You can tell it’s been a busy year if the last time I wrote was literally 1 year ago today.

SO much has happened, all in the backdrop of a worldwide pandemic. I never even thought such a thing was truly possible, but neither did much of the world it seems.

It’s been an interesting year to say the least- a true year of adaptation, learning, surviving. I sit in an empty lobby of the Four Seasons Carlsbad Aviara in Carlsbad, CA, awaiting the barista to open in a few minutes so I can start my day with my usual obligatory black coffee. This weekend has been an awesome celebration of my 41st birthday, thanks to my wonderful wife Sarah who planned this whole weekend for me! It’s rare these days for me to be able to steal away to have some “me” time, and right now is one of those moments. I’m in my happy place, sitting right here, writing.

These days, much of everything has seemed to blur together in terms of work, play, and all the life that happens in between. Since the pandemic hit right as I turned 40 last year, we’ve been in a survival mode of sorts. We moved out of Santa Monica last September to save costs (and because I would work remotely anyway on an ongoing basis). My sister and her fiance Ryan moved into our triplex and have had to postpone their wedding to October. We’re all living together on what I call the “Hwang compound,” thriving best we can in the world environment today. I converted one of my garages into a gym, and that’s where all of us spend some time every day.

A typical day for me looks like this:

• 4:45a-5:30a – wake up with no alarm clock, because I went to sleep at 9pm the night before, and/or Mason wakes up early (I used to NEVER go to sleep that early!)
• 5:30a-6:30a/7a – cardio or lifting depending on the day
• 7a-8a – if a work meeting hasn’t already taken up this time slot, I shower, eat, and get ready for the day
• 8a – 5/5:30p – typically nonstop work with back to back meetings. On lucky days I will have some time between my meetings to actually do work, or perhaps eat something.
• 5:30p-6:30p – take Mason out for a walk, or play with him (take over as Sarah’s spent all day watching him)
• 6:30p-7:30p – dinner
• 7:30p-8p – Mason goes down for the night
• 8p-9p – the 1 hour of the day Sarah and I can hang out together before doing it all again the next weekday

Needless to say, the weekends are precious. I almost say that these days, weekends are almost more busy sometimes, jam packed with LIFE that we could not get to on the weekdays. On most Saturday mornings, I get in my M5 and trek across LA to Santa Monica as there’s usually no traffic. I go there to get a 7am massage at Santa Monica Sports Medicine, which has been my lifesaving massage therapy throughout this pandemic as an “essential service.” This is my weekly solace, just me and the road, where I oftentimes just relax, an observe the world around me. This kind of driving is a meditation of sorts to me these days. My morning excursion rejuvenates me for the week. Each weekend is a celebration of life, oftentimes with my sister and Ryan. It’s a lot of fun being able to do life together with my sister and friends in our little spot in Eagle Rock. To us it’s been a boon, an island, a shelter and an escape from the tumultuous world outside. It’s also been a financial hedge in this crazy time. With minimal living costs, and the benefits of space and proximity to a lot of LA, it’s actually perfect for our living situation right now.

Sarah has started a new entrepreneurial venture in event production called “Create Your Fête”! (I came up with the name hehe) It’s a company that specializes in creating experiences for small to mid-size gatherings. She’s working together on this idea with our friend Frankie, who has a keen sense for design and style. I have a good feeling about this business, and it’s exciting to be able to support it and see it start to grow.

I’m of course thankful to have a job that can support us all and keep our dreams alive. It’s long hours, and sometimes difficult people, but it’s probably the most lucrative corporate job I could have landed during this time given my background. I’ve ousted much of my imposter syndrome that I experienced in the beginning, as I received a positive review and a raise in my first year at the company. We’ll see where this goes – it’s provided stability for our family but at the expense of my time to be with the family. While I know that’s a surprising thing to even be considered, it’s always been my objective to be around for family as much as possible, especially during Mason’s formative years. When 40-60 of those hours are stripped away from us each week, that is a problem. While that may be normal for most folks, that’s not OK with me. Call me privileged, sure – but I think every person deserves to live their best life always. If that’s not worth striving for, I don’t know what is. The monotony of mediocrity can turn anybody into a zombie. That’s no way for anyone to live.

In the event any of my corporate denizens are reading this post (which I’ve discovered I actually have to be careful of these days), I won’t go into details on my true plans here – but I will say that the corporate life is not meant to be lived longer than is truly necessary, at least from my standpoint. If time was of utmost importance in my past before I joined this company, I have realized even more just how important it is, and just how much more scarce it has become. This time is not meant to be spent on Zoom calls for 10-12 hours a day, whether you’re working in a corporate environment or as an entrepreneur. I know this is how much of the world operates these days, but I think there is a need to put the brakes on this kind of robotic lifestyle of serial meetings and work.

In any case, I’m not here to write about work. I’m here to write about LIFE!

I’m reminded this weekend of the greatness of LIFE out there for us to experience, if we allow it. I will return in a few minutes back to our suite where room service, a day of fun, good food, exploration, and LIFE happens.

One of my goals in this next year as I turn 41 tomorrow will be to write more often than once a year in this blog. Writing is my release and therapy, and I’ll need a lot of this during this next year.

More to come!