Fashion and Style

I'm a huge fan of getting beneath the surface, of getting to know people beyond what they present to the rest of the world. Given my recent challenge-to-self of being more vulnerable and stepping out of my comfort zone, I thought it only fair to give others the opportunity too! I hunted around the Internet for a few questions, but I'm open to taking yours too (within reason ;) ). 1. Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest? Well, this is a tough one. Do I have to choose between having J.R.R. Tolkein over to tell me stories about middle earth, or a random person from a random period in life who could tell me all about how they lived? Since the choice is hard, I'll take the easy route and say - my best friend. 2. If you were able to live to the age of 90 and retain either the mind or body of a 30-year-old for the last 60 years of your life, which would you want? Oh, mind, definitely, provided that it retained the ability to grow and learn...

I don't know if any of the rest of you do this, but occasionally I find it interesting to go back and look at work I did in school. I was reading an essay I did for an introductory Philosophy class (God, Death and the Meaning of Life), and thought it may be interesting to share some snippets. Some of my thinking has changed - evolved - since I wrote this, but it's interesting to see what I still hold to be true. And the question is always a fascinating one - what makes our lives meaningful? What are we living for? What makes our lives meaningful? Have we lived good lives if we were �happy� throughout but made no significant achievements? Or have we lived better lives if we were miserable throughout but dedicated them to a worthy cause? I believe that in order for my own life to be meaningful, I need to be self-reliant and have self-love. I need to be happy with who I am, and have the love of the people important to me. I also need to be able to live for more than just myself. L...

We hope you�ve been enjoying the feature on Frazer so far! If you haven�t read the previous parts yet, you can catch them here and here . Today, Frazer will be answering some questions I threw his way. What are three principles that leaders should live by? 1.       Intense personal reflection 2.       Don�t give a shit 3.       Facilitate radical candor What three words would you use to describe yourself? 1.       Intuitive 2.       Active 3.       Controlling (see, not all roses and rainbows!) What�s the best advice that someone has ever given you? �Use your head� If there�s an aspect of your journey that has surprised you so far, what would you say it is? How quickly we can adapt to change Now-Frazer meets early-20�s-Frazer. What advice would you give him? If I could give my early-20�s �me� some advice, it would be to not listen to my 42...

In  part 1  last week, we met my mentor, Frazer Buntin, and learnt about his early life and education background. Today, he'll talk to us about his career so far. Work background Right after school, I worked for my father�s company for about a year. I wanted to see if the business clicked with me and additionally, my older brother, with whom I am very close, was there as well. My plan was to work and live at home and eat Ramen noodles to save as much money as possible for an epic adventure. I absolutely love adventure. I love adventure more and more throughout my life and also regret not adventuring more along the way. This particular adventure was about 3 months of tramping around New Zealand and Australia with a back pack and a $500 car that I bought off a cork board advertisement in the first hostel I came to in NZ. I hiked and camped and climbed mountains and fly fished and sat in silence for long periods during the middle of the day. One rainy afternoon, I simply started ...

We�ve all heard stories about �self-made men or women� and marvelled at their stories, and wished we were them. The truth, however, is that very few (if any) people are truly �self-made�. Be they negative influences or positive ones, the people in our lives, from birth to old age, have a large part in dictating who we are. The people who surround you are the people who also influence who you will be. It is always a good idea to be selective about the people you choose to let into your inner circles! Among the people who can have massive influences on our lives are mentors and role models � I�d like to introduce you to one of mine. I first met Frazer Buntin when I attended my first Beyond the Gates weekend at Sewanee. Frazer is a Sewanee alumnus who was assigned to be my mentor for the weekend. While we were unable to connect over the weekend itself, as he had to return home due to a family commitment, we found some time to connect shortly afterward, and I was impressed by what I learn...

How time does fly! I can't believe that my little blog is five - what a journey it has been! I thought it would be fun to look back on a few posts I've done over the years. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My first post  was an attempt to restart a blog that I had started writing four years ago - back then, it was more of an extended, and public mailing list. This was a week after I turned 20, and I think the 'new decade' brought me some inspiration to write that I'm still going on! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A few months later, I shared some pictures from a trip to the Masai Mara. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- During the spring semester that year, I did a few posts from a series I had posted...

A first job can be pretty terrifying - there's so much to do and learn, and often it can be hard to figure out how exactly to navigate this. Today's post will cover some tips that Brittany Macon , one of my best friends (and bias aside, an incredibly talented and intelligent young woman who will be graduating from Vanderbilt law school this May) and I put together after consulting with others who've had many 'first jobs', and drawing a little bit from our own experiences. Brittany presented a few of these tips to juniors and seniors at Sewanee during the 2017  Beyond the Gates  weekend, and we thought it would be helpful to share these with the rest of you too! 1) Network. Especially during your first few weeks, and even before you join if possible, make sure to network with and talk to the people you'll be working with. It can seem intimidating to reach out initially, but it will be worth it. Building on relationships will help you be more successful at work - ...

No need to panic, dear readers, you haven't missed the big two five. Trust me, you'd have known! However, the truth is that it IS less than 2 months away - and I'm also celebrating 5 years of writing as the Kenyan Nomad this year! Evidently, 2017 looks like it's going to be wicked fun!! What have I been up to since we last spoke? I spent 2 weeks out of my 3 week vacation in the U.S. with my aunt and uncle, sisters, brothers-in-law, and adorable nieces and nephew. (Yes, my sisters are all grown up and have kids now. When did that happen?!) I had a great time (although it sucked that I wasn't able to see my friends), despite the rocky start that entailed me spending an unplanned night in Atlanta the day I flew in. Winter in flip flops... not as fun as it sounds! What happens when you take two toddlers and a baby to the tree at Rockefeller Some of you may remember last year's post  where I stated my intentions for 2016. Broadcasting these actually did keep me accou...

"When you are at rock bottom, the only way to move is up." These are words we've all probably heard at one point or another - but how many of us have actually lived them? Meet Rohan Gandhi... Growing up, Rohan had dreamed of becoming a pilot. He had a passion for cars and planes, a passion that guided him to becoming a mechanical engineer. Aside from his professional aspiration, he also wanted to box professionally. While growing up, he was a victim of bullying, and was able to overcome an inferiority complex after he was inspired by the Rocky Balboa movies. Sounds like a story many of us can relate to, right? The 12th of February, 2004, was just another day in 16 year old Rohan's life - or so he thought. Who knew that a short span of 20 minutes would end up changing his life forever? A spinal  cord  infarction  is "a  stroke  either within the  spinal  cord or the arteries that supply it. It is caused by arteriosclerosis or a thickening or closing of ...