From PA to CA

Welcome back to my party! I’m so glad you made it. It’s been a minute since I’ve posted at my “get-together” and I’ve wanted to be consistent with posting these articles but between the hecticness of graduation, senior showcase, visiting family and friends, and working, I was reminded that I needed to take a moment to be present and smell the roses. After graduating, I took some time to self-reflect and I realized that I truly haven’t taken a “break” since 2017. The last time I went on vacation was the summer before my senior year of high school and even during the COVID lockdown I never slowed down. My coping mechanism is creating art and working. It’s odd that I didn’t realize how much I needed a break until I took one. Having time to reflect on the past couple of years, the pandemic made me realize how precious and fragile life can be and it also showed me the importance of self-care.

When my parents came to Los Angeles for my graduation, they surprised my sister and I with a day in Disneyland. When I returned home to visit Pennsylvania, it was wonderful to take time to reconnect with people I haven't seen in-person for some time and it was a celebration with grandparents, close friends, my little pup Luna, and people in my former hometown. While I was in PA, it was so great to be able to witness true love at my cousin’s wedding, (Congrats, Courtney and Matt!), enjoy nature by doing some trail hiking, celebrating my graduation with a party, (Shout-out to my mother for making that happen, Love you!!), and taking time to just take a breath before running into my next adventure.

*Pictured above: Melanie Gillott pretending to intensely drive on the LA Freeway at Disneyland's Autopia.

Reflecting on this time, it is the connections and relationships that we have and make with people that matter in life. Human connection is essential and is something that I have missed so much. During this “downtime”, I realized that even though we have outlets like FaceTime, Zoom, and social media platforms that it can’t replace in-person human interaction. I think that is why the last few weeks have been wonderful. While it is difficult to face, I think burying myself in my work as a coping mechanism is difficult for me to say, but it is true. It’s difficult to unburden myself of this fact, but at times the burdens of the pandemic and just life in general are things that I often try to forget about but in reality I know that I can't. Let’s face it, social media is generally a place where we only promote the “glamour” and “high points” of our lives. The burdens we all face are often below the surface and it is often difficult to connect with people based on only what you see on a social media platform. So, with that said, I guess what I am saying is that just because somebody's life may look like a movie on their social media account, that doesn't mean that it is. You never really know what somebody is facing in their every day life. Taking care of yourself doesn't need to be extravagant--- the most simple things in life can bring the most joy. What is your go-to for a moment of self-care? And if you can't answer this, I challenge you to find one thing that you can do for self-care. Feel free to reach out to me via the contact button on this website. Let me know what your go-to is for self-care, I'd love to hear!

*Pictured above: Melanie Gillott with her little pup, Luna.

When I was on the airplane on my way to Pennsylvania, I was watching Hannah Montana: The Movie. (Iconic film.) Anyways, at the end of the movie when Miley is performing in her hometown she sings the song “You’ll Always Find Your Way Back Home” and while watching this movie again for the billionth time, I saw it in a different light. It is true: you will always find your way back home and even though I don’t know when the next time I will be home, what I do know is that my family and friends will be with me in my heart and that someday I will go back to visit, but when thinking about it I do consider Los Angeles to be my home now. Life is a roller-coaster and I am here to enjoy the ride. Let’s get this show on the road.

*Pictured above: Melanie Gillott at Disneyland's "it's a small world" attraction because "It's a small world after all." <3