Navigating Ambiguity in my 20s with Personal Values
Wayfinding: Isabella Grandic's journey to create things in the š
Last month I turned 20. I celebrated by unboxing a cobalt blue fjallraven kanken backpack, a brand Iāve loved since I was 12, also an ode to my passion for Swedish design and innovation. I then voyaged to my favourite coffee shop in Chapel Hill, Open Eye, and got the best order: a cappuccino with extra extra extra whipped cream.
I spent a few hours crafting a new personal website. A little project Iāve been working on ~every saturday at Open Eye. More to come :)
That evening I hosted a little āphilosophical tacosā dinner, where the ticket through the door was a Paul Graham essay.
Iām happy with the tone I set for my twenties:
an appreciation for great design / products (and bright colours!)
a nerdy, obssessive project
thoughtful gathering of people
In my last newsletter I talked about the priviledge of having many choices or paths in life. I have choices! Plural! Hundreds of Millions of people are still fighting for choice, singular. Out of respect for their fight for liberation, I want choice to be a thing I take on with great excitement rather than anxiety. I am lucky.
I want to honour that luck.
Choice, despite all the priviledge associated with it, is difficult for my brain to fully appreciate. On one hand I know how fortunate, and rare in the context of human history, it is for me, a woman and a foreigner in most rooms, to be pursuing such a rigorous education and dedicated career path. On the other, this is unprecedented territory and I donāt know what to do, all the time.
Thereās a tool I use to navigate this ubundant point in human history: personal values as my compass. I can use questions that precipitate value-re-allignment in my everyday moments:
What would the ideal version of myself do?
Who are people I admire and what do I admire about them? Can I embody some of those elements?
How can I be 10% more alligned with the most important goals in my life right now?
My currently strategy is to use my values as a compass as I map and navigate a life path less traveled. While my goals, opportunities and people might change a lot, my values give me a bedrock to to be comfortable within the ambiguity of my big dreams.
For the rest of this newsletter, Iāll share some life updates, advancements and thoughts inspired by the personal values I hold dearly.
Intellectual Growth
Personally I am SO EXCITED for Nobel Prize week. Itās probably my favourite time of the year: Iām deep into school, the oscars for nerds happens, and finally popular culture shifts a little closer to something I adore: science!!! Reading!!! Dorky news!!!
Some updates from these last few weeks that have been intellectually enjoyable:
Joining the Redinbo lab where Iām hoping to focus in on the microbiome as a tool for disease diagnostics (especially immune diseases that disproportionally affect women)
Continuing to work with Madiro (you can read about the project here). Recently Iāve had the opportunity to work on the backend of an HIV-AIDs and Adolescent Motherhood co-occurance intervention proposal.
I am totally nerding out in my inorganic chemistry and differential equations classes, both of which have amazing professors. I have so much gratitude for passionate smart people who share their wisdom with naive 20 year olds!!!!
Cutting a cake at a welcome dinner we hosted for international students at UNC. We were celebrating serendipity and our friend Sophiaās birthday :)
Connection
I get so much joy sharing things with other people. I was at a cafe with my friend and I brought raspberries, and for each one she took it felt like my heart doubled in size; I was SO happy that I could share something and potentially add bonus-moments into someoneās day.
^ Iām trying to do that more in general! Sharing some attempted bakes, meals, clothes, quotes, blogs, etc with people who come to mind.
Iāve also been connecting with TKS alumni on my podcast, Making it Real š§ø
Favourite connection tool of the month: elderflower concentrate, mixed with a little water. Itās a great wine alternative, a delicious little juice or even a nice base for lemonade. I use the concentrate my Grandma gave to me while I was in Bosnia in August, but IKEA also has a version!
Upcoming: autumnal appreciation dinner, with a literary appreciation circle, hosted on the day the Nobel Prize for Literature comes out š.
Creation
Every sunday since turning 20 Iāve created a 60 second reel inspired by a reflection or strategy thatās been impactful in balancing all my ambitions. I also made a video reflection of my last week being 19, and my first week back at uni: š§āāļø
Bonus: loved creating triffle cake with this angel foodcake recipe. It was a hit in my neighbourhood. I think the rest of the recipe may remain proprietary for nowā¦
Adventure
Adventure is one of the most essential values for my eclectic, vibrant, lust for life!
Since I last sent a newsletter, Iāve had some stellar life experiences (including some super scary ones that I wonāt cover here; my adventures are definently not perfect, and theyāve calibrated my naivety in ways I donāt know how to write about yet)
I want to give a special shoutout to:
Alice Namuli Blazevic for being my second mom, and the most amazing and inspiring person! I absolutely loved time with your family in Uganda and Iāll be forever grateful for all the support you offered š
The GrandiÄ and GvozdiÄ families in Serbia and Bosnia respectively. Spending a few weeks in the Balkans to end off my summer was beyond special. All the slavic ambition really made me feel less crazy in my magnitude of determination!
The best ice cream of my life while I was in Dubai.
120 seconds from my adventures in July/August:
Gratitude
Finally, sooooo much gratitude.
Thank you to Cassia for sending me a wax stamp kit!!! Coolest birthday gift ever!!! My hand written notes are going to become so unique now.
Iām super appreciative of Vinod Khoslaās medium essays. Especially this one on Liberal Arts Education.
COLOURS! Especially colourful food. Lately everything I eat looks like a rainbow and it makes me ridiculously smiley.
Finally, thank you to anyone whoās made it this far. I feel lucky to be alive at the same time as you. All the best until next time :)
*yes, this is in fact grammatically correct. Basically, to determine if you were to use me or I, remove the other people and see if the sentence makes sense. āMe in Beogradā makes sense, āI in Beogradā does not.
Likewise, āMy mom and I went to Beogradā uses āIā because āI went to Beogradā makes sense while āme went to Beogradā does not.
Now you know