Personal Growth

Personal April 13, 2009

The passage of time is funny.
Every year of college I took a variety of photos of my living situation and I was just looking through each year and reminiscing, thinking of what I was like then and what I'm like now, trying to figure out how I got from A to B and wondering what I'll be like in another four years.

In the last seven months or so, here are some things that have changed about me:

1. I'm even more into design.
As if that were possible, so I thought last year at this time. But yes, after all the great experiences, I feel I've gained enormous perspective on the field and how I play a part. It's been eye-opening. My style has grown to be very idealistic, very objective and very simplistic. I've also gotten into more intricate visual details. If I was annoyed by bad design last year, I'm even more bothered by it now.

2. I like more food varieties.
San Francisco is a fantastic place to expand your palette. In my time here, I've grown to enjoy many more ethnic foods and have gotten to try things I probably wouldn't have if I stayed back east.

3. I enjoy beer.
I don't know how that happened, but I managed to go through all of college without ever being "into" it. And here I am preferring to grab a Blue Moon from the fridge instead of pouring a glass of wine. I'll admit that for a long time, I'd been a solid red wine-drinker, but perhaps I've overdone it.

4. I like a lot more kinds of music.
That's mostly thanks to to my website, but also having an open mind and a roommate who likes my music and has introduced me to more. I've grown to like house music and even rap music, among other genres. Over the last two years particularly, music has become an emotional necessity and I develop strong ties between certain songs and the time in my life when I acquired them.

5. I'm idealistic and pessimistic about the job world.
This is a great place for life contemplation. The bay area is beautiful: you can go from congested traffic in the downtown financial district to windy, grassy cliffs along the Pacific in less than 20 minutes. I've done the corporate 9 to 5 thing at two big tech companies and have a list of pros and cons. Needless to say, the cons seem to outweigh the pros, at least at this point in my life. I'm clearly not meant to follow convention and that's alright with me. It just means I'm on a different and more challenging path. I have too many interests and passions to give myself away for 40 hours a week to a job that is - more often than not - not 100% satisfying. Although if I find one that is, I'm open to the idea.

6. I'll talk to anyone.
And to think when I was younger I was always afraid to talk to people. San Francisco is a great place to start conversations on the street, because the people will converse right back. Out at a bar at night - assuming the music is not ridiculously loud - I've got no qualms starting a conversation with a group of strangers. Or at a cafe, talking to people in line behind me. Now whenever I go elsewhere, I have to think twice before speaking - the open attitude among strangers is definitely not universal.

7. I'm relaxed about more things.
Not the important stuff, of course, but I'm certainly a lot more apathetic about silly stuff. I feel I've grown an appreciation for what's important to me and what isn't in the long run and it just seems unncessary to make a big deal about the trivial stuff. Most of the people I've met have been exceedingly relaxed compared to the east coast personality and though it's been - and still is - an interesting adjustment, it has brought much needed perspective.

8. I'm not sure what I really want to do.
For the first time, I think, ever, I really don't know. Design, for me, is such a broad term that is illustrated in so many different fields and projects. It seems narrow-minded to focus my passion in one particular industry when there are so many other options. But this is the time to figure this out. The last thing I want is to end up ten years down the road and still not really be content with my professional life.

We shall see where the next year takes me.

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