525,600 Minutes

Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes,
How do you measure, measure a year?
In daylights, in sunsets?
In midnights, in cups of coffee?
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife?
In five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes,
How do you measure, a year in the life?

One of my favorite songs is "Seasons of Love" from the musical, Rent.  It is a full ensemble piece where the characters wax philosophic about how best to measure the worth of a year of human life, concluding in the chorus that the best way is to measure in love.

And it was exactly one year ago today, that I took the first photos of this project.  While my initial goal for the project was to use it as a means of establishing a better work-life balance, I now understand that it wasn't just about spending time on a hobby... it was about identifying, appreciating, and chasing the love for my life.

As I mentioned in this post, this project has taken me so much farther than I ever expected.  While the actual hour-count dent I've made into the goal of 10,000 hours is underwhelming and so pathetic that it's laughable, the experiences and epiphanies I've had have more than made up lack of hours.

First and foremost, I have developed a better and stronger sense of self.  It sounds ridiculous, but prior to this project, I didn't really know what makes me deep-down, bottom of the gut, happy.  I think I was a little hesitant to even admit that, because it seems like something that should be straightforward - do what you like to do.  People told me to balance my life with work, but I didn't really know what interests, passions, etc. truly made up my life.  This project resulted in first discovering what was important to me in life, followed by a dogged pursuit of these things as opposed to just blindly following societal prescriptions of things that "should" make me happy.  Over the past year, I've witnessed many of my millennial peers also struggling with this concept, but many of them responded by completely shifting their lives 180 degrees.  Many quit their jobs to travel the world or switched careers or went back to school to begin at the beginning once more.  While those courses of action may work well for them, I knew that I would not be satisfied making a drastic change for the fear that it wasn't the right change.  Given my highly analytical nature and habits of frequent reflection, that little niggle of fear would get in the way of actually embracing the change and finding myself.  Not to mention, that would have been me throwing myself into yet another passion rather than learning to establish a balance.

Through this project, I've also validated my love for travel, adventure, friendship, and continual desire to learn.  I've explored a lot of places, traveled locally and afar, visited best friends... all with an eye to capture photographs.  As a result, I was able to satisfy my curiosity about the world.  My favorite big trip was probably the one I took out to Kentucky to explore the Bourbon Trail, because I'm not sure I would have traveled there if not to photograph the distilleries and scenery.  There was also something about this specific trip (I'm still not entirely sure exactly what clicked) that helped finally kickstart my journey for even more formal education.  While I've always thought that I would go back for a higher degree of some kind, I hadn't formalized any kind of specific timeline or action plan.  When I returned from Louisville, it all suddenly became very clear exactly what I wanted.  In the following 6 months, I took the GMAT, networked like crazy, toured several schools, and put pen to paper for personal statements and applications.  At the end of February, I celebrated and accepted admission to UCLA Anderson's Fully Employed MBA program.  Even though most people shy away from their lives being driven entirely by work and school, I'm exhilarated to not only learn more business theory, but also to be able to apply this knowledge immediately the next day - this is exactly how I love to learn.

Finally, as cheesy as it sounds, I've also found romantic love via this project.  While I didn't meet my boyfriend on a project excursion, his support of my project and desire to help me reach 10,000 hours resulted in planning and going on a lot of adventures together, during which we were able to get to know each other on a much more honest and intimate level than typical dates would allow.  You really get to see someone's true nature when you're challenging each other's comfort zones: driving along the switchbacks of sheer cliffs, getting up at the crack of dawn to catch a moment, and getting increasingly hungry, hot, and sweaty in the name of one more shot.  We have a connection and closeness that is just best expressed as true love.

So, I suppose you could say that the last 525,600 minutes of this 10,000 hour project have been filled with love... for photography, travel, exploration, good friends, learning, romance, and work.  It's ultimately been a journey of finding out precisely what I love and weaving those elements meaningfully to create a life full of love.

