american born confused desi – Page 4 – ⋆ Second Gen Desi ⋆

Pree June 21, 2022 Las Vegas

Vegas, You’ve Grown on Me

Reading Time: 7 minutes

The first time I visited Las Vegas was back in the summer of 2005, right before the start of eighth grade. I was too concerned with how my adolescent body was transforming into something I detested. Tight pants and oily skin pushed me into a cranky mood the entire time I was with my family, but the trip itself was certainly memorable.

We stayed at the Luxor (the Egyptian pyramid casino) but walked around in the scorching heat while trying to seek solace in the neighboring air-conditioned casinos. At the time, I was thankful we didn’t live there, and I couldn’t imagine how people could live there! I also had a “scary” memory during which I used a treadmill at a hotel gym on the way back home to Northern California. I happened to trip and fall, scrape my knee, and my vision turned red for a good minute. I was lucky to be able to get back up to the room where my family was, but it certainly freaked everyone out. I had to wear long skirts for the first two weeks of 8^th grade…talk about making a “cool” first impression!

The next time I would return to Vegas would be 10 years later…when I ran the Rock n Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon with Team Challenge, an organization that raises funds for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. I stayed at the LINQ, but it was a short weekend trip since the focus was on the race. I did treat myself to a cannoli and hot chocolate from Buddy Valastro’s famous cake shop at the Venetian. I’ll always remember what foods I had…

My best friend moved out to Vegas around that time as well, and multiple trips followed. In 2017, I visited for a blogger’s conference (back when I was an eager food blogger!) and for NYE. In 2019, my sister and I flew out in the dead of summer, but it was a nice girls’ get-together, and a fun opportunity to explore Vegas non-Strip, which I prefer. It was around this time vegan restaurants began to pop up, along with Californians escaping rising state taxes and unaffordable housing.

My last trip to Vegas before Italy was a weekend trip to celebrate my bestie’s birthday. We made the mistake of going to Omnia Nightclub and having a mediocre time. Right before the dawn of COVID, we were being rammed to the wall unable to breathe for a hot minute, while Steve Aoki made his grand appearance to screaming crowds.

My best friend posing with the mural she made for work, at the Strat casino!

It was definitely an experience.

Because of COVID and Italy, the next time I wound up in Vegas was earlier this year in March. It was again, a nice weekend getaway to catch-up with my bestie and enjoy vegan restaurants and cute cafes off-Strip. The funny thing is, I’ll be back AGAIN for work in November! Just so happens the next big expo on our line-up will be held in Vegas…lucky me 😅.

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My most recent excursion to the desert’s gem however, was (last week) for a girl’s trip on Strip. It’s been interesting to see how the city has changed, and in a lot of aspects, for the better.

Below are my thoughts from my past experiences in Vegas and my current stay. Perhaps they can be points to ponder if you ever decide to make a trip to Vegas in the near future:

1) Vegas is becoming more vegetarian and vegan-friendly

Which is something I am absolutely happy to see occurring! I think it stems from the Californian exodus, since a lot of the vegan/vegetarian restaurants actually come from Cali!

For example, Crossroads Kitchen just opened at Resorts World Casino, the latter of which is also relatively new (2021). It’s an upscale, all-vegan restaurant only open for dinner (5-11pm), and serves (mostly) Italian and Mediterranean-inspired dishes.

My friends and I enjoyed an evening here and had a vegan take on everything from carbonara to lumpia (I know that’s Filipino, but still, haha).

Urth Caffe is another example, although it is not completely vegetarian or vegan. It’s another example of how popular Californian staples are making their way to Vegas, and I’m sure glad this SoCal favorite has.

2) Beware of “Vegas Throat”

So I had no idea this was a thing, but “Vegas Throat” is indeed a thing. For most mornings of my trip, I woke up with a very sore throat, mildly bloody nose (or indication of bleeding via dried mucus…), and overall irritation. This year has apparently been very dry in the desert, so come equipped with anything that might help—chapstick, water bottles, a humidifier even? Lol!

3) Bring a blanket

Because the air conditioning in casinos and hotels is CRAZY. I brought all the shorts and sleeveless tops, but one thing I wish I brought was at least a light sweater. We spent a lot of our day hours inside, and at some points I was actually shivering!

