#5 My Favorite Weird Way to Eat Eggs
And nine other game-changers of my year (PART 1)
Good morning! It’s December. I KNOW, it’s crazy. Where the heck did the year go?
But here we are. ‘Tis the season for wrapping gifts, but before that, let me first wrap… up my year!
For this week and next week’s newsletter, I will be sharing ten things that dominated my life this year. By “dominate”, I mean things I couldn’t get enough of, things I couldn’t stop thinking about, things that made me sing Thank God I Found You, which altogether consequently means these are things I truly believe are worth your while.
I use the loose identifier “things” because this list really comprises random types of things. You’ll see. 😀
In no particular order, here’s part one of my top ten things this 2022!
1. I wish I’d discovered this YouTuber earlier in my 20s
Meet your bestie, self-help guru, and fave vlogger all rolled into one: Anna Akana.
Anna is an American (and part-Filipino!) actress, singer, musician, author, content creator, and quintessential multi-hyphenate (to witness her 1,000 other talents, see: her TikTok).
She gives life, self-improvement, and relationship advice in 4-5 minute YouTube videos. BUT mind you, these are not your regular YouTube vlogs. They are high-quality productions with professional acting and tightly-written storytelling. Every episode packs a hell of a punch. She will entertain, inspire, and inform you, but most importantly, she will serve you the truth you know you need to hear.
Here are two videos, one on self-improvement, and one on relationships:
[Renovating yourself] always takes longer than they say it’s going to. But it’s absolutely worth it. I mean, you’re going to be in [your head] forever, right? You’re gonna wake up every morning and go to sleep in this place. Why not make it reflect exactly what you want it to be?
You’re addicted to emotional chaos and your subconscious is trying to right the wrongs of your past by seeking out similar dynamics and rewriting history.
2. The app that let me read voraciously and (finally) organize my internet life
As if real life wasn’t already hard enough, it feels impossible to get a hold of your internet life!! I end up saving/parking content in 1,000 places, such as:
In a bookmark folder called “To Read”
Links in a google excel sheet titled “Ideas”
As perpetually-opened tabs in my phone’s Safari
Safari’s built-in reading list
YouTube Watch Later list
YouTube playlistS titled “________ to Learn Someday” (ex. Recipes to Learn Someday)
Viber notes
Bookmarked tweets
Bookmarked Medium stories
Saved Instagram posts
Screenshots
THEN… I found the ultimate content aggregator app.
“The save button for the internet.”
POCKET. *sparkle VFX*
In a nutshell, here’s how it works: You download the extension on your desktop. You download the app on your phone (iOS, Android). And so as long as that thing you want to save has a URL—an article, tweet, video—you can save it to your Pocket by (1) clicking the Pocket extension if it’s on your desktop or (2) clicking the share icon on your phone and saving it to Pocket. Once you “pocket” the link, it’s automatically downloaded for offline consumption!
Pocket is a game-changer. It is helping me read all the things I wanna read and save everything I love. I can enjoy articles in a strikingly minimalist and ad-free interface. I highlight whole paragraphs mercilessly (note: unlimited highlights are a premium feature). And I can easily organize all that content using tags.
3. Wow, it’s so easy to actually destress & relax at the end of the day now
I read the book. Then I discovered the podcast. And now I’ve subscribed to the New York Times—just so I can endlessly enjoy the Modern Love column. (Yes, that Amazon Prime series is based on this, too.)
For the uninitiated, Modern Love is the NYT’s longstanding column about love, relationships, and feelings. Each column is a personal essay with around 1,500 words. I haven’t tried watching the show, and I know television has its own sort of magic, but, for me, reading/listening to a Modern Love essay in its entirety is the most heartwarming, mind-calming, soul-soothing thing you’ll ever do in under ten minutes (or twenty, if it’s the podcast).
Now I listen to an episode or read an essay at the end of every day.
Modern Love stories will make you think, feel, laugh, hope, believe, and consider love in ways you’ve never thought.
Here are three recos!
