I haven’t told this to anyone before but I have a life’s theme song and recently I realized that it has changed, now it's 'everyday' by Jeremy Zucker. The previous one still represents some of my views and opinions but it does not really speak to me on some level anymore.

Isn't it awesome to have your own life theme song when you have a theme song for your love life?

My previous life’s theme song was Land Called Far Away by Colbie Caillat from her album Gypsy Heart and sometimes along the way it changed.

If you know Land Called Far Away then you know that it is about being free of commitment and not being ready to be involved in any romantic relationship (dude, I’m still not haha) unlike other girls my age.

I'm not hating, it's just my preference. I want to be independent and free so let me be.

For me, it’s not about hating other girls who pursue any kind of relationship. It’s actually me knowing I have more things in my mind, more goals to achieve, and more decisions to make. It's that simple.

I was in college when I labeled it as my life’s theme song. I have so much on my plate at that time and it was like an affirmation saying I’m normal and doing the right thing. Society tells me otherwise and hearing the song gives me an ally. And also, I’ve never been the princess type so there’s that as well.

Recently I realized that a new song now represents my life’s standpoint more accurate than Land Called Far Away and it’s everyday by Jeremy Zucker from his stripped EP.

As I age, I gather that life can be a bitch and by being so I eventually became less hopeful and idealistic. I felt defeated in general. I’ve reached a  certain point in life where people think I should be proud of but I ended up feeding the hole inside me.

I was living, I earn money to pay bills, to buy what I want, but I was still a hot mess.

And then everyday gave me hope.

It answers my unspoken questions and gave me questions about my unspoken answers.

‘If love is the answer, what is the question?’ that line is one of the most highlighted lines from the song. And I agree, what’s the question? I’ve seen memes saying if you don’t know the answer to a question, just put love because love can never go wrong. But what’s the question?

The song lulls me and somehow affirms where I am right now. It gives me hope and tells me that everything is fine.

It opens my eyes; that despite being flawed there are things that I deserve and I am worthy.

You'll see better days. Life’s a choice we make.

The song is a reminder that this slump is temporary no matter how permanent it feels like. It gives me hope that eventually, I can alter this life that I have right now. It's a reminder that I can do more if I wanted to because I always have a say in my life.

It tells me that I am not lost. That despite my struggles in finding my way and failing at finding where I am supposed to be- the truth is I’m not really lost.

It tells me not to fell dejected when the things in front of me are not the things that I am hoping for. I just need to carry on, keep my head up, and continue moving because I will definitely be where I am supposed to be.

I’ll see brighter days.

Today I'm sharing my minimalist wardrobe since I’ve written in my previous blog post that I will be taking the minimalist challenge entitled Project 333 this year and here it is.

Being a minimalist here in the Philippines is hard, a lot of people can't grasp the idea of this lifestyle and often times ask why I do it. To be honest, sometimes it gets tiring to answer such a question so I just shrug them off and just let them watch me.

What's funny is that they are the ones who are suffering whenever they see me do Minimalism Challenges as if they are the ones taking part in it, like ger away from my minimalist wardrobe.

This year, I decided to take on the Project 333 since purging clothes was not enough for me. But I realized that I'm still not contented with my minimalist wardrobe, I had so many clothes and I started purging using Konmari Method last year and it's not enough. The method really helps me and then I ended up wanting more of the feeling. More of less.

My goal last year is to lessen my belongings and have an empty corner, my goal this year is to let go of anything that I no longer use- minimalist wardrobe purge everyone! Last year while using Konmari Method I was able to identify the things that spark joy and then I realized that some of the things that spark joy wasn’t even that useful, yes they give me joy but I rarely use them.

So this year I intentionally become more strict with my minimalist wardrobe and about other things that I have. I decided to only leave the things that I really use and at the same time spark joy to me.

To start the challenge we have to set the rules.

RULES:
All clothing, accessories, jewelry, outerwear, and shoes count towards your number. Exceptions include wedding rings, underwear, sleepwear, in-home loungewear, and workout clothing. 

HOW I STARTED

I was confident when I saw that accessories, pieces of jewelry, and shoes were counted in the 33 items since I don't usually use accessory and I only have one footwear per occasion (casual/exercise, office wear, and event/gathering) so it will not be that hard for me.

