#TheMeetupSpot

Spot Dessert Bar, St. Marks / East Village, NYC.

This past Sunday, there was another Instameet happening, and as much as I wanted to sit this one out, I couldn't pass up another chance to connect and network with other creatives. I was a tad late, but that didn't stop me.

We started our meetup at Spot Dessert Bar in St. Marks and spent around 2-3 hours there, just hanging out, taking photos, and talking. I knew just several people there from the previous meetups, so I didn't feel as on edge this time around, thank goodness.

When it came time for us to leave, we were on our way to walk towards the Williamsburg Bridge, and my goodness. From there, I did not prepare myself for what was to come.

See more photos and read more about my experience, after the jump!

#WWIM11 - #BushwickMeet

Bushwick, Brooklyn, NYC.

Words cannot describe yesterday's emotional rollercoaster of a day. If you follow me on Instagram (@cafechild), you'll know what I'm talking about. I got to experience things I never thought I'd experience, and was thrust into situations where I had to get out of my comfort zone in order to grow as a person. Unlike the meetup on Saturday, I came to this one alone, and it was seriously so terrifying. But as the day progressed, it got immensely better and getting to Bushwick was worth all of the anxiety and fear from earlier on in the day.

Thank you so so much to @acupofkeen, @emptyreyes, and @canahtam for hosting such a wonderful meet with this community of creatives! If you're not already, follow them on Instagram because they're all wonderful people.

Hear more about my experience, and see more photos after the jump!

#WWIM11 - West Village

Chalait, West Village, NYC.

Today I woke up at an absurd time, for an app. But not just any app, the app that's been a major influence in social media, and the app that we're always on, majority of the day. And I woke up to meet and hang out with some people that are a part of this app's community.

Overtime, Instagram has become more than just a social media app to me. It's become this beautiful place where you get to grow as a person, not just by yourself, but with other people as well, as a community. It's become this personal space for me to go back to, to relive the great moments I've had whenever I'm feeling down, or to relearn things I've forgotten about within my captions. I've been meeting more people, and making valuable friendships I never thought I'd make, all because of this wonderful app.

The majority of this meetup consisted of walking around a bit of the West Village, exploring, taking photos, and sometimes pretending to be tourists, all while networking and just talking casually with eachother. It was almost as if distant relatives all gathered together, and got the opportunity to spend time together and reconnect. I also realized that this type of setting was a lot more intimate than usual InstaMeets. But it was a great preparation, especially since I'm going to another InstaMeet tomorrow as well, where I'm anticipating it to be full of people. Everywhere. As someone who has serious social anxiety, just the idea of it is scaring the living hell out of me. But at the end of the day, I have to remind myself that everyone has gathered for one sole reason: to connect, and to experience what this community is like.

If you aren't following me already, you can head over to @cafechild on Instagram and do so! And to see some more photos of the meetup, search the hashtag #WWIM11WestVillage! I hope to see some of you guys at tomorrow's meetup in Bushwick; come along if you can!

(WWIM11 - World Wide InstaMeet 11).

Photo by Kyle.

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Tired

Home, NYC.

It's been several days, but I'm still here. Just a bit tired is all.

I've started to realize more and more now, how easily fatigued I get. I'm so unfit, I can't even run one block without having to catch my breath. I always try to tell people to take care of themselves, but I think it's time that I start trying to take care of myself too.

Because I live in a city where you need to hustle all the time in order to survive, it gets overwhelming really easily. Sometimes I feel this heaviness of the pressure of wanting to make it, and wanting to get through and not be left behind. But in the end, you need to remember that life's not all about that. If you can't take care of yourself, how are you going to go out there and try to take on life, let alone trying to care for other people. It all starts with these realizations that you can't do it alone, and as much as you can try to take care of yourself, you need that community, whether it be small or big, to be there with you, taking on life together.

With that said, I'm going to have to re-hydrate, relax, and re-evaluate some things. If you're in this same season as me, join me and breathe in, and out. Everything's going to be fine.

Photo by Kyle.

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