The Stars Guiding Us

My close friends know me for always doing my own thing; for just going for it and “living my best life”. Whatever that is.

Examples of this include where I went to school; sure going to the University of Texas at Austin and studying Aerospace Engineering sounds dreamy and so many people would have cried to do that, but I always wanted to go to a school where I would have to get on a plane to get to school.

I didn’t plan on attending Dartmouth, it just happened for me; that’s a story for a different day. But, the world felt right at the moment, so I went with it. Five years later and I have absolutely no regrets.

So much is uncertain in a creative career; yes. But so is everything else. Risk is part of every equation, some risks we choose to magnify more than others. What is worse than risk for me is the idea of postponing dreams and goals for later.

Staying at peace with myself has always been one of my values. It’s when I can truly dive into whatever goal I set my mind to and feel successful. I found that once you do this you have people following you and people who never will; regardless of what you do or how hard you work.

I feel confident about where I am today. I am making progress, maybe it’s not exactly how I planned it out, but there’s no point in comparing myself to anyone and everything else. Especially because I know that it would distract me from what is important. Better to follow your guiding stars than to try to please everyone.

It’s all a balancing act at the end of the day. But realizing that you are in control of how you do it is very important.

One of my favorite quotes is: accepting what you can’t change and changing what you can--Dr.Seuss, probably not.

Nelly pictured at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. Wearing Gold Pendant with Granulation and Golden Leaf Crown. Summer 2018.

Photo c/o Kang-Chun Cheng