Since I am a sentimental human being so I decided to use the invisible box method while doing this. When I was done purging the stack of clothing that I have, I gather those pile that I cannot part with but don't use that often and I sealed them inside a cardboard box. Choosing only 33 pieces of clothing for my minimalist wardrobe is super hard for me because I really am a fashionista wannabe. I enjoy dressing up even though I always end up with my comfy clothes. I even had to let go, or at least put them inside the box, some of my beloved clothing pieces that I am really fond of because I don’t think I’ll be able to use them that frequent, hence the decision to forego them.

THE PROCESS

Actually the mid-way process was easier than starting this whole challenge. I think it’s the fact that my chosen pieces were my comfy and go-to outfits so I am most comfortable with them. Most of my 33 pieces of clothing for my minimalist wardrobe are in the monochrome spectrum and I have 3 hoodies that I really enjoy, and the slacks were super helpful too.

When I started this challenge I was just about to return to work after 2 weeks of me being sick which required me to wear long sleeves tops for the following weeks, it was hard but I survived it.

RESULT

To be honest I only have pros as end results for this.

It actually made getting really a lot easier for me. Looking back, I always spend more than half an hour to choose what to wear every single time but now I can say that having limited pieces of clothing is not a limit at all. Second, the amount of my laundry decreased and I am not complaining although I have to do my laundry every week since I will definitely run out of clothes to wear if I let them stay in the bin that long.

TIPS

1. In choosing the 33 pieces of your minimalist wardrobe make sure that it is something you are comfortable and that you really use them frequently.

2. Make sure that you have at least one kind of item that can be used on different occasions.

3. Plain pieces will always be a safe choice and it’s great for mixing your clothes.

4. Add simple accessories that will hype you up.

In conclusion, I think this is something you need to try to further your learnings and experiences.

PROJECT 333

INVISIBLE BOX

CLEAR CACHE

DETOX

Dear friends, if I become toxic please cut me off.

A lot of us have seen people cutting off their toxic relationships for their own sake. Choosing and prioritizing yourself first is one of the biggest signs of moving forward.

In this post, I would like to tell and ask my friends to cut me off if they think I no longer make them better.

We are aging and part of aging means growing up. We have to grow up and sometimes it also means leaving the people around us so we can grow separately.

When I say cut me off, I mean it. Do it, I won’t mind.

If I no longer make you feel better, if I no longer inspires you, if I no longer make you do the things you love, then by all means walk away from me.

Remember that I can only be an effective comfort zone for a certain period of time, and if I no longer have the power to make you have that push or reach that goal then what’s the reason of me staying?

If walking away means growth and giving you a better chance in life then I am running away, fast.

If I am a true friend, which I want to think I am, then it only means that I want the best for you, and being a hindrance to your growth is something I cannot let myself happen. I want the best for you.

We often hear them say the line 'tell me who your friends are and I’ll tell you who you are'.

And if someone asks me who my friends are, I want to give them your name.

I want them to know that my friends are strong enough to know what they want and deserve. I want them to know that my friends won’t settle for less. And I want you to be just like that and more.

Letting go is not easy but if you ask why it seems so easy for me to let go of my friends, I'll share with you my realization.

I realized that the cancel/cutting of relationship culture is not enough. Sometimes realizing that you no longer contribute to one’s success speaks more volume than cutting toxic people off.

I think cutting off people is a sign of moving forward but realizing that you have to run away because of you are no longer bettering someone is a sign of maturity.

It doesn’t matter who cuts your friendship first, what matters is that at the end of the day you will both grow. Unfortunately, separately, but there's growth regardless of the circumstances.

Remember that the only path I want you to see you go is towards success, and I believe that’s where we both want to end up so don’t worry, we’ll meet again.

Running away doesn’t mean we can no longer be friends, it only means that we are letting ourselves grow the way we have to with the people who can better us.

Just always remember that even though I’m not there for you, I’ll always support you and I will always root for you. It doesn’t matter how just know that I am rooting for you.

Just because of the reason that we no longer better each other doesn't mean that we have to invalidate our previous growth and it doesn’t mean we have to separate in a negative manner.

Pretend that we are in the 1980s. At a certain period of time, we'll separate and we won’t be able to communicate that much but upon meeting, we’ll click just like the old time.

I’m running away if it means growth not just for me but for you as well, I hope you are running towards success too.

See you at the finish line…or maybe at the 2^nd or 3^rd lapse? It doesn't matter, we’ll see each other again.

Let me be a better person so I can be a better friend for you. Let's all be a better person.