Recharging With My Other Life

Well, it looks like I’ve leveled up another year! (Translation: It’s my birthday today [technically 21st]!)

If you happen to have some spare change burning a hole in your pocket and want to get me something super-special-awesome for my birthday…I’d love it if you’d make a donation to Please Save A Cat! <3

Or buy yourself something on AmazonSmile and choose them as the charity that you support (Please Save A Cat in Maxwelton, WV)! :D! Win-win!

(You can read a teeny bit more about Please Save A Cat in my “How Do You Show Compassion?” post!)

This may be a blogging no-no, but since it’s my birthday, I’m doin’ what I want! :O (I’m double-linking up today with Amanda @ Amanda Moments for Tell Me About Your Town + Jill Conyers @ JillConyers.com/Jessica Joy @ TheFitSwitch.org for Dish The Fit!)

Tell Me About Your Town’s April topic is in honor of Earth Day–anything about your town’s scenery/weather/climate, or something eco-ish…and Dish The Fit is…How Do You Recharge?

UCD Arboretum!

How the hecks am I gonna tie those two topics together though!?

By talking about Davis! <3

While it isn’t exactly my hometown, I went to UC Davis for undergrad, and spent a considerable amount of time sneaking back up there to volunteer at my internship after I graduated. It’s one of my favorite places on the planet, so I like to think it counts. :] I miss the sunshine and all the green! Summer Davis was my favorite because it was always bright and sunny.

There were all sorts of parks and playgrounds there!

Sometimes my friends would exercise Farrah-abuse.

Or we’d go climb the dominoes!

Ever the eco-friendly town, it’s actually easier (and faster) to get everywhere on bike than it is to drive. There are bike paths and bike circles all over town–hell, there are even traffic lights specifically for the bikers. :O

This worked out really well for me, because I didn’t get a driver’s license until after I graduated from college, and never had a car until I started medical school. I got everywhere through walking, biking, and public transportation, and I miss being able to do that. (Sidewalks are lovely, and I saved so much by not having to pay for gas!)

Bike theft was actually way more common than laptop theft.

I constantly had half a bajillion things on my plate back in undergrad (and let’s face it, I still do now–are we sensing a common theme here?). My friends started calling me “superwoman” and people often asked me how I did all this without dying.

Short answer?

I think it was the fact that I managed to find a balance.

Being in a place that I adored, surrounded by my favorite people and doing the things that I loved makes a world of a difference on your stress level.  Sure, life was always jam-packed, and I always had a ton of things I was doing, but my “breaks” were my other major and my extra-curriculars, which encompassed all my favorite hobbies.

Music and dance kept me sane. So did being able to frolic outdoors. <3

These are all still things I use today to keep me grounded, to de-stress, and to help me recharge. <3

I miss playing on a legit piano! *-*

Back in undergrad, my friends and I started up Dames & Fellas A Capella, a no-audition a capella group that we kept up for about two years. We’d pick songs and write 4-part arrangements to teach to the other members. It definitely kicked me out of my comfort zone, because normally, I never sing if people can hear me.

This was us covering Norwegian Recycling’s How Six Songs Collide! :] (We randomly acquired an awesome beatboxer the day before this, so we’d never heard him til…this performance! :O )

https://youtu.be/NWdsb5fqKgA

In senior year, we decided to disband to focus on school (I was taking 10-12 classes per quarter, working 2 jobs, 2 internships and a billion other things. Academic suicide ftw! ._.), but I still found other opportunities later on to keep singing in my life!

And of course, I couldn’t forget Na Keiki ‘O Hawai’i! <3 I was a dancer for 4 years + secretary for 3 years for UCD’s Polynesian cultural dance group! :] It’s where I first learned to dance (hula + Tahitian!).

Some of my friends from NKOH decided to surprise me at my senior recital! <3

During my first two years of med school, I taught beginning hula (and later Tahitian) dance lessons in the school’s gym! This is us performing last year in Carnegie Hall. :]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDjy0ySgvTk

I’ve actually never shared any video or audio clips of me singing, dancing, or playing piano on here til now. (Unless you knew where to look and found my sneaky links. >_>) So I guess today’s the day where I throw a bunch at you! :O All recorded by my supah-fancy (hah) phone!

• I rarely ever let anyone hear me sing on my own, so we’re gonna change that up! Yay for busting out of comfort zones! This is my cover of one of my favorite songs (Jane Zhang’s 画心)!
  

  I tend to go off-key when I run outta air. The super high part is part of the karaoke track because I start sounding like a dog whistle when I go for the high-D + high-E. The ending is also not me!

• Have you been following me long enough to know…that I used to be in a band? Our band name was The Vagal Tones (in case you ever wondered about that tag). I did keyboard + backup vocals (+ drums for one song). Here’s us covering The White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army! (We’re missing our bassist though.)
  

  We’re somewhat incapable of being completely serious, so you’re gonna hear a little messing around in the beginning. A folding chair fell on the floor and there may or may not be some profanity.

• I also completely butchered Franz Liszt’s Un Sospiro (I’m so sorry, Liszt!) last year. ;_;

  (Sad fact of life: I will always be my worst critic when it comes to my abilities in piano. Or really anything, but especially piano, because I used to actually be good at it! :[ )

Positive thinking, however–for someone in med school, I like to think that I’m not doing too shabbily! My love for the artsy-fartsy keeps me going! :]

Click the image to read my other Dish The Fit posts! :]

Anddd…apparently this fits for The Blogging Elite’s topic this month too! Three birds with one stone!?

• What’s the scenery/weather like in your town?
• Would you consider yourself artsy-fartsy? :O
• What do you do to recharge?
• How do you handle stress?