Eat, Sleep, (Be B)rave, Repeat
Happy New Year! Along with a bunch of new year tropes — new year new me, new resolutions to form (and break), new things to discover, new challenges to overcome, new struggles to struggle at — most excitingly, if you’ve noticed, there’s a new logo for the blog!
I know I know, it’s a little esoteric, and maybe a little uncharacteristically self-indulgent of me to have a caricature of myself as part of the logo. But after bouncing a few ideas around with the talented Neroli, and seeing the end product, I’m pretty stoked about it!
Oh, if you’re curious, that rice bowl I’m holding speaks to the two tenets of this blog – my Asian heritage, and also the breakaway from tradition and stereotypes in the dishes I make, symbolised by the chopsticks (because in Chinese culture, it’s a major no-no to stick your chopsticks straight up in a bowl of rice). Sure it might be a liiiitle esoteric, but so is this blog, really. So I think it’s pretty apt!
Along with the new logo, I’ve thought of some new year’s resolutions to make too (and probably but hopefully not break)!
My stretch goal for 2019 is all about being consistent, but to make it into a catchy mantra I can remind myself of, here’s my ABG-inspired motto for the year – Eat, Sleep, (Be B)rave, Repeat.
Eat
This one’s a given. This is a food blog, so of course eating and cooking will be a staple here. Of course. So there’ll definitely be more cooking and eating this year, but to paraphrase Dan Pashman, we shouldn’t only eat more, we should eat more, eat better, and eat more better. So this year, I’m renewing my conviction to food. I want to do more eating and cooking and talking and exciting and engaging and educating Malaysia and the world about food, do it better, and do more of it better.
Sleep
So much sleep research (see here and here) has been done in the past couple of years, most if not all showing the virtues of getting at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night. From personal experience too I know that an extra hour of sleep can be the difference between omgosh-life-is-so-great Jun and everything-is-death Jun.
So this year, I’m gonna try my utmost to not have nights where I get caught up in some addictive indie game I downloaded (screw you Dead Cells) and end up going to bed at 4am with 5 hours of sleep, then overcompensating the next day and sleeping in for 10 hours straight. Instead I will strive for more sleep consistency, hopefully cutting out those silly, distracted nights entirely, and have a restful 8 hours of sleep every night and wake up early the next morning gloriously ready to tackle the day.
(Be B)rave
Let’s face it, I’m too old for raves. Not that I was ever really into the rave scene tbh. So instead of the ‘rave’ in the typical ABG mantra of ‘Eat. Sleep. Rave. Repeat.’, I shall seek to be ‘(b)rave’ this year.
I’ll admit it, I’ve had a sheltered upbringing and a pretty cushy life by most standards. So I don’t think I’ve ever felt the need to venture far out of my comfort zone to do something truly ballsy and challenging in life. And while yes there’s a part of me that wants to take the leap and do some groundbreaking work, taking great (but measured) risks and being an overall kickass in life, there’s a diametrically different part of me that fears the unknown and fears failure like nothing else. I know this isn’t an overnight change, but this year, I want to be braver and be able to commit to the tough decisions one inevitably have to make in life, and thrive through it all! (Also easier said than done.)
Repeat
This might seem like the most unimportant thing one of the list of four, but trust me when I say this is the crux of it all. Repetition. Consistency. It’s been something I’ve struggled with for ages. In fact, I don’t remember a time I didn’t struggle with keeping consistent. As a kid I never stuck to my piano practicing schedule; mom would always have to entice me with an extended GameBoy play time and fresh baked cookies. In college I was never much good at long-term, consistent prepping for exams, and was always more of a last-minute crammer. In the short period of time I was a cook I struggled to get any sort of consistency in my schedule, instead always fighting to do something new and different each day.
While these things have their virtues (cramming meant I had more time to chill and do the things I want in the months leading up to exams when people were starting to coop themselves up in the library; no work schedule consistency meant that I’m constantly learning new things), when working on long(er) term goals, as I will be doing this year, it would seem mighty important to have some sort of consistent routine in your days and weeks.
As much as this would seemingly require quite the personality switch on my part, this is something I desperately want to be better at this year. 2019 just might be the year that I finally manage to defeat my impulsive, procrastinating demons and start getting some good habits and routines in!
Guys, I feel an energy about 2019, that things will be GREAT. Not just for me, but for you and for the world too. So let’s get out there and kickass, y’all!