4 Life Lessons I Learned This Summer

This summer was incredible. I think I learned more about myself, my community, and the world in general than I ever have. 

Last year, I was incredibly uninspired. I followed a ton of fashion bloggers because I thought that was the key to finding my inspiration--through watching other people's success. Instead, it just made me feel like a failure in comparison. I know that comparison is the thief of joy. It's just so hard to not naturally compare yourself to someone in the same industry....right?! A little bit ago, I decided to take up reading and writing again. When I was in middle school, I used to free read one book a day in the summer. I didn't go quite as hard core this summer, but I did revive my love and interest for reading again and I found inspiration in the words others wrote, rather than in the pretty pictures people posted online. I began taking notes in my journal, and even writing original quotes and content that I began to post on my art instagram account.  Here's what I learned:

Search for inspiration in music, literature, and within yourself. You have the ideas flickering inside of you already...it's just a matter of sparking the flame. I highly recommend keeping at least one journal to take note of your thoughts, feelings, ideas, and curiosities. It'll help immensely. 

I spent the summer interning as a Communications intern at my church. I know I don't talk a lot about religion on my blog, because I know that my followers all have different religious beliefs and perspectives. I totally get that. I will, however explain the reasoning behind my decision to work at my church this summer.

As I mentioned before, I ended the school year quite uninspired and I wasn't quite sure what to do about it. I ended up applying for this Communications internship thanks to my parents who really encouraged me to give it a go. I actually ended up with an amazing mentor, who taught me far more than I had anticipated going in to the experience. I learned so much about the Adobe products, and what it takes to run an organization in general. I fell in love with the culture of the organization, and I think that having been at an organization that is passionate about their work with ultimately the same end goal was really important to experience. Here's what I learned:

Ask questions. Don't be afraid to mess up. It'll happen. Sure, it can be embarrassing, but how you handle these situations will say a lot about you. If you can chuckle at your mistake, admit you made one, and learn from it...you'll be in pretty good shape. Everyone has something to teach you. You won't always work directly with everyone in your workplace, but they are guaranteed to know something you don't. Talk to them, and dig deeper. Challenge yourself to get to know your coworkers and find out what you can expand your mind on just by getting to know someone new. 

With doing this internship, I moved back home for the summer. My family and I are close, but this summer was pretty different. I grew even closer with my parents, which was very much needed. I appreciated their level of trust in me when I was out late hanging out with friends, or on photoshoots. And I appreciated their support as I went through the summer coming off from a very tough school year mentally, emotionally, and even physically. Just like any family, my parents and I have our arguments and times of trouble. But this summer, we really didn't even bicker at all. It was nice to have a strong support system that encouraged me to pursue my passions this summer with no hesitations. They are my inspiration. My dad works long hours to provide for our family and has an amazing sense of humor #dadjokes. My mom is the best volunteer I know. She dedicates the majority of her time working to better our community without any compensation whatsoever...it's just what she loves to do. And so here's what I learned from living with them this summer:

I learned that I value family way more than I thought. I mean...I've always valued family. But this summer proved that having a really strong bond with my family is pretty much everything to me. They were there for me when I couldn't be there for myself. And they were there for me when others couldn't be. And that'll always hold true. Families are powerful. Don't take them for granted. 

The last thing that I learned this summer deals with friendships. During my internship, I got to know a lot of people, but I made some new friendships over the course of those 3 months that I know will last a lifetime. I met a couple of gals who are not only so encouraging of each other and myself, but also of anyone willing to share their goals and passions with them. We talk about everything - our goals and passions, frustrations, worries, and successes with each other. It feels like we've known each other forever, even though we've quite literally only known each other for three months. And with that, I'll give you this: 

It doesn't matter who's known you the longest when it comes to friendships. What matters is who's going to be there through your toughest trials and your greatest successes. Stick with the people who don't disappear when things get tough, and those who will celebrate with you when things go great. 

Beyond these life lessons, I also got to recently work with Romwe. I snatched this green tee from them and it was very inexpensive! So if you're like me and ballin' on a budget...I would highly recommend them! I especially like how their styles range from chic, to edgy, to boho chic! Check out this top and more at Romwe.com. 

What did you learn this summer? Drop a comment and let me know below! 

xoxo