Category: Demi Lovato: Staying Strong 365 Days a Year

Update: Somewhere New

As I’ve said previously, I was determined to follow Demi’s goal of going somewhere new. I’m a person who tries to follow through (I’m just that type of person). I had a plan that didn’t exactly work the way I wanted to. Let’s backtrack for a bit, so I stayed up the night before this excursion. I remembered going on a hike with my good friend Zoë a while a back ago to watch the sunset (I thought for some reason it was the Berkeley Fire Trail but maybe I was wrong). Anyways, after some planning and research, I was prepared.

Of course I made some alterations as I went along. I even printed directions from Google Map (which of course I ended up leaving at home later on before I left). My plan was to wake up and try to make it up there before sunrise (that ended up not happening). I woke up and got ready. I headed out the door and got the directions on my phone. I followed the directions exactly and it’s not where I originally planned on going.

At that point I wanted to give up (even on the way to where I was going I wanted to go back home), but like I said before I’m someone who follows through. I ended up where the directions ended and was a little closer to where I wanted to be. I started following some people and was pretty close to where I wanted to end up. I followed the trail and somehow ended up at at the bottom of the Lawrence Hall of Science, a place where I went to when I was a kid. I was going to head back home, almost defeated at that point when I saw a good vantage point. It was exactly what I wanted to see. All I wanted to see was a panoramic view of the East Bay and part of the other side of the bay.

It got a little misty and started raining (luckily I was all bundled up). At that point I sat down and took it all in. I brought my camera along to take some pictures and I took some photographs on my iPhone too. I also brought my poetry notebook to write some things down before I forgot. The trek was exhausting and longer than what I was planning or expecting, but it was all worthwhile. I met Demi’s goal (which is also mine).

Keep scrolling!! You’ll find some pictures and a poem, describing my experience. Enjoy!!

Somewhere New

A view worth seeing.
Nothing can capture the
Beauty of my beloved city,
Not even a photograph.
Nothing can beat a
Stunning view of the
Place I’m lucky enough to
Call my home. I live in the hustle
And bustle of the city I grew up in.
It’s not until you get away from
The city noise and traffic
That you explore
Something new. You get peace
And quiet up here. You can think
And take a moment or two
To catch your breath after
The strenuous, but so
Worthwhile trek. Up here,
Away from the city you
Disconnect from technology
And you start to look at
Things with a fresh eye.
You gain a whole new perspective
Of the place that you thought
You really know like the back
Of your hand. You start to realize
How big the world truly is.
We become thankful for
The things we have.
We’re the lucky ones to
Live where we live. We have
Clothes to wear, food to eat,
Water to use, and
A roof over our heads. Some
Other people in this world aren’t
So lucky. They’re barely surviving.
We’re lucky to breathe.
I’m taking it all in with a
Mental picture before it goes away.
This is where I am, in this moment.
This is somewhere new.
It’s a place where I sometimes
Get lost and feel stuck.
But I’m still living
And still learning as I go.
As I’ve learned life can go as fast
Or as slow as we want it to go.
I’m forever grateful for
Moments like this in my lifetime.
These are moments to cherish
And to get us unstuck.
East Bay
East Bay
Panoramic view of East Bay.
Panoramic view of East Bay.

Somewhere New

On January 2nd, Demi wrote “Goal: Stay open to anything and take a day (or week) seeing a new part of the world. If you can’t afford to take time off work then visit a new neighborhood in your own town. Be grateful for everything you have.” Like Demi, I’ve been very lucky enough to have travelled a lot to different places around the world from the time I was in my mom’s stomach when she was pregnant up until I was an adult. One of my first trips abroad was when I was nine months old and we went to Paris where we saw the Tour de France. My parent have instilled in me and in my siblings that we should take advantage of travelling while we still can.

There are many reasons why I chose to attend McDaniel College, clear across the country from my home state and city. When I was applying for colleges I chose colleges all across the country. I’m lucky to have the parents I do because they sat me down when I was looking at colleges and told me I can go anywhere I wanted to. I looked at very little schools located in California because I told myself as a California native that I was ready for a change. I grew up in the same area for many years and I wanted something different. The other reason why I chose McDaniel was because I knew if I was across the country I could become independent, something I had always dreamed about. People still ask me to this very day why I chose McDaniel. I tell them the reason why and I think to myself how much I’m happy that I made that choice. Sure, I was homesick, but who hasn’t gone through that at some point? I also wouldn’t have met the people I would have.

Going somewhere new is good which is why I vow that tomorrow (not today) since it’s late already, is the day I’m going to go to a new part of my city of Oakland. I’m going to trek on the Berkeley Fire Trail and try to watch the sunset. I would go to a new part of the world, but money is a little tight these days. I’ll give you all an update tomorrow. In the meanwhile, I’m leaving today with a poem.

On the Edge

She wants to be
Wild and crazy.
She wants to live
On the edge because
She’s tired of playing
It safe. She wants
The wind in her hair
As she heads
Towards freedom.
She’s tired of
People saying no.
She wants to be in
A new city and a new
Part of the world.
She wants everything
To be carefree and to
Have some kind
Of meaning.

New Mantra: I Am Beautiful and Good Enough

With the new year, I’m reading Demi Lovato’s Staying Strong: 365 Days a Year. She’s become such a huge inspiration to me because I feel like even though she’s younger than me by a year or two, she’s someone I can look up to. Every day she writes a short entry and then writes a goal to go with it. On January 1st, she writes “Goal: In this year, come up with a mantra that is just yours. Each day, look in the mirror and repeat it back to yourself.” My mantra that I came up with, after thinking about it for a while, is “I’m beautiful and good enough.” We all have days where we’e insecure and feel like we’re not good enough or beautiful enough. Some of us are lucky to have people in our lives who make us feel beautiful, but some of us aren’t so lucky. Here’s a poem to go along with the theme of this post.

Words Being Said

I’m beautiful on

The outside but

It’s my personality

That is so much more.

I’m me and that’s all

That matters.

I’m beautiful on the

Outside but I’m also

Beautiful on the inside

Even when it feels like

Things are messy.

I want to see and feel

All the mess because

It’s better than perfectly

Pieced puzzles. It’s better

To accept the messy

And imperfect parts

Than to accept absolute

Perfection. I would rather

See chaos rather than

The calm before the storm.

That’s what we are.

We’re accepted because

Of that.

P.S. I just want to thank the person who inspired this poem. Thank you for giving me the words to make me feel better and for some of the things said in the poem (some them are your words exactly). You’re the one who inspired me to come up with that mantra. I can’t thank you enough!!