For the first time in eight months, I went back to Seattle. It was more of an accident really. I had to change my flight to Paris due to a short connection, and decided to do a three hour layover in Seattle instead. As soon as I updated my flight, I texted two of my favorite Seattle babes – Karya of Karya Schanilec Photography and Marellen of Marellen Madayag. Knowing that I can be quite the emotional little person, I braced myself for what I assumed would be a wave of sadness and nostalgia that would arrive. It didn’t arrive when I was flying over the green trees and blue water of Seattle, or when they came to pick me up. It came as I sat at the gate waiting for my next flight to board. So today’s post is a little more personal. Dear Millennials, Stop rushing through life.
THE BACKSTORY
Before I get into the details of what that statement means, let’s start with some backstory. If you’re new to P&P, I grew up in Southern California before moving to Seattle for work after college graduation in July of 2016. I lived in Seattle for about a year and a half before I made the move to Silicon Valley in October of 2017. Fast forward to now, I’m a millennial nine months into living in the Bay Area. I’m a classic check list-er, fastest rout-er. How can I check the most off my list, and how fast can I do it?
MY LIFE IN SEATTLE & THE BIG MOVE
Seattle has a special place in my heart. It’s the city that taught me what seasons were, where I discovered my passion for blogging, and the place where I learned to be truly independent. When the opportunity came to move to Silicon Valley, I jumped on it. Silicon Valley? Techie dream. Back in the land of In-n-Out? Dream part 2.
I was still new-ish to Seattle when the opportunity arrived. I was settling into the city, but hadn’t quite found my people. By summertime I had truly found my #squad – the people that I now call some of my closest friends. And all too quickly October came and it was time to move. They always say the biggest blessing is finding the people that make it hard to say goodbye to.
Of course, no matter how much I replay it, I’m filled with so much GRATITUDE. Gratitude to the people that opened their hearts to me in Seattle, to the people that welcomed me in Silicon Valley, to everyone helping me advance my career. I like to tell people I have three homes now – San Diego, Seattle, and San Jose. Let’s clarify that I’m not filled with regret. Life takes us on the journey we’re meant to be on. The Bay Area has ingrained me with a whole new set of lessons and things (and people) to be grateful for.
DEAR MILLENNIALS, STOP RUSHING THROUGH LIFE
Dear Millennials,
We’re the group that’s used to rushing. Move at the speed of light and social media. Be something, do something, become something. We check things off our life list like we do our groceries. Avocados? Check. Career Move? Check. Kale? Check. We’re always onto the next big thing. In a world of Instagram, we spend our time trying to one-up ourselves and those around us.
We’re busy being, doing and becoming. But what about that “little” thing called life? Did we take the time to appreciate what we have and be proud of where we are? What’s the point of doing if we’re not living? Live gratefully, live in the moment, and live in a way where you look back at the view behind you before you move forward. I often hear a saying something along the lines of “life passes us by while we’re busy being busy.” (Or at least that’s my personal take on it).
In my vocabulary, the word “regret” does not exist 99.9% of the time. I don’t regret leaving San Diego, or moving to Seattle, or leaving Seattle for Silicon Valley. What I can say is that I do regret not taking the time to appreciate it all and smell the rain as it settled in the morning or the smell of freshly roasted craft coffee. And I guess as much as I tried to not be a millennial stereotype, I became one for a bit.
Let’s wake up and smell our generation. Instead of having just kale, avocado & career moves on our checklists, lets bump them down a bit and make room for gratitude and slowing down towards the top.
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This is the REALEST! Thank you so much for your words that so succinctly capture what we’re alllll dealing with. We need to slow the F down and enjoy ourselves a little more. It’s not a race.