The Power of Sharing - Rest Day in Sapa

Today was a much-needed rest day from riding my bike. When I woke up, I had a great FaceTime call with Zach and Jared. It's amazing having close friends you can always share your life and laugh with. Life is meant for sharing. In the past, I wasn't as open about my inner world. I used to think people had to "earn" the right to get to know me better. But through my travels — and especially through this blog — I've learned to put myself out there. I feel like I have so much to give, to share, and to teach. I've realized I'm a natural teacher. I loved tutoring and coaching math teams growing up. Through this blog, many people have reached out to me saying it's helped them or challenged their perspectives. Life is like a beautiful canvas waiting to be designed. And a beautiful painting isn't meant to hang alone in your bedroom — it's meant to be shared and enjoyed by everyone. People have different tastes in art, of course. That's why I'm hesitant to give advice. Everyone is so different. I can only share what has worked for me, based on my own experiences. That, to me, is a big sign of personal growth. In university, I used to tell people how to meditate or how they should spend less time on their phones. Even though those things are important, there's no one-size-fits-all solution. Today, I met up with Rachel again and shared everything that's happened to me over the past month. It was surreal having a real, in-person conversation after not having one for almost a month. As my good friend Kyle and I once discovered, talking and sharing your experiences out loud helps you fully realize how wild your journey has been. Riding my bike alone through the countryside of Vietnam for the past 10 days, I hadn't fully processed how cool and adventurous it really was. But when I shared even the small stories with someone else, I could finally embody just how meaningful it all was. Verbalizing experiences is powerful. The power of words is powerful. And hopefully, sharing it all through this blog is just as impactful. If you've been following this site over the past six months, you may have noticed a big update to the design. This is the third iteration, and I'm really happy with how it looks. I hope you enjoy it too. I even bought a domain name, and I'll be posting it on Google so more people can discover it and hopefully share in the experience. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable to you.