Since this is a 10,000 hour project on photography, I'll end with the photos I took this morning successfully summiting Mt. Lee and standing over the Hollywood sign.  After 2 hours, ~3.25 miles, and ~1700 vertical feet, we were rewarded with a view that perfectly captures my feeling about the last year of this project.

~10 minutes into the Bronson Canyon Trail, encouraged by a glimpse of Hollywood Sign up in the hills

The top of the canyon, roughly halfway to the sign.  The overcast day resulted in hazy, flat photos that had to be edited heavily in post, but it was perfect for novice hikers like us tackling a ~6.5 mile hike that also climbed 1100+ feet vertically over the course.  If it had been a clear and hot day, I'm not sure we would have reached the top.

Getting closer!

Reached a vista point and spotted the Griffith Observatory

The trail wound back and forth around and around... we spent a solid 2 hours climbing (and occasionally stopping for photos and to catch our breath) from the start of the trail.  

The sign itself is fenced off due to the fire-prone terrain... and probably to prevent vandalism.  Fortunately, the trail proceeds even higher so you can get a clear shot of the back of the sign without a chain link fence in the way.

View of Lake Hollywood and part of the H from the summit

Panorama I actually took with my iPhone.  I couldn't get the entire sign with the DSLR and  I couldn't back up further since there was only roughly 20 feet to work with before I would have fallen off the backside of the summit.

More

Active Shooting Hours: 2
Review Hours: 2
Hours to Date: 142

On the Verge of a Milestone

There is something exhilarating about being on the bubble.

As I approach the 100th hour of this project, though I am comically far from my goal of 10,000 hours (status bar: 99% incomplete), I still feel a sense of proud accomplishment and renewed zest to keep on keeping on.

Perhaps it is the fact that I took this last set on New Year's Day and that has me reflecting, but I really have come a long way from six months ago.  When I began this endeavor, if you had asked me what I expected to gain from this experience, I would have referred you to this blog's tag line:  "Looking at the world through a viewfinder, going on adventures, establishing a work-life balance, and reclaiming my personal life."  Yes, I have learned some technical aspects of photography, and yes, I have exercised my creative right brain in developing an artistic eye... but as with most of life's experiences in which you pour your mind, body, and soul, it's been so much more.

Focusing on this personal project has really been a process of self-discovery: gaining a firmer understanding of what I want out of life, what I value, and what I want to spend my time doing.  From the time I was a small child, I was always taught the importance of delaying gratification - to work hard and save to reach a goal... but nobody ever taught me how to enjoy the ride along the way.  It's an unpredictable world out there; knowing how to find happiness is just as important as working hard and saving for a rainy day.  At least in honest conversation with my closest friends, I've found that my generation doesn't always know what makes us truly happy.  We like to think we know because of what society or our parents tell us, but all too often once we actually attain whatever that is, be it material object or professional accomplishment, we end up feeling like we were sold a false bag of goods.  At the end of the day, there are 7+ billion people in this world and I have no doubt that we find happiness all a little differently - it truly comes down to identifying what drives your happiness, be it person, place, thing, or experience.

And after that rather long-winded attempt at profound rumination... actual photos:

Chance juxtaposition in the line for The Jungle Cruise at Disneyland, colors punched up in post-editing

Long Beach, through the periscope of the Scorpion attack submarine

Rivets along the hull of the RMS Queen Mary, holgaish filter applied in post

Up to the crow's nest

Active Shooting Hours: 2
Review Hours: 1
Hours to Date: 99

T-minus 1 hour and 27 minutes

I'm about to jet off on my first real vacation in a year's time.  This marks several firsts for me: the first vacation I've taken that will last more than 5 consecutive days. And the first one that I don't have my work laptop in tow.  And the craziness of that all really only hits me as I sit and commit those statements to writing via iPad at the airport bar.

I'm definitely excited for my adventures both to the familiar haunts of San Francisco and Napa, and the new jaunt to Louisville... But also a little terrified at the prospect of being removed from email and my laptop, which I elected to leave at home at the behest of people who care about me and my sanity. 