On the hot topic of: Is love a feeling or a choice?
Most of us think about love as something that happens to us. We fall. We get crushed.
But what I like about this study is how it assumes that love is an action. It assumes that what matters to my partner matters to me because we have at least three things in common, because we have close relationships with our mothers, and because he let me look at him.
I wondered what would come of our interaction. If nothing else, I thought it would make a good story. But I see now that the story isn’t about us; it’s about what it means to bother to know someone, which is really a story about what it means to be known.
Read the essay here.
On new love and old age (personally, I think the Modern Love stories from older people are the most heart-rending. The undeniability of their perspective fills you up with so much hope, tenderness, and humility):
I was no longer so pretty, but I was not so neurotic either. I had survived loss and mistakes and ill-considered decisions; if this relationship failed, I’d survive that too. And unlike other men I’d been with, Sam was a grown-up, unafraid of intimacy, who joyfully explored what life had to offer. We followed our hearts and gambled, and for a few years we had a bit of heaven on earth.
Not only was I happy during my short years with Sam, I knew I was happy. I had one of the most precious blessings available to human beings — real love. I went for it and found it.
Read the essay here.
A timely story for the holidays:
Twenty years later, that annual collision of desire and disappointment is here again. But now I’m 42, with a solid marriage, three children and a house with a whopping mortgage — a middle-class cliché to some, but an embarrassment of riches to me.
And in getting to this place I’ve also become the keeper of a hard-earned Christmas lesson, a gift, really, that I hope to pass on to my children: Allow yourself to want things, no matter the risk of disappointment. Desire is never the mistake.
Read the essay here.
4. A stupidly simple and delicious way to enjoy eggs
At this time of my life, I’ve finally come to admit that, when it comes to feeding myself, I like to (and can only afford to) keep the effort—and the budget and the calories—to a minimum.
Which is to say… I LOVE EGGS.
Scrambled? Sunny-side-up? Boiled?
Basic.
But okay, fine, this one is actually a scrambled egg recipe, but with a twist: Tamagoyaki-inspired scrambled eggs.
Friends, I literally eat this once or even twice a week. It’s stupidly easy to make. 10 mins tops.
To spare you the google search/click, here’s the recipe:
Whisk three eggs.
Add 1/2 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp sugar, and 1 grated/minced clove of garlic (personally, this is optional).
Heat 1/2 tsp sesame oil on the pan. Add egg mixture.
Transfer to the plate once cooked. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Plate over rice (optional). Top with nori or dried seaweed (must-have, IMO) and sprinkle sesame seeds (optional).
5. Put this on your bucket list
As I mentioned in last week’s newsletter, I traveled alone for the first time this year. And.. it is a YES.
I mean, YES, try it. Travel alone. At least once in your life.
Trust me, this isn’t one of those things I’ve always wanted to do. But when I did consider it, I realized that it wasn’t so much the allure of freedom that suddenly triggered me, but the self-proof it would provide: If I can take care of myself and my valuables for fourteen days, then I can lean on myself. If I can find my own way in a totally foreign place, then I can find my way through anything. And if I can make my own choices, then I know I would’ve learned to trust myself more strongly.
Obviously, to have gotten back in one piece was a proud moment for me. But let me share another: Last year, content creator & artist Jamie Russo created an avatar of me in Vienna because I told him it was my dream to go there. He got my photo, changed the background, and put me inside St. Stephen’s Cathedral.
What a feeling it was to turn it into a reality!
Really, this was so much fun. I highly recommend the same exercise! It’s simple. Just ask yourself: “What ten things kinda defined my year?” Or “What ten things really struck me this year?”
Of course, no need to write a full-blown essay or share it anywhere (but also, why not?!). For the nth time, to quote Amy Krouse Rosenthal, it pays to “pay attention to what you pay attention to.” It feels gratifying to get clear on what you like and why. Besides, it hardly feels like a chore when you’re just consuming/enjoying again what interests you!
Anyway, see you back here next week for part two!
I think that you write so well and I have really enjoyed reading your insights.