Tag: passion2014

Chasing Dreams, Year 5

Rhiza8 Comments

Year 5

This blog post has been waiting to happen since Monday night when I re-launched, but every time I try to finish it, I always end up fixing other things in the site (OC stuff). Anyway, here it goes, finally.

Welcome to the all new Chasingdreams.net!

As June 19 was approaching, the date of domain renewal for Chasingdreams.net, I had to think really hard and consider how I want to take this site moving forward. I have to admit, the thought of trading this *ehem* cheesy-sounding domain name for a more serious, professional portfolio-sounding one crossed my mind countless of times. But, needless to say, I just couldn’t let “Chasing Dreams” go.

And it’s not only because I’ve invested the past 5 years of my life in this site, or that I’m too lazy to think of a better name. Mostly it’s because my life advocacy and desire has grown deeply embedded within the two words that make up this domain name, which means it didn’t make sense to change my online brand anymore.

Granted I registered this site at a time I was feeling lost and directionless, needing an online channel for my own selfish purposes. But God has a way of turning things around for His glory, which is exactly what happened to this site.

And so we came to this point. Five years. Hey, that’s the longest I’ve kept a domain name in my 13 years of blogging! The first two domain names I owned lasted for a total of 3+ years, not counting the free-hosted blogs. Five years is a lot of time in the blogging community and I want to do a little victory dance for having kept it this long. At five years, I thought it was the perfect time to do this overhaul of sorts.

What’s New

If you’ve been reading/lurking on this blog for a while, you should be able to connect the dots. I’ve mentioned this “change” in this post when I decided that I needed to start fresh. When I talked about pursuing my passions at the start of the year, I knew that this is one of them. When I redesigned the blog in February, I also said as early as then that I was foreseeing major changes happening around here come mid-year.

Relaunch!

My desire for this site is to be a channel that would inspire others to pursue their dreams and the calling that God has for them. (While also pursuing my dreams and the calling God has for me.) For a long time I imagined doing this through blog posts and photographs, and through a generous serving of my life story. I want to believe that we can all learn from each other, and we can use these God-given experiences to encourage and inspire other people for His glory.

But while I was doing that, this platform has extended my reach to female bloggers, creative entrepreneurs, and men and women who have specific dreams and visions for their own businesses and their own blogs. People who, just like me, have something to say/offer and dreams to chase.

For people who, just like me, have something to say and dreams to chase.

And so I started helping people build their own online platforms, after office hours. I’ve began helping design their websites, blogs, and even special events. Most of my projects lately are collaborations with people who are aching to fill this same hole, who desire to help others find their niche, and their voice, online.

And oh. my. heart. It feels sooooo good. So good to exercise my passion in design, while also helping others, while also earning on the side. The monetary part is the cherry on top of the icing on the cake, but well, if I get to do something that doesn’t feel like work and it pays the bills too, why not right? :)

In the next few weeks I’m going to start posting my recent design work and building up my portfolio. I have many many many dreams for this space, and I hope you feel excited as I am. :)

To know more about my dreams for this site, and the road to getting here, feel free to read these related posts:

Halfway through the year, starting fresh

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Wow, it’s June, and the first week of the second half of the year is about to come to an end. This morning I found myself in a momentary state of paralysis, wondering where on earth the days went, and making a mental checklist of all the tasks, chores, dreams, drafts and photographs that have somehow piled up all over me these past months. Will I ever tick those items off my list?

Start Fresh May

(My instagrams from the month of May. I guess I didn’t need to ask where the days went.)

It’s actually my first week back at work too, after taking an entire week off to breathe and to reboot. Ahh, let me talk about that later. For now, I want to talk about starting fresh.  Continue reading “Halfway through the year, starting fresh” →

Where my trust is without borders

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We’re on Day 15 of our 21 Day Prayer and Fasting, and at this point I’m feeling very weak and tempted to devour the chocolates in the ref already! Chocolates and sweets are my greatest weakness, so are my worries and fears, so I decided to give those up along with food, taking only juices and soup, in order to hear God’s voice clearer during these 21 days.

And you know what? It feels good to be vulnerable. To be stripped off these things that give me comfort (yes, worrying comforts me the same way chocolates do) and allow God to speak to me and mold me during this time of inconvenience.