Luckily, my excitement is overtaking my anxiety and I'm sure with wine, bourbon, and miscellaneous cocktails on the docket, this "drinkcation" (as I have affectionately dubbed it) will be the mental refresh I need to get the creative juices flowing again.

Venturing Beyond the Comfort Zone

Little kids, especially toddlers, are fearless.  They run around with an insatiable curiosity of the world that drives them to seek out bright stoves, dark electrical sockets, and climb everything in sight.  It's not until their little blank slates start to fill with experiences of pain, embarrassment, fright, and ridicule that fear of the unknown starts to develop and slowly snuffs out any further attempts at doing something bold, foreign, or new.

It is really hard to step out of the comfort zone.  Even though I moved back to where I grew up (more or less), most of my close friends with whom I grew up are either elsewhere geographically.  Or we've grown apart since high school/college and have become different people with different priorities.  It's been a challenge for me to have meaningful personal experiences outside of work and meet new people who share similar interests.  Work and working long hours became my comfort zone.  Indeed, for most people in a new city, work seems to starts off as the most common comfort zone - it's convenient and easy to meet people through coworkers and their friends.  In my case, because I advanced quickly, my peers at work are not in the same place in life as I am - they're all older and have kids.  While I get along great with them and we'll occasionally hang out, it's not the same and I can't meet people the same way my friends in other cities do.

And because I'm the kind of person who hates inaction in the face of discontent (Einstein once said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results), I did something about it.  A few months ago, I signed up for a beach volleyball class on a complete whim because it sounded like a fun activity and potentially a way to meet people.  It was hard to go that first week - I wasn't sure if I was going to the right place or if I was wearing the right thing... but it ended up being a great experience for me and a reassurance that I can still be like a little kid and fearlessly explore the unknown.

In many ways, this 10,000 hour project is all about stepping out of my comfort zone.  While I have no problem going somewhere foreign or talking to strangers, work has long been my security blanket that I've taken around with me everywhere all the time.

Today is the beginning of learning how to fold the blanket and put it away at night and on weekends:  I just booked two back to back trips with the main goal of getting some serious hours in on this project.  8 consecutive business days and the surrounding weekends off and spent traveling... I'm vacillating between excitement and panic at taking this much time off.  But mostly excitement that I'll have plenty of interesting things to photograph.  First stop will be up to the Bay Area and doing a multitude of touristy things I never got around to when I actually lived there and then it'll be off to Louisville to visit a sorority sister, drink my way down the Bourbon Trail, and check out Churchill Downs.

And as a birthday gift to myself and in preparation for this trip, a new camera lens with a wide aperture for shooting in low light that arrived a day earlier than expected from the magic that is Amazon Prime:

And of course I had to play around with it, so I took a pictures around my apartment this evening, including the yummy tequila lime chicken wings & drumsticks I made in a slow cooker, which were fall-off-the-bone tender and juicy:

Wings & drums in a crockpot - brilliant!

Tequila Lime Crockpot Wings & Drums:
Tools: Slow cooker, some mixing bowls or a large ziplock bag, mixing utensils  

1 - 2lbs of wings & drumsticks
4 - 5 Limes
1.5 - 3 oz Tequila
0.5 cup Ginger Ale
Olive oil to coat
Salt, pepper, garlic power, cayenne powder, chili powder, cumin, paprika to taste

1. Coat chicken lightly in olive oil.  Toss and then coat with the dry seasonings in a bowl or in the ziplock bag.  Marinating for a few hours is probably a good idea, but I didn't today and it still came out delicious.
2. Juice the limes into a mixing bowl.  Pro-tip: microwave them for ~10 seconds to get the most juice out of them.  Mix in tequila and ginger ale.
3. Place the chicken in the slow cooker and pour the tequila lime mixture over.
4. Cook on high for ~2.5 hours or until cooked through.

Hours to Date: 18