4) Invest in a show

I’ve only been to one Vegas show (not counting the free ones some casinos hold), which was with my friend during my Dec. 2019 trip, but I think if you’re going to spend time on the Strip and spend that $$, might as well have the chance to get dressed up and support local artists vs. gambling it all away…just my humble opinion.

There are so many shows to choose from—comedy, acrobatic, concert—and they’re not all “x-rated”, which is refreshing.

And if shows are not your thing, there is always the Waldor Astoria Tea Lounge…

5) “Cheap” has bumped up a level

Gone are the days of free breakfast buffets and generous discounts. Cheap on the Strip is at least $15 for a Starbucks coffee and pastry or sandwich/wrap. If you don’t eat meat, it saves a few bucks, but meals do add up. It’s a wise decision to pack some snacks bought at home, as well as OTC medicine like Tylenol or ibuprofen. Us girls all reached some level of sickness towards the end of our stay (one of us with full-blown COVID and another one with a simple cold, lol), and while our friend did come with some medication not thinking too much about whether or not we’d use it, we ended up going to a CVS on the Strip paying more than what we should for the essentials we were missing…

6) You can split your bill in the most unique ways, don’t feel bad about it

I love how you can show up to most restaurants in Vegas (heck, America for that matter) in a group, and have no issues with splitting the check in the way most convenient for the customer. One of our dinner bills was paid by two people in cash, and the rest by two credit cards of two other people! In the mix of all that, we were even able to split our items out specifically to who ordered what. They’d go feral in Italy if you try to attempt this method of payment! 😂

Some other things that come to my mind:

Cheap, central place to stay on the Strip – Treasure Island

Try new, dietary-friendly cuisines and enjoy brand new facilities – Resorts World

Best watermelon gelato – Pizzeria Pronto (inside the Venetian)

Get a scoop of the Watermelon Sorbet and thank me later!

Best time to exercise outdoors – 5-8am

Most vibrant casino – Cosmopolitan (so many awesome restaurants and cafes with a trendy vibe)

Most creative cocktail bar – The Chocolate Bar (my friends made at least three visits here during NYE 2017, lol)

Great place for high tea – Waldorf Astoria Tea Lounge (they make a fantastic veggie-friendly high tea selection…just look at these sweets!)

Classy, beautiful place to stroll around – Wynn (since my first trip in 2005, Wynn has been my most favorite casino. It’s so elegant and serene, even when there are crowds…)

These Zimmerman dresses are the cutest! Would never spend 1k on a dress BUT find me a copy made sustainably and I’d be down.

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Vegas has definitely grown on me, and I think I have my bestie to thank for that, with Vegas having been her home base for the past seven years.

Unfortunately, due to inflation and the exodus of Californians to southwestern/southern states with “cheaper living”, housing prices have gone up incredibly in recent years. Only time will tell how things will be, but Vegas is definitely no longer one of those places to stick your nose up at as a “trashy city”.

For those who’ll never have the chance to escape to Rome or Paris or Bellagio or Venice, Las Vegas is the perfect place to experience the vibes of the world in the most American way possible 😉.

Pree April 14, 2022 Texas

Opinions Are OK! (A Writer’s Opinion)

Reading Time: 4 minutes

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Today’s world is beyond bonkers. If you don’t agree with me, can I join you under that rock 😅?

I’m one of those people who believes social media since Facebook has done more harm than good, and I pine for the days of Yahoo Messenger and (maybe, a little bit of) Xanga.

We would have definitely been friends in middle school, circa 2004, if you had a Xanga—chatterbox and embedded music, anyone?

The platforms we recognize as social media today I’m sure had humble origins, meant for people to use to keep in touch with friends, schoolmates, family, etc., but the realm as we know it has ballooned into a monster of competition, jealousy, money, and desperation. TikTok (of the Western world) is literally a poor man’s lecture series—short videos of people intimately facing the camera, sharing more beliefs than facts, constantly trying to reel in naïve viewers with shock value. Of course, we still have righteous individuals bravely trying to take space and fix the wrongdoings of others (scientific communicators on the platform, for example), but boy, the crazy ones still outnumber us!

Social media has made it easier to ensure we all know that everyone has an opinion. The question is, are opinions inherently “bad”?

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If you keep Google’s response in mind, I don’t think so:

In fact, they can be enlightening about someone’s life experiences, and can allow us to understand why they have those perspectives.

Take for example, my opinion on social media. Why do I think it does more harm than good?

