about some aspects of the movie, I'm not sure it's my "favourite". I think it just had the most impact. I'm struggling to pick a favourite, unfortunately.
6. And as a follow up, what is your favourite movie of all time?
This is like asking what's my favourite cuisine and I LOVE food. I love many different movies for many different reasons so it's hard for me to pick one. I watched Breakfast at Tiffany's for the first time ever earlier this year and I love the vibes of it. Jumanji is laugh out loud hilarious. I watch the first Iron Man if I want some oompf in my life. Jurassic Park for the classic nostalgia, dinosaurs and a good scare. Confessions of a Shopaholic for chick flick days. Mulan if I needed strength. Kung Fu Panda/ Madagascar for some easy fun. The Intern is wholesome. These are some movies that came off the top of my head, movies I have watched more than three times and hold dear to my heart.
7. What was the hardest thing for you when becoming a vegetarian?
It really wasn't hard at all! I stopped eating seafood really young and meat at around 11 years old because I didn't like the smell, taste, or texture. I thought I might as well take the "complete" step in becoming a vegetarian and stop eating chicken too. So it wasn't an active effort or a choice to give up these things for me. It was completely natural and if it's not pushing it, a natural repulsion. I don't eat them like how I don't like/eat cooked carrots. I don't even remember the taste of those things, maybe only the texture of lamb.
By the way, I'm not sure how many of you know this but I eat some chicken too. About once or twice a month max - any more than that is too much chicken for me and I might skip it the next month. It's a very odd craving I've had since around 18 or 19 and I can't explain it. I read somewhere that something in chicken makes you happy so maybe it's that?
8. Other than cash, ID, and your cellphone, what do you absolutely need when you head out?
Earpieces! Absolutely non-negotiable!
9. You have invisibility power for 24 hours. What do you do?
I want to say things like rob a bank to give the money to the less fortunate. The truth is I'm a complete wuss so I don't know, I might just do something safe like go to the world's most expensive museums for free or mess around with people by knocking over water glasses and tapping them on their shoulders.
10. What is the best advice you have received?
The best advice I have ever received has made me the person I am today. It wasn't really a piece of advice though, it was more of an encouragement. When I was younger, I was a voracious reader and frequented the local library. During school holidays, the borrowing limit increases to 8 books from the usual 4. On one such trip to the library during a school holiday, I had 10 books at hand and couldn't bring myself to give up 2. So, my mum gave up 2 of hers. I felt really guilty about eating into my mum's library allowance because I was borrowing books about dinosaurs/ volcanoes/ Ancient Egyptians and Romans for what was probably the 100th time. My mum reassured me that it's fine and told me that sometimes, even if you read the same thing again and again and again in different books, you will find at least one piece of information that's new in one book. That is what continues to fuel my curiosity and kind of also why I ended up as a researcher. I think as we get older, we tend to take things and people for granted because we think we know everything there's to know about it/them already. But if we paid close attention, there's always something new. The something new that gives us a new perspective to it or a new reason to love them.
Anddd that's it! I had fun with this round of Q&A and if you're still here, thanks for sticking around! I'll see you guys for my next Q&A!
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