My Instagram Year : Embracing Change

Instagram is truly a very interesting life-tool. It allows you to be creative and design an “aesthetic” to your life and share that aesthetic for social proof. Leaving the debate of social media’s effect on our society aside, it’s honestly so eye-opening to literally “scroll” through your life. It’s like there are snapshots of each lasting memory of my life permanently framed for me to browse through. Sorry, I think this might be the death of you Photo Albums.

If you follow me on Instagram (@melhwang), you’ve followed along with me on my journey (and watched me hit milestones and experience things I am incredibly humbled by). When I first started my Instagram, I used it personally – still shouting out cheesiness, but photos were low quality, they weren’t curated, and they definitely didn’t have a “IG theme”. I was in such a different place in life. It still boggles my mind.

My point here is to show how change is inevitable, that we should embrace it, and how a year of Instagram shows just that.

This post is ultimately dedicated to how life changes so quickly – how it brings us on such an incredible roller coaster in the short course of a year. Seemingly, a year passes by so quickly – but when we truly stop to think AND LOOK at what we’ve done, a year looks like an entire lifetime.

So here it is, my timeline of Instagram – what happened to me in a year, what I’ve learned, and where I came from (my IG-infancy)

Most of my time, during this part of my life, was dedicated to only a few things: finding a job with my undergraduate degree, working in the nightlife industry, and pursuing the tail-end of my modelling career. Dave and I met in the nightlife industry and I had been working in it for the entirety of my undergraduate schooling. I became, dare I say, an “industry-girl” of sorts. But hey, it was great part-time job, I met amazing people, always commanded respect from my colleagues, and only had to work a couple hours over the weekend for pretty damn good pay. It’s felt like a long time since I quit the industry though so looking back is almost a shock to the system 

After graduating earlier in 2014, I had started a job at a new start up I’ll leave nameless (unless you already know ). I started as a content creator and slowly grabbed onto the role of Director of Operations after about 6 months (it’s a lot easier to climb up in a start up). It was here that I met 2 colleagues – who are now 2 of my best friends: Victoria (The Lust Listt) and Sylvia (Beautycakez) – that got me into “curating” my Instagram. I actually told them I thought it was vain to do so at first. Slowly but surely, I gave in, and boy do I eat my words now 

My job was amazing. I was traveling so often I felt like I was out of town more than in-town. It never felt like work because I loved what I did and was immensely passionate about the people I worked with and the goals we were trying to achieve. LA, Vegas, and Amsterdam, to name a few, were definitely business-trip highlights. I also got to jump back on the runway at World Mastercard Fashion Week and threw a closet sale with friends that amassed a 300-person line up (thanks to our Youtubers involved )

This is when I learned that all good things sometimes do really have to come to an end. I parted ways with the start up I treasured as my baby and I said a questionable good bye to my team that was the reason I woke up in the mornings. I was jobless again and a bit on the dumps. After a couple of days of hardship and heartbreak, I repurposed my energy towards my blog and enjoyed a couple months hiatus from working. I had the pleasure of working with some incredible brands and collaborated on projects I’m so proud to have participated in. My leaving the start up turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Having fully enjoyed a couple months of pure freedom and creativity, I was ready to hit the ground running again. Vic (The Lust Listt) and I took a “Bloggers Content Trip” to NYC to amp up our creative juices and I was back on the job hunt. That same month, I ended up flying back to NYC for an interview with another start up, but ended up accepting a job offer with Tube Mogul (where I currently work). A month after I accepted, I was on a plane to San Francisco to train at their headquarters. To go along with some big life changes, I decided to do a physical change as well. I had never cut my hair beyond a slight trim because of my modelling and decided to jump into a 10 inch cut to a lob. It felt liberating.

Before getting in-market with my new job, I took a 2 week trip touring China and Taiwan with my grandparents, parents, and Dave. It was a long but eye-opening experience and I cherished every moment I got to spend with my grandparents. They were a big part of raising me; but since they live in Vancouver, I don’t get to see them as much as I’d like to. I also became more dedicated to my IG-community, hosting my first #BrunchNBlog and continued to really commit to developing my aesthetic and my brand.

In December 2015, I decided to make another big physical leap and died my hair for the first time ever. It was nerve-racking and I still don’t have the exact final-product I’m looking for. BUT everything’s a process right? For me, it was still a pretty big change  I also hit 10K followers on Instagram and am still in shock from realizing that a whole 10 thousand people give a monkey’s butt about me and my life.

I hit 1000+ likes on this photo a couple days ago and realized that 1000+ thumbs actually looked at and double tapped this photo. LIKE WHAT?! 

And there’s my year. This online community has truly become such a big part of my life and family. I try not to fall victim to equating self-worth with online approval, but I have to say that the positivity has ENORMOUSLY outweighed any negativity I’ve experienced thus far. I want to thank all of you amazing friends for that 

So here’s to another year of change. I can’t wait to look back on this post when I’m making next year’s and see where life takes me!

Happy New Years loves !

Do you see Instagram as a sort of photo diary too? What did you learn from 2015?