The lyrics of this song captures the prayer of my heart this 2014. Every now and then this song would play in my mind, and I’m immediately brought to a place of rest and profound assurance.

Oceans by Hillsong

Oceans by Hillsong. Listen. You’ll love it, promise.

To be truly honest, I’m not sure if I ever stopped being a coward. I may have taken bigger leaps and bolder steps these past couple of years, but sometimes it feels like the coward in me is still lurking somewhere inside my chest ready to jump out every time I’m on a crossroad.

And yet, here I am, committing myself to a life of passion this year, something I couldn’t possibly live up to unless I let go of my fears and stop being a coward.

God is teaching me to let Him be God

You see, we thought we got pregnant at the start of this year. My period was 3 days delayed, and 3 days may sound a little too paranoid for you, but not to us. I never miss my period. Never. It always comes on the dot, and the last time I missed it, we found out the very next day that I was pregnant.

That’s not to say that we don’t want another baby (babies!), we actually do. It’s just that, we don’t feel like we’re ready at the moment. We worry about the financial, physical, and emotional preparations we have to go through, to think we haven’t fully recovered yet from birthing twins. We decided to wait maybe another year before having baby #3.

I know that may be too much info to divulge, but I find the need to share an important lesson that took me about 72 hours of delayed menstruation to learn. I needed to learn to let Him be God. To allow Him to hold my timetable, and to leave it to Him to decide whether I’m ready for another pregnancy or not. My readiness is not my call but His; my job is to simply trust that He knows what He’s doing and His timing is perfect.

Long story short, I got my period the following day. My husband and I sighed in relief not because I wasn’t pregnant, nope, but because I knew that I got the lesson I needed to learn.

15 Days down, 6 More to Go

We’re sprinting towards the finish line of our 21 Day Prayer and Fasting. A part of me does not want this to end yet, but the other half of me is excited to celebrate milestones and answered prayers, and to receive clarity on important decisions we have to make as a family this year. God is going to make things happen in my life this 2014, and I’m confident that He will make me stronger and wiser in the process.

My One Word for 2014: Passion

Rhiza2 Comments

I’ve been making lists my whole life—on paper, in digital notepads and Word documents, even in my head. I find that making lists makes me more organized and productive, which allows me to accomplish more. This year is no exception. Somewhere on the pages of my journal I wrote down my dreams and goals for 2014, and if I would sum up in one word how I want 2014 to look like it’s got to be this word: passion.

It’s a scary word to use, I know. Passion is such a heavy word, and it scares me that I may not be able to live up to it. Ohhh but I’m ready.

This year is going to be the year I will pursue what I’m passionate about, in the same way I will rekindle my passion for what I already have.

Embracing new passions and chasing new dreams

The truth is, for the past 3 years I feel like I’ve given up some of the things I’m passionate about: Travel, photography, gadgets, collecting pretty things, adventures. The other thing I’ve given up is my disposable income, which is not exactly a “passion”, but something that funds my passions. Being a mother now and raising a family, I have to be purposeful in the way I use time and money, and my “passions” have to take the backseat. No more travels, no more impulsive splurges, no more unnecessary spending.

But hey, how can I complain about losing so much when I’ve gained so much more? And then it hit me. It’s not that I’ve given up my passions. It’s more like, the things I’m passionate about changed for the better. And surely I wouldn’t trade what I have now with what I used to have.

Soon as I wrapped my head around that obvious truth, it became easier to focus on what matters most, and to know what I’m truly passionate about. Everything else I desire to do is hinged on those important things.

#21dayfast

My husband and I are on day 4 of a 21 day fast right now. Yesterday as we were talking about our vision for this year, my eyes were suddenly brimming with tears. Happy tears. Expectant tears. Tears that come out from eyes that have seen in the past how God can make impossible things happen. Tears that bring forth clarity and assurance that God can make things happen again.

This is the year that I am going rekindle my passion for everything that God calls me to do. This is the year that I will pursue the things that make me restless at night, things that wake me up early in the morning eager to start the day. Anything short of that is not good enough.

Hello, passion. Let’s do this.