As a scientist, I’ve seen the rampant spread of false information regarding scientific topics. The safety and efficacy of vaccines is a prime example of a topic where misinformation has spread like wildfire. It’s been infuriating for me to see the effect this has had on our world during the pandemic.

As a creator, the puppeteering algorithims of Instagram have been anything but helpful towards me. Along with being a scientist, I am a writer, and when I was first carving out my space on Instagram, I was having a tough time growing. I didn’t fit a “visual” niche. Writing is an art form that requires patience of the creator and reading the material that comes out of writing, requests patience of the consumer. Instagram, and other social media platforms, laud eye-catching pictures and short videos with shock value. It celebrates itself as an “entertainment” platform, but excuse me…

When did reading something not become entertainment?

I would imagine that celebrities, businesses, and “successful influencers” (that word makes me want to laugh and vomit at the same time…as if the number of followers you have dictates true influence?) would have a different opinion from mine, most likely because their experiences with social media has benefited them.

Same could be said for people who have personal accounts to keep in contact with friends and passively consume content. There is no “competition” on your end when you have the power to choose from what has been created for you.

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Along with my strong opinions about social media, I have strong opinions about other topics too. I know I will have people ready to high-five me, or people ready to whip out a list of arguments telling my why I’m wrong, but in either case, I welcome both.

Regarding my expat experience, I’ve had people question me why I’m so critical of Italy.

“Go back to America then,” I’ve been told aggressively.

But the thing is, these opinions were formed based on the experiences I’ve had. And the magical thing about opinions is, is that they can change too.

There are expats who’ve had an opposite experience from mine—welcomed with open arms, minor struggles they were able to laugh off, a more understanding support circle to help with the transition—who would probably offer a more positive opinion on living abroad in Italy.

All of our opinions are valid, because they are the result of rich and exciting life stories.

So when it comes to listening and sharing opinions, I think being reminded of the following helps with maintaining healthy discussions:

Opinions are the introduction to someone’s story, having the patience to dig deeper could perhaps foster a strong sense of empathy and trust.

Trying to “prove someone wrong” by telling them they are wrong will make them more staunch in their opinion. It’s always better to be the person who takes the high road and leads by example. A petty argument is never worth it.
Dangerous topics can lead to hurtful opinions. It takes a strong person to sit through words that may be triggering, but these hurtful opinions reveal a lot more about the person who harbors them. Choosing to drop the conversation is just as valid as choosing to forgive. This is a situation that definitely calls on us to remember that opinions can stem from painful experiences, and that we shouldn’t be quick to judge the person, but rather, understand why they have come to form those opinions.

In my opinion, opinions are OK for healthy discourse. We just have to be mindful of our reactiveness to them.

Pree March 21, 2022 Milan, Italy

Keep Calm & Carry (Yourself) On

Reading Time: 6 minutes

This month has been so calm, peaceful, and happy. I didn’t think I’d make it to such a mental state so quickly, but it’s happening.

Besides having a mini emotional breakdown at the end of January (being uncertain about the start of my business trip given the Omicron scare and waiting on the Italian consulate to process critical documentation to begin my EU Blue Card application were my triggers), I’ve felt relatively calm ever since, and I’ve welcomed it with an embrace of a mother who just saw her grown kids after 10 years 😅.

I know that I would have never found my current position in industry if it had not been for academia driving me out of toxic working conditions, but I do wonder what would have happened if I had joined my current company back in June 2020, rather than pursuing a post-doc, if everything I have been provided with so far was provided to me back then 🤔. I am almost certain Italy would have tasted sweeter.

Maybe as sweet as this donut I had the other day? I know, not Italian, but when it comes to breakfast, my cravings are all-American.

I definitely would have been over the moon about the Italian course they are willing to cover. Right now, I feel like I have to force myself to get motivated.

Despite the harsh reality I ended up having to face, I am forever grateful for the current calmness of 2022, and the calmness of my return to Milan especially. I mentioned in the linked post that I face doubts about what my current “passions” are, and if I will find success and happiness if I continue to pursue them, but I must also acknowledge that the new work-life balance I’ve found has allowed me to figure this out, day by day.

With running, I am finding my mental and physical stamina again. In the weeks leading up to my departure to Milan, I was running 9-10 miles for long runs on Sunday mornings. It was easy to zone out, get lost in my Spotify playlists, and enjoy the long Texas roads, stumbling across the occasional longhorn and galloping baby calves 😍.

