Embracing This Season

Love when those good reminders come right on time.

It’s November, meaning a new month to be filled with opportunities and blessings. After being in 4 cities in the span of 10 days (CDMX-NYC-DC-VEGAS), I used the last week of October to settle back into my sabbatical flow and connect with people, old and new. Those conversations led to some good reminders. Let’s dive into today’s [K.I.M.] in a minute:

creative [K]nowledge: Take some time this weekend to test Bard, Google’s verison of ChatGPT.

The good thing about Bard is that it can browse the web and pull from any Google search, providing up-to-date responses in real-time. Now, don’t use their information word for word (be sure to add your own style to it), but let’s work smarter, not harder.

Add Bard to your creative workflow by:

• Generating creative ideas for any project

• Brainstorming solutions to problems

• Creating outlines for scripts, speeches, and presentations

life [I]nsights: “You’ll show up for yourself eventually” - Rich Medina 

Scrolling on Instagram on a Saturday night, I saw a post for Rich Medina DJing at Cafe de Nadie. Something in me told me to go, so I went and got a front-row seat along with some wise words. Once I shared how I ended up in CDMX for a sabbatical, he acknowledged how I’m showing up for myself regardless of how life be lifin.

[M]y pov: Got a minute? Let’s discuss the power of embracing the season you’re in.

Catching up with my friend above reminded me of a creative idea from my past — a summer food tour during my last semester in college. 

Interestingly enough, I wasn’t supposed to be there. When planning out my life to align with the 5-year engineering plan, I didn’t take into consideration how a failed class could shift my graduation date from spring to summer. Little did I know that summer would change my life.

As I watched most of my friends graduate and move to start their careers, I was in Gainesville, FL living in a half-furnished apartment. Yet, I made the decision to make the best of it. That summer, I organized a food tour to taste local food spots with fellow UF students which gave me my first look at the power of community and the internet. My senior design professor invited me to her office where she told me something I will never forget:  “You’re really creative I can see why they hired you.” – lighting the fire under me to explore my creative interests. Once the summer ended, I walked across the stage towards a new job and city (that only could have happened with my summer graduation date) near a place I briefly heard about called Silicon Valley. 

Even when I felt behind because life at the time didn’t look like what I thought, the seeds planted in that season changed the trajectory of my life, giving me more than I could possibly imagine. 

Getting back to Mexico City and reflecting on convos during my ‘world tour’ (lol) brought back feelings of uncertainty similar to the start of that Gainesville summer. My answer to “What do you do?” led to some questionable looks or a few smiles once I explained. When they would ask, “Well, what’s after this?” I would say. “I’m thinking of a few things.” When in reality, I have floating ideas with nothing concrete to land on. 

And I’m learning that’s ok.

When navigating these feelings of uncertainty, I will remind myself of that Gainesville summer and how I’m once again embracing the season that I’m in:

• Getting the clarity that was challenging to receive in the past.

• Experiencing my creativity flow naturally vs. searching for it in a cloud of distractions.

• Understanding what true peace feels like, so I can learn steps to keep it present in my future. 

This season, regardless of its highs and lows, is where I’m exactly supposed to be.

So what’s next after this? Not sure, but what I do know is that I’ll figure it out when it comes.

Slowly but surely, I’m learning that’s enough. 

Talk soon.