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Newsletter #34

Progress before perfection


Hi everyone!

Hope you had an amazing start into the new week and are taking care of your bodies. I recently (this past Thursday to be exact) pulled something in my left hip, so trying to take extra care these days. Stretching, foam rolling and strength training should still be integral parts of our marathon training as we ramp up the miles in the coming months. Looking to go to the doctor and massage therapist this week, so wish me good luck and all the healing energy.

I think I was still on the post-Hood 2 Coast high from that special weekend and instead of taking more days and time off, I started running again. I mean, in earlier times, that was totally possible, but my running in the past months has been kind of inconsistent and reckless. Jumping into races is probably not the smartest way to start training for a marathon (lol!). Anyways, what can I tell you from that weekend? How was it? It was amazing, exciting, but also stressful and really a lot at the same time. People got lost, ran additional miles, the organisation (from H2C) was pretty bad, but all in all, for everyone who never experienced Hood2Coast before, it was tons of fun. 

You're running alone, but with a team together all at once. You get to free your mind and run your heart out. You get to cheer on strangers and teammates. You get to celebrate and connect with like-minded folks. Of course, I was nervous going into this weekend, unsure about how things will work out. After having put so much work and emotional labour into this, I wanted everyone to have a stellar experience. And I am so so happy that I fought for more female runners. Something others took lightly, but I truly believe that having more diverse people part of this experience really changed the whole energy. 

Can I say it? I am just really proud of myself. I wanted to pull out so many times. The way I was treated, talked over, dismissed, ignored. Being the person who I am, I didn't want to stay quiet and do nothing about this male dominant space. I didn't create a team to enter a space in which our voices are left unheard. Sitting in a room with 7 men, being the only woman to advocate for women,  I didn't want to comfort myself with the 'I just want to run' mentality. It's so easy to say and do that. What a privilege. I recall an interview with Megan Rapinoe, in which she said something along the lines: 'when I go out to play, I know I have to play it twice. When I go out and prove something, I know I have to do it 2 times, for people to understand and get it.'

That's how I feel in a lot of ways, we as women (of color) have to put in 2x as much work in, have to prove ourselves so many more times. And when we do go out, we just don't do it for ourselves.  But for so many more women and girls to come. It would be too easy to go out there, run and train with the fast guys and call it a day. Nope, I am so much more interested in what we can do to sustainably create change in our community. Also, representation matters. And after that weekend, I realised too: that my hyper sensitivity is what allows me to grow and create change. That sometimes I just have to let go of all the people, who are not down for the mission, who are draining my energy, and who don't see the bigger picture. And in other times, some of them, can become allies.

I guess that's what you call progress.

On Deem

Back being a student - a blessing and a curse - is having tons of free time and your mind spread apart. Today and in this moment though, it is more of a blessing. It is exactly what I wanted when I left my job in New York and moved here to Berlin. 

A huge blessing was when dear (also running) friend Alice came to me and asked me to join her new endeavour: DEEM, a biannual print journal and online platform focused on design as social practice:

 

Deem’s mission is to expand the lens of design through trans-disciplinary editorial content rooted in dialogue and exchange. 

We believe that design is a fundamental shared experience and we invite you to inquire, learn, educate, and share with us.

For the month of July, you can find three new stories at deemjournal.com, including an introduction to our team that will hopefully provide more perspective on our shared intent for this publication. We also learn about independent and socially responsive media from the Bogota-based journalists of Mutante, as well as a strategic take on futuring and life on Mars with Los Angeles-based design studio Collective Future. 

You can follow us at @deemjournal for real-time updates.


I am incredibly excited to be part of the Deem family and together with them, create more meaningful spaces and narratives. Follow along and subscribe to the DEEM newsletter!

On Tour It Yourself

Remember when I told you that one of my professors hired me as a part time student employee at his own agency? Exactly that. So been working a few hours a week there and helping with little projects in marketing, press and social media. One of those is the tech + music app Tour It Yourself. Although it is only available in the German Apple App store (yes, everything is in German), it is still a pretty cool project. The TIY app helps independent musicians and artists to start off their career and aids in all things booking and concerts. And through this project, we were recently invited to the radio station Flux FM to talk more about our new app.

If you know a little German, listen in here. And follow us if you like.

Surprisingly, the visit at the radio station was so much fun and I felt such a high from it for the rest of the day. It helped a ton having my own podcast and recording previously, but being on air and listening to yourself through the radio definitely has a different feel to it. While I hesitated at first and didn't want to speak at all, both my bosses gave me an immense pep talk days prior which made me more confident to just go out and do it. Again, progress before perfection :)

Rihanna said it on Instagram recently as well: 
 

2020 is in 6 months. Don't let anybody waste your time.

And as if I wasn't a full time grad student as well... I quickly edited the next episode of my podcast last night, so have a listen and enjoyyy below.
This one is a special one :)

Love you lots and drink your water, have your massage, go out for a run and surround yourself with good energy!
xx

Huyen 


BTW: I am looking for a full-time, paid 3-6month internship here i
read more on gold to green

In the fifth episode of the podcast, I sit down with Patty Dukes and Reph Star from CIRCA95.

We talk about their family history and upbringing in New York, marathon running and running crews, culture, hiphop, Bob Marley, their work with schools and the community, the Boston Marathon, and so much more.

Copyright © 2019 goldtogreenmagazine, All rights reserved.

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Thị Minh Huyền Nguyễn · c/o korientation. Netzwerk für Asiatisch Deutsche Perspektiven e.V. · Rosenthaler Str. 39 · Berlin 10178 · Germany

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