While in Italy this month, I crushed my long run goals, going back to running distances that once came second nature to me. 11, 12, 13 mile long runs didn’t feel so intimidating this time around. I ran the hills of Como during these long runs, and I didn’t stop in a work anxiety-induced paralysis, which often prevented me from going the distance last year…

I feel good with my runs so far, even though I’m still off with my goal pace. But based on past experience, I know that increasing my weekly mileage will help. I’m trying to get back to where I was in 2017, where I was running 40-50 miles a week, in peak marathon training shape (pace-wise), and had built great comradery with my marathon training group as a plus. Running with people is a painkiller for me, it feels amazing to run with others, but finding a solid group of people to train with in Italy has been an impossible task. Especially due to the pandemic...

I have a half marathon in Texas scheduled in early April, and my hope while I am at home again for the next four weeks is to incorporate double runs (running in the morning and evening of the same day) again, to hit a higher weekly mileage. In Italy, it seems as though I’m better off finding people who smoke more than participate in cardiovascular exercise, frankly speaking, but we’ll see what happens as the months progress. While in Texas, it shouldn’t be too hard to stop by a Fleet Feet for a weeknight or weekend morning run with a group of like-minded runners 😀.

With writing, I go through moments of impassioned writing bursts, or days of procrastination. I think all writers can relate. Last year, I decided to stop writing short-forms on IG because it is a platform that doesn’t appreciate that kind of work. So now, my writing has become a private endeavor in the short-term, and this tests my patience immensely.

Coffee shop working and writing has always been a hobby of mine. It’s not a usual thing to do in Italy though…

I’ve chosen to keep the details of my writing projects private for now, but my close friends are writers themselves, and it’s been nice being able to bounce ideas off of them now and then. When I was back home, it was easier to write after work, and after an evening run. While in Italy, finding motivation to write in the evenings has been difficult, but I’m trying not to force myself if I don’t feel like it. I’m hoping for more days where I can bust out work in less than an hour due to passion (lol), like a post I wrote regarding Women’s Day. But even if those days are rare for now, I’m trying to use this time to figure out what works best for me when it comes to creating a “writing routine”.

Last week, I was successful in devoting 30 minutes to one of my projects every day, no matter what. Even if some of those sessions were not extremely productive, the minutes I had my doc open helped me in some form with the process as a whole. I’m hoping to continue meeting these “mini goals” because it’s better than not doing anything at all!

With my career, it’s something I’ve said a number of times but still holds true—leaving academia meant getting my mental health back. There is no doubt that me talking about running and writing here is because now I have the time to invest in them again.

I was also able to work remotely 2x a week while I was in Italy! It made long walks or lunchtime breaks outdoors so easy to fit in, and it definitely made me happy…

My job so far has been so perfect in terms of work-life balance, but even within the role, there have been discussions on what I can be involved with in the near future. Like, pipeline stuff. In the industry, this refers to a series of projects the company is working on or plans to work on. Some of the items proposed to me sound really exciting, and sound like they would utilize my skillset. Makes me feel important 😌

With life abroad, I still don’t know if I desire anything new. I had really high hopes during my first Italy stint, but learning the language is something that no longer excites me. Still, I will give it my best shot with the classes my company is offering me, it’s the least I can do, but if I had to choose between becoming an elite runner overnight or waking up speaking fluent Italian? I’d go with elite runner, hands down.

Do I want to travel? Sure, but only if the travel is spent with people I want to be with. I still haven’t been south of Florence when it comes to Italy. I’m saving places like Rome and Naples for when people I love can join me on those adventures. In the near-term, I don’t expect my family or close friends to be able to afford to see me in Italy, and so I have no complaints about going to see them where they are. My friend in Germany recently invited me to join her in Turkey for a few days during the summer to attend a wedding. I’d love to join her for that, only so I can spend quality time with her. I’ve heard Turkey is beautiful, but I don’t have the desire to go by myself at the moment. Such a stark difference from my solo travel days…

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It’s nice to be able to reflect on these past few weeks and be happy with them. I can only hope that things continue to go well and develop to my liking, but like I mentioned in a post from a few weeks ago, I’m attempting to adopt a “cruise control” attitude for all of these things. I know now that I can experience calmness for a long period, and that makes me feel so good.

