beauty within the mundane

***(opening up this letter to the public since it is somewhat an "update") To: all my dearest friends By the time you are reading this letter, I'll probably be walking across the stage, having graduated, or celebrating with my friends at Chili's. In other words, I'm graduating (...or have graduated)! Four years felt so long in the present, but in retrospect, it feels so short. But I'm finally done! As I was preparing to write this letter I thought about all the faces I had the opportunity of meeting and the seasons I had the honor of suffering through. I reflected on past relationships I fostered and the new ones I formed along the way. To the current college students, I hope this letter will provoke you to better understand yourself and to challenge the status quo of your life. And to postgraduates and future me, I hope this letter will serve as a reflection and encouragement of a newly-graduates thanksgivings. (To be honest, there were many things I wanted t...

Hello Everyone! My name is David Hwang and I am currently finishing up my last semester in college at San Jose State University. I am pursuing a Bachelor of Science, in Business Marketing and a minor in Graphic Design. If you know me or have been following me for a while you are probably familiar that I have dabbled in the fashion industry and run my own clothing brand. This year as I come closer to closing another chapter in my life I have been reflecting a lot and refining my philosophy on what it means to be a designer, learner, and human being. After a lot of conversations and reflecting with my peers and creative community, I wanted to share my design and life philosophy: finding beauty within the mundane and the broken. Finding beauty within the mundane. A friend asked me recently as we were hiking, “what is the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen?” As I was thinking about this question over a span of a couple of days, I realized that I found the little things in my daily munda...

May his joy be your strength His sovereignty be your confidence And his timing be your schedule

Why do we hold back our love for one another? I talked with two friends, individually, and they expressed that love should not be held back. We hold back our love for someone or something because it stems from our "fear of" or scars and hurtings from the past. Fear of rejection, fear of your love not being reciprocated, fear of your feelings being discredited, fear of... And although these fears are very real and should not be invalidated, one thing we must understand is that love is not about you, it’s about the receiver: 1 John 4:18-19 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. Forewarning: (if you haven’t already caught on) the worst investment anyone can make is to love - it's a high-risk, low-return investment, and sometimes there aren't any returns. Another reason why love is such a terrible investment is that love should...

I’m inspired to share the beauties of your goodness Filled with such fragrance and pungency I speak, but only my words dilute and tangle the beauty that wraps your goodness Only faith could tell Only the cross could tell Only the writings of my heart could tell Only you could tell I’m contained, but you’re not And so even today, you carry me along the woods aligned with pine trees and flowers The smell I find comfort And even though I reflect upon the mirror with gloom A hideous creature, full of brokenness and pride You reflect yourself on the same mirror gloriously It seems as though my love for you is yet too faint Like that of the loved who shrouds in fear from the lover’s plans

Such a beauty is the life of Christ Finding one’s joy in the life of another Devoted and committed Such a beauty is the creations that I see The leaves change colors And the life that comes to be Such a beauty are the words of my life Giving shelter to my sins Wholly in repentance I bring them all to you Such a beauty is the glory that shines Upon the earth and in my life Heavenly gates splits open wide All these wonders that I know and feel Still I find myself trapped in me I know I know I know and I know Yet, again I’m still Me

Maybe it’s the fogs that keep me from seeing you Maybe it’s the music around me that breaks my focus from you Maybe It’s the illusions that chain me into an infinite loop Or maybe it’s just me. The strong humanly desire in me, to understand and reason with your world that you created The foolish heart that thinks he will find his own way in the world through others The thirst for more answer, more life, more meaning, and more of the world Yes, it is me. Like a drunken man, I fall weak into the hands of the devil Like water, easily manipulated into the shape of anything it fills to satisfy Conscious of my own death and shame, yet Encumbering myself because of my stubbornness, lust, desire, will, and ignorance How do I live as apart of the dead people and also judge those who are the living dead? How do I trick myself into smiling through the pain? How can my seemingly shallow mind be viewed as a positive influence? Is it possible for the dead to help the dead to live? Would that not be ...