Perhaps because it's election day, or because it finally feels like Fall in the city, but I have been thinking a lot about change lately. How I've changed mostly. I've been feeling a lot wiser (and older... which was bound to happen sooner or later I suppose). The things that inspire are changing. I like to think my taste is becoming more refined, more discretionary and critical. Or maybe that's just a fancy way of describing the feeling of being underwhelmed by the usual song-and-dance. I choose to believe the former. But there are always challenges within change: the all-too-humanistic need to hold onto the past, if not for nostalgia's sake but for the comfort of the familiar. I'm learning from my past mistakes and even though history has a way of repeating itself, I find the outcomes to be very different. And I like that. One thing that has not altered is my eternal optimism, and I am stoked to explore the opportunity that lies within every challenge. As I swap out tank tops for oversized cardigans, iced coffee for peppermint tea, and ballet flats for shearling boots, I cannot help but get a warm feeling all over and a tingle of nervous excitement in the pit of stomach for all of the new wily adventures, tumbling experiences, small victories that lead to winning the war, necessary tears, sweet romances, belly laughs, and those tiny yet immensely beautiful moments of self-discovery along the way.