The top 10 things online that are inspiring/comforting me rn

19/05/202009/06/2020Leave a comment

🎙️ How I Built This with Guy Raz (in the How I Built Resilience episodes, founders share how they’re navigating these turbulent times)

💡 At Home by The New York Times (one of the best resources out there on how to live a full life on lockdown)

📝 Liz and Mollie (love these whimsical, relatable illustrations about feelings at work)

🎨 Still Here Still Life (has got me drawing again after a 10-year hiatus!)

🌈 Some Good News (because laughing and smiling aren’t cancelled)

🎙️ Oprah’s Super Soul Conversations (because Oprah)

📚 Blinkist (the mindfulness blinks have been especially soothing)

💪🏽 MrandMrsMuscle (these HIIT home workouts have been a lifesaver since gyms closed)

🧑🏼‍🍳 NYT Cooking (recipes are easy and tasty)

🎙️ Sugar Calling (my fave Cheryl Strayed interviews authors who inspire her for courage and insight)

The problem with asking “what do you do?”

05/08/201820/02/2020Leave a comment

Me in 2011 on top of the Devil’s Marbles, a rock formation in the Australian Outback.

Lots of people have written about the importance of not letting your job title define you and I am finally chiming in. After recently reading the blink of a book called Minimalism, which argues among other things that each person is far more than just her profession, I realized I myself am guilty of asking people I meet the annoying question, “what do you do?”

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#MOOD

30/05/2018Leave a comment

Dear reader who I interviewed today for an article,

Thank you for following some of my work, telling me you appreciate my pieces and that you think I write well. I am grateful for the feedback!

Best,
Shelley

P.S. You made my day.

— Shelley Pascual (@shelleypascual) May 30, 2018

What it felt like to shave my head

14/05/201805/02/20201 Comment

On holidays in Costa Rica in 2008.

With the trend of women shaving their heads on the rise, I’ve felt compelled to reflect on what the head shave experience was like for me a decade ago.

Even in 2008, the shaved female head — which is rooted in ancient traditions and spans various cultures and beliefs — wasn’t new.

Britney Spears shaved her own head a year before I did. And before her both Grace Jones and Sinead O’Connor were baldies in the 1970s and 1980s, respectively.

But there hasn’t really been a movement in the past that’s similar to what’s happening now. Currently a growing community of women are dismissing the traditional notion of long hair being equated with femininity.

More and more, hashtags like #BaldiesGettheJobDone on social media are being used by a fearless group of females who dare to defy societal standards.

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Not just a journalist

06/07/201720/02/2020Leave a comment

Mountain biking in the Harz region in Germany circa 2015.

One key thing I’ve learned as a job seeker is that my identity isn’t entirely defined by my profession. Realizing this has been helpful for me in dealing with the ups and downs of carving out a career for myself (without the slightest idea how to go about doing it).

So yes, I’m a journalist, but I’m also…

a thrill-seeker
an avid reader of fictional literature
a mountain biker
a linguist
a nonconformist
a weight lifter
a mentor for those looking to go abroad
an artist / creative content creator
a baker
a vintage moped owner
a future motorcyclist
a former Corporate, Culture & English Trainer
a cosmopolite
an amateur cook
a trained graphic designer
a liberalist
a diary keeper
a chocolate enthusiast
a runner
etc.