Interview with Maggie Lee on Gratitude, Self Love, and Growth
This is the essence of the conversation our founder, Alice, had with her friend, Maggie Lee about gratitude, self love, growth, and growth. The full podcast can be found on Spotify, Anchor, and Google Podcasts! All you need to do is search up “Pretty Little Joys”!
Here’s the link to our podcast! https://anchor.fm/alice-chiang/episodes/Episode-2-Gratitude--Self-Love--and-Growth-with-Maggie-Lee-ek7sck
Part One. Gratitude
Question 1 : What does gratitude mean to you?
Maggie: I think gratitude is one of the most powerful feelings that we can have. Everyone in the world has the capability of expressing gratitude and feeling gratitude. Personally, I practice gratitude because I like to recognize that there are many privileges I enjoy and many things that makes my life great! I think you can find gratitude in every little thing in life.
Question 2: How do you practice gratitude daily?
Maggie: I would write down three things that I am grateful for every morning. On some days I would send it to my friends and encourage them to send me something as well!
I also write diary entries on there or anything I want to talk about if I’m feeling it.
Once you practice it daily you would start noticing the little things in life (pretty little joys!) that you’re taking for granted, like having a bed to sleep on and having masks during the pandemic so on so forth!
Alice’s response: I journal at night! I would write down three things I am grateful for and three things that made me happy each day. Doing this before sleep REALLYYY puts me in a good mood and I sleep very well!
Question 3: How do you make time for journaling?
Maggie: I like to wake up a bit earlier so I can make time for myself before the day starts. For example, when I was in college, I would wake up earlier and do yoga, have a nice breakfast, and journal.
I would find a quiet place in a room or something and do it!
Question 4: How long does it usually take you
Maggie: About 10- 15 minutes!
Part Two . Checking in with yourself:
Question 1: How do you check in with yourself?
Maggie: I end my journal entries with positive affirmations and manifestations! I tell myself something like: “ you are going to make the most of your day, it’s going to be a good day.” Even though not every moment of your day is going to be great, I think it’s important to also recognize that there are also going to be good times! That’s why I do this little practice.
Alice's response: I’ve been feeling a bit more overwhelmed and vulnerable recently so I begin my day by asking myself three questions; how are you feeling, what can you do to make yourself feel better by one percent, and what are you grateful for? I say one percent because I feel like it’s sometimes impossible to go from feeling low to happy, but a little improvement is good enough!
Question 2: What is your go to thing to do to make yourself better?
Maggie: I like do things like exercising, walking my dog, doing yoga, going to the gym! I get to be in the moment and not worry so much about other things.
Alice’s response: : I would blast music and dance because something about dancing is so nice for me. It lets me release my emotions and my frustrations. I also have a go to energy food: MOCHI !! I love it and when I am sad I would go search for mochi and eat it :DD
Question3: Say you have a problem that’s bothering you. Do you think it’s a good idea to distract yourself from it so that it doesn’t bother you as much?
Maggie: It depends on what the problem is and what mental space you are in and one way to do so is to ask yourself “Am I mentally available right now to deal with this problem?
If you had a really long day or you feel very overwhelmed and you don’t have the mental energy to tackle that problem, then I would say that it is healthier for you to take a step back, do something else to relax, and come back to the problem when you are more prepared to do so.
Part Three . Self Love and Body Image
Question 1: How have you tried to love yourself?
Maggie: I used to not have a very good relationship with my body image and around a year ago I decided to work on that so that I can really live my life to the fullest.
My self- love journey involved slowly loving the body I was born with. One way that I was able to do that was through treating myself the same way I would my daughter. If I had a daughter, I would tell her that she’s beautiful right, so I try to do that to myself too.
It also involves appreciating my body, the body that has helped me accomplished so many things. It helps me walk, it helps me experience the beautiful things in life!
Question 2: Why do you think it’s important for girls to love their body?
Maggie: I feel like a lot of girls these days lack confidence in their body because of societal pressure to look a certain way. Michelle Obama once said this quote: “A women’s value goes up with how little space she takes up in this world.” As a society, the beauty standard is for women to be skinny and small. There’s also this tendency for us to compare ourselves on social media. So its increasingly important nowadays to nourish the inner child within us and give ourselves the care and love we deserve.
Question 3: how do you think we can you know foster a more supportive community where we can encourage people to break these social expectations and embrace their body?
Maggie: You can never tell how someone feels about their body unless they say it so I think its important for us to be mindful of what we say, whether it be a judgment about our own selves or about others.
Alice’s response: I also think a way to foster a more supportive community is to start with ourselves and with the people around us. Spread more encouragement, more positivity, and you know hype your friends up! Compliment them tell them they look great! It can really make a difference.
Part Four. Meditation
Question 1: How did you start meditating?
Maggie: As of now, I listen to guided meditations instead of meditating by myself. Although I do hope to be able to meditate one day by myself, I think guided meditations is a good way for me to start.
I also picked some meditating tips up from my friend, Emily! (shoutout to Emily !) For example, I would sit on a little cushion that supports my back, which makes meditating more comfortable for me.
I usually do a 5-10-minute meditation, but if I am feeling particularly stressed out I would do a 20 minute meditation.
Question 2: What have you learned about yourself during the process of meditation?
Sometimes, I have trouble focusing on my breath during the meditation because it can be hard to not think about anything at all.
But I have learned the practice really does make improvement and I choose to always just make the most out of my meditations.
Alice’s response If I find myself wandering off, I help myself by choosing to stay present in the moment. I would tell myself to focus on what’s important, which is to let myself breathe and relax.
Part Five. Growth
Question 1: I see growth as a process of slowly becoming who you want to be and making an effort to do so. What about you? How do you view growth?
Maggie: I view growth as an upwards squiggle! I heard this from a podcaster and it really resonated with me. There are going to be bad days on your self-growth journey, but if you are making little bits of progress each day, you are on the right track!
I also believe that everyone comes into my life for a reason. Even if someone had a negative impact on your life, they probably taught you something that you didn’t know about yourself before.
Alice’s response: I think that life is what you make of it. You are constantly paving paths to your future, and you can choose what you want in your life. (yes, you have this power to trust yourself and choose happiness!)