And it only further drives home the point that our environment is so powerful, so do whatever you can to put yourself in a place that gives you the best possible.

Pree March 8, 2022 Earth

A Women’s Day Reflection

Reading Time: 4 minutes

With this post, I risk people not agreeing with me, but that’s okay. If this sparks discussion, debate, and helps others to think from a different perspective, I am all for it.

I did not know Women’s Day existed until I came to Italy. I grew up in a country where we get time off for presidents, activists, veterans, and military, but the closest thing to Women’s Day I was familiar with was Mother’s Day. And to me, that day grew tense with each passing year.

As my mother succumbed more and more to her mental illness, I resented the fact that there was a day to celebrate her. In my teenage mind, she didn’t deserve it. I would see her verbally and emotionally abuse my father every day without fail, yet, my father would still ask my sister and I to make her a card, and he’d still show up with a bouquet of flowers just to show her he cared.

Despite his kind intentions, she would always find a reason to be suspicious of him. Or yell at him because he bought the flowers from Albertson’s instead of Raley’s.

And when Father’s Day came around? She never did anything special for him. It was up to my sister and I to let our father know we cared. That we needed him and loved him for sticking around.

When I think back to my high school days, I can’t imagine how much psychological torment he had to internalize. There would be nights she would be triggered by the simplest things. If she began yelling at me or my sister, our father would be ready, like a superhero with his shield, ready to deflect her anger from us towards him.

It would give us some modicum of peace to finish homework, but to hear her berate him for hours and hours into the night was not something my sister and I were comfortable with.

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Even with these tense family dynamics, I still grew up a “staunch feminist”. Perhaps it was my mom’s unsubstantiated opinions of men that were ingrained in me for years, but the “men are evil, fear them” “mantra” I grew up with was hard to shake off—until I learned to listen and understand the other side.

When I first met my boyfriend in Italy and we were learning about each other, I shared something nonchalantly on social media that upset him:

The whole pepper spray thing is a topic for another day 😅😅

It was supposed to be a hit at women in my circle who hinted that I need to live in fear and carry pepper spray, but the way I phrased my stance was a hit at all men, and that wasn’t fair. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but seeing how upset it made him feel led me to probe further discussions with him about the topic, which is something I am immensely appreciative for.

I didn’t realize the suicide rate in men is twice as high as for women, on a global scale, and that their access to mental health support is still strongly stigmatized. And what about the “biggest shocker“, that yes, boys and men can be victims of sexual assault and rape, with it being reported that in the US alone, 1 out of every 10 rape victims are male.

These discussions made me realize that gender equality is an extremely convoluted topic that is constantly vacillating from one side to the other. It shouldn’t be about prioritizing one group over another if the goal is equality, yet if we prioritize Women’s Day with flowers and protests, and laugh off Men’s Day (which, by the way is November 19th) as a “creation of jealous men”, we will never achieve the equality we all say we are striving for.

Wonder if the woman who received these mimosa flowers (Italy’s famous tradition) appreciated it, expected it, or yelled at her boy for getting it from the wrong florist 😅

Yes, there are a lot of places in this world where men have a powerful influence and women are stripped of their rights. In South Asian countries and places with similar cultural ideals, this is a huge issue. The recent, artfully-crafted Malayalam movie, Great Indian Kitchen, demonstrated this eloquently.

But even in these cultures, men still suffer. In the South Asian space, Ram of @desi_brotherhood shares relevant information via Instagram feed posts in an unbiased way, and has shared a number of posts regarding domestic violence, mental health, and suicide issues that affect South Asian women and men.

Compared to South Asia, the overall context is different in the Western world. Even though domestic violence is rampant, especially without a doubt in the USA, women in the Western world still do experience a lot more freedoms compared to women of other countries. When I see the stereotypical “Karen” complain more than she should about how “men need to be the providers”, it does irritate me. These are the same women who claim they are independent, self-sufficient, and strong, yet expect “their man” to be the breadwinner and foot the bill of their shopping sprees because “they deserve it!”. This then leads to some men using these women as excuses for not supporting women’s rights, and it ends up being a vicious cycle.

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My intent with this post is not to divert attention from Women’s Day, but to serve as a reflection. I have only a handful of women in my life who I love with all my heart. Who deserve everything beautiful in this world because they truly do deserve it, but there are men in my life who deserve just the same.

