Life with julia

My friend and I love following those types of accounts on Instagram that feature beautiful prose paired with visually pleasing photos (@latenightsinthecity is a great example). It’s the type of stuff that’s easy to read and digest, yet makes you stop in the middle of mindlessly scrolling on Instagram and really think about life, love, friendship, or fate (they all usually revolve around one of these topics). The other day, she sent me a post that had this as the caption, and it’s something that I haven’t stopped thinking about since: “There’s an alternate reality where today would be your wedding day if you didn’t break up with your ex or you went to your second choice school. There’s a life out there that you could’ve had where you live in a beach town or you married your high school sweetheart or you’re a professional horse rider. The point is,…

In my three or so years of regularly practicing yoga, I’ve learned a lot. And not just about how to do certain poses, or how to stretch a certain way. There has been much more beyond a downward dog and beyond the physical practice. The lessons extend off the mat, as corny as it is to say. The instructors — anybody who leads a class — always talk about taking away what you learned on your mat and applying it to life off your mat. “Your practice doesn’t stop when the class is done,” is what we’re commonly told. “Take what you learn, and carry it with you, for the rest of your day.” So, I’ve often asked myself, “What have I learned from the flow and from this spiritual practice? What have I learned from the breath and the energy?” I think there is a lot — the importance…

I have this Google Chrome app downloaded on my computer and it’s called Momentum (it’s gotten pretty popular over the last couple years, so I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve heard of it). It essentially replaces your typical Google Chrome tab background with a new landscape and every time you open a new tab, you’re greeted with the time, the words “Good morning/afternoon/evening, [Name]”, and a fresh quote that they pulled from an online source. The other day, when I opened a new tab, a quote by Socrates came up: “Beware the barrenness of a busy life.“ That stopped me in my tracks and instantly got me thinking. Because I have always thought of my life as being constantly busy. Workout classes, dinners or drinks with friends, meetings, appointments — the schedule is always jam-packed. And the crazy thing is that I liked all of it. I liked having one…

I used to absolutely hate this phrase, despite being the positive all too cheery person that I am. Everything happens for a reason. I’d hear it said to others, or people would say it to me, and I would almost always instinctively do the biggest eye roll, an eye roll so big that they’d practically come out of my head. I used to think it was the most cliché phrase ever; I used to associate it with something that people would tell each other (or themselves) every time they wanted to feel better about themselves. But recently, at least in the past few months or so, this phrase has started to grow on me. I’ve started to believe it. I’m not sure if it’s Fate or Destiny that is the ‘it’, but I believe that if you take one job over another, it was for a reason and will have…