19 Comments

1. This is soooo good!!

2. Happy belated birthday! 🎂

3. //…” I was two days into the retreat and wrestling with the boredom that comes with being without a journal, books, and technology in the middle of the woods.”… //This reminds me of the book, “*The Comfort Crisis*” by Michael Easter — which I highly recommend!!

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thanks for the book rec, sounds right up my alley! so glad this resonated with you :)

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My pleasure!

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May 11Liked by Cissy Hu

Love this! Your writing is beautiful and potential and meaningful. Love the concept of life experimenting. Puts less pressure on results

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thanks, Masha <3

here's to learning about ourselves > results

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Unattached either way. I like that. Glad you are enjoying China!

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getting freer and freer :) so much to share about the trip!

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"I’m committed to seeing my vision of redefining human flourishing in the 21st century through and helping others become more themselves — in whatever forms that present themselves and however they take shape." - very curious in what form this will take :)

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stay tuned 😉

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May 2Liked by Cissy Hu

It’s interesting, because I have leaned into experimenting and surrendering on Substack. Yet, I have recently started another project, where everything is new, and I don’t have that same grace of experimenting. I want it to be great, yesterday! 😆

So I’m learning to apply a bit more of what I embraced on Substack into other areas of my life.

It’s really interesting to see your perspective on going to China. I know I’m a foreigner in Japan. I don’t look full Japanese. It’s almost like a release of any kind of expectations. I know I’m going to mess up, and because of how I look I can easily play the foreigner card.

I am so so sorry that you went through racial prejudice. It must be scary to not feel safe because of how you look. And the confusion around belonging. My hope is for a better world, but I just don’t know. 😔

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have really enjoyed seeing your growth through experimentation and surrender on Substack! totally understandable on a new project – there's something beautiful about having Substack as a reference point that you can borrow grace from :)

so interesting to hear the feeling of relinquishing expectation as a result of how we look – my relatives often told me and my brother when we were young that our mannerisms gave away our American-ness. ironic that I often felt neither Chinese nor American

thanks for your love & support as always 🤍 I truly believing having these conversations and speaking our truths is the first step towards building a better world!

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Yo, friend of Vi’s here, I like your content! You mentioned you used to be fully destination oriented - I’m curious what specific outcomes were on your milestone list if you’re willing to share?

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thanks for reading, Yanik! a lot of them were centered around traditional milestones like career progression and growing my responsibilities which manifested as chasing promotions & raises or moving industries

a loooot of shoulding myself into doing what I thought I "should" do rather than take the time to understand what I felt called to do which left me grappling with existential dread

think you'd enjoy this essay: https://www.moremyself.xyz/p/should

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May 1Liked by Cissy Hu

Beautiful and inspiring! “Slowing up to slow down,” limiting our attachments and reconnecting to our core roots. Thanks for sharing your journey!

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❤️

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May 1Liked by Cissy Hu

Loving writing Cissy. Hope to see you after your return. Amy

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thanks, Amy – so much to share with you when we see you next! :)

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Happy Belated Birthday, Cissy! Congratulations on another very true-to-being-human article.

2 Quotes I deeply resonate with.

1. 'In our attempts to fill our days with variety, we inadvertently paralyze ourselves with indecision and dilute the experiences that matter most to us. We mistakenly worship freedom of choice when it’s abundance in time to live our lives to our fullest potential that we’re seeking.'

For me, when time is in service-care for another, we appreciate the value of our precious time even more. The scarcity of time can augment our creativity and the quality of moments as we're forced to consider how to spend this valuable asset more intentionally.

2 'For most of my life, I’d been walking the same path and now, slowly and then all at once, I had stumbled off the well-worn path and found myself traversing an entirely new terrain. Instead of clenching to the map that I’d always relied on as my guide, I’d traded it for a compass.'

Thank you. Happy travels! Revel and enjoy. Wishing you well.

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thanks, Victoria – and for your support as always ❤️

love that reflection. it's interesting how much more time I dedicate to being in service to others now as a byproduct of reorienting my time to being in service of nourishing my curiosities and visions for the world

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