another year around the sun
Hey friends
I know I have been MIA the past couple of weeks but I was busy living. Today is my birthday actually and I spent the last week or so on a mini vacation in Hawaii.
Hawaii
Up until 2022 or so I almost never took vacations from work. Both because I didn’t value my mental health enough and also working in the agency setting it was hard to get time off.
Nowadays I know how important it is to go out and live a life outside of work. Not only to rest and recharge but to experience new things.
Without gaining new life experiences you won’t have new material to pull from in your work. Everything from my YouTube videos to my personal design projects benefits from a reset.
This time around I went to Kaui with my girl to visit family. My partner’s sister lives in Hawaii so it was nice to have locals to show us around and make the trip fun.
I usually don’t have too much planned on vacations but this time around we did a bunch of cool stuff.
Atv tours out in the red dirt, tubing in the rivers and just exploring the different beaches.
It wouldn’t be a trip to Hawaii either without experiencing some great food. One thing I really love about Kaui is being able to get fresh fish from the markets and eat it straight out of the container.
Overall I had an amazing trip but there is a part of me that is always happy to be back home.
I think a first-world problem I have these days is that I genuinely enjoy my daily life so it feels not so urgent at times to schedule vacations. I know it’s a slippery slope to burnout but in general, I think I’m pretty happy and content these days.
I love the work I’m doing, my partner, my friends, and my overall community.
It makes vacations feel like a Win-Win.
I’m excited for them but I’m not sad either when they end because I get to go back to my routine that I enjoy.
It’s wild thinking about that stuff sometimes and in general feeling so secure because that was definitely not always the case.
Up until the last few years even I was always stressed about work, time, and money. The load has been lightened a bit these days though and I’m proud/grateful.
In general though if you have the means to take some time off I think anyone can benefit from it. It doesn’t have to be a lavish vacation either, just taking a step back from work and allowing your creativity to recharge.
26 years of age
I realized when I was writing this newsletter that the Sunday it goes out will be my birthday.
Getting older is weird and I can’t believe I’m already in the second half of my 20’s!
It feels like just yesterday I was celebrating being 21 with my homies up at Chico State in the college years.
It’s weird because on one end I feel like I’m nowhere close to my goals of where I wanna be, but at the same time, I feel pretty accomplished and proud.
I definitely did not think by 26 I would be living in a house with a fiancé and making a living solely off freelance design and content.
Maybe it isn’t the dream design studio job I always wanted but these days I don’t think I’d ask for it any other way.
In honor of another trip around the sun here are some updated photos I finally got taken recently too.
I think a handful of them turned out pretty good and it was nice finally not having a picture that was 6 years old on my LinkedIn lol
Shoutout to Jeremy for the photos!
Anyway, I hope you all are living well and I should be back on my bullshit after this nice 2 week break.
Much love and talk soon🧡
Stuff to Check Out
Fav Design of the week below
dope old steve nicks album cover design
Weekly Wrap Up
Designing cover art for my Spotify playlists
Thanks for reading!
I plan on keeping this newsletter free, but if you want to support, the best way is to buy me a coffee:)
Happy Birthday Jesse!
Happy birthday bro! Glad you got some R&R! 🙏🏿