The Things We Save For Last

I stopped treating curiosity as an afterthought and made it the foundation of my life.

A personal study in prioritizing self-discovery through curiosity, my routines that turned into rituals, and my rejection of treating our joys as secondary, as spare time.

Hello my darlings! I’ve been writing this one for a while and I’m so excited to finally share with you.

I’ve had one particular phrase snagged on my mind: spare time. What does it mean, when we say it? Easy enough, you may say, spare time is the time to do things you get to enjoy after completing all necessary actives and tasks of the day.

Understandable, however, why do we allow for our passions, curiosities, intellectual pursuits to be categorized as such? If these are in fact, the side-dishes of life, then why we expected to wake up at 50 experiencing the dreaded mid-life crisis?

I believe that we need to have a little more loving respect for ourselves.

Our curiosities, interests, intellectual pursuits, are what make life worth living— they make us who we are. The more of these we find and explore, the more ourselves we become. Even our indulgences, our little obsessions, our silly little shows, they’re all apart of what sustains us. I’m here to proclaim that I believe it’s the stuff that makes the important things, important— what makes life worth living!

Parts of the Whole

• Form (your physical being— health, style, fitness, beauty)

• Fortitude (your mind— learning, discipline, knowledge)

• Fervor (your essence- passions, rituals, the intangible)

FORM!

My form is something I paradoxically try hard not to try hard on. It’s very important to me, and I want to feel as light and free as possible. Sometimes this takes form in a type of clothing I wear, but overall, the freedom I’m working toward is being able to grab any pair of pants, a top, and have them go together. After the core fit is donned, I select my shoes for the day— any will do, but ones that are a bit loud tend to be my favorite. From there I stack my jewelry and I try to have new earring stacks a few times a week, or at least a different order. If I love the current order, they remain until I get bored. Same with my necklaces, I tend to wear the same necklace for a few weeks at a time, longer if my adoration is severe, as was the case with my heaven bear necklaces. When those go on, they likely wont come off for a few weeks.

When I get home from work, I take off my work clothes and put on a housefit, which is what I call a collection of outfits I have that I try not to wear outside my home. This works in a couple ways for me, as when I take off all of my daily clothing and change into my evening wear, I then have the chance to put everything away, and pull my outfit for the next day as clothing— form and function are top of mind. I pull pants, a layer and a top, a couple options for shoes and usually leave my jewelry until tomorrow, unless their is a piece that significantly stands out now that I don’t want to forget in the morning.

I am fervent about my skincare, and I take great pride in having mastered my little routines.

Every day when I get home from the 9-5 I wash my face, apply a mask, brush my teeth, and put on my evening serums and creams. You may think this means I’m getting ready for bed, however as a night owl, I’ve found that adjusting my ritual to be earlier in the day works so much better. I end up (usually) brushing my teeth thrice instead of the regular two, I get everything off my skin from the subway and the slightly toxic new york air, and I feel quite fresh as I move into my nightly rhythms and routines. Additionally, I realized when I did my skincare right before bed, some of my product was absorbing into my pillows! Shudder.