So while today is a good day to celebrate women, our love for them, and their achievements, let’s be kind, thoughtful, and empathetic women and do the same for the amazing men in our lives when it’s their turn.

At the end of the day, we shouldn’t be celebrating the chromosomes one carries, but rather the individual those chromosomes serve as roots for.

Pree March 6, 2022 Milan, Italy

Cruise Control

Reading Time: 4 minutes

As a millennial, I am oftentimes torn between feeling proud of my current “status” in life, or deeply disappointed.

It’s hard for me to remind myself that I lived an incredibly rich life before my Italy adventure. Good moments that led to trying ones, that eventually led to powerful recoveries and maturity.

A parent’s mental illness. Depression and an eating disorder. Struggling with my identity. My shyness about love and relationships.

These are events that shaped my 20s, and because I survived these ordeals, I thought I came out stronger than ever before. I even let Johnny Dagger ink a blooming lotus on my arm before I left for Italy, to remind myself of what a lotus represents:

Enlightenment and Rebirth

But, little did I know that the Italy adventure I envisioned would dismantle within weeks from when I got the tattoo. The pandemic delayed my start, but once I did get the greenlight to go, things eventually got crazy.

Depression popped up again. Homesickness after feeling unwelcome and taken for granted. Developing a newfound love for my home country.

These were initially unwanted feelings that I eventually embraced. And while things did eventually sort themselves out, I left 2021 a heavily-changed person:

I used to love the idea of being a nomad. Since moving out for grad school in 2014, I’ve been associated with eight different addresses. With my initial move to Italy, I welcomed the three years abroad that were initially ensured under my research fellowship. I actually thought life would be so much better here, but…

As months slowly drudged on by, I realized that perhaps I should be wanting “normal” life things, like a stable residence and job. Jumping around labs in the world of academia, even if the research was great and the experience was enriching, could never match what a standard industry job could offer. I realized my desire for a 401k was taking priority over feverishly publishing papers to add to my CV.

An emotionally-numbing experience in academia abroad, during one of the worst (psychological) periods of humanity, soured my first stint in Italy, but escaping academia and finding a home in industry saved me. Despite miraculously finding a suitable, more-welcoming job, this experience has undoubtedly shaken me in regards to being confident about my purpose. It has made me question if I truly love what I do, or if I chose this path because it was “safe” and “not so controversial”, say, compared to the desire of wanting to become a Hollywood celebrity 😂.

But at least while I ruminate over these thoughts, I can continue to appreciate and enjoy the relative calmness and kindness 2022 has granted (my) life with.

Circumstances with my new job have allowed me with an interesting opportunity—while waiting for my visa, I’m splitting my time between Houston and Milan. One month here, One month there. One month of Dad’s Bru, one month of vending machine cappuccinos.

Cappuccinos from local bars are nice too. This one was from a bar in Milan’s Vigentino neighborhood.

And knowing that my role will be heavily involved with North America while being based out of Italy? On paper, it’s like the best of both worlds.

But at the same time, I am having trouble understanding what my true passions are at this point. What is my purpose even?

The stability of my new job has allowed me to approach my past passions with more motivation, but at the same time, I doubt myself in regards to what I can accomplish, and what I want to accomplish:

With running, when will I be running at an elite runner’s pace? A goal stifled as early as late 2017?

How will I know if my writing projects will get anywhere? I don’t want to write “just for fun”. For me, I want it to lead to something greater…

Will I really pick up Italian “with time” like a random guy at work said I would? Or am I too exhausted (and scared, of failing) to even try?

Life was so much easier before social media took over. I’ve lost track of my passions and who I really am in some ways. What can I do to find myself again?

Like anyone in this world, I want to be validated, appreciated, respected, and loved. Figuring out how to achieve all this is the hard part. I’m turning 30 in a few months, and I would be lying if I didn’t say that scares me. I looked at a random savings calculator online and I supposedly have the “right” amount saved in the bank for my age, but I can’t help but wonder if I’m making the right investments, or if my choice to continuously rent is wise or risky in this market.

Growing up, and getting older is never easy, but at least the detour I took in recent months has benefited my mental health tremendously. And if I learned anything from these recent experiences, there is only so much I can control. And I think escaping toxic workplaces and minimizing time on mind-numbing social media platforms is a good thing.

Putting 2022 in cruise control seems like a wise enough decision to me.