half moonshine, full eclipse || summer diaries #2

3rd Jun 20242nd Jun 2024 maya rajesh38 Comments

I was in class the other day (yeah not so much summer BREAK, but it’s just summer) when my physics teacher started on this mountain analogy. My friends don’t like him because he’s prone to incessant yapping and once he begins… he does NOT stop. But this one sort of stayed with me.

He said that we’ve just climbed one mountain (finishing half of high school.) For us, it seems like we’ve reached the peak – it is, after all, the culmination of everything we’ve been working for these past two years. But why assume life is just one mountain?

We’ve got infinite mountains ahead of us, and sure, some may be taller, some may be little hills, but they’re obstacles all the same. They’re milestones, even.

And we did it, we finally climbed our first one. But if we’re solely focused on the next one, we’re just robots; we don’t spend any time cherishing what we have, or what we did. So yeah, it’s important to look forward but I think it’s just as important to stay rooted to the here and now. What’s life without a little celebration?

summer diaries #1: the weakest shade of blue🌀

20th Mar 202420th Mar 2024 maya rajesh23 Comments

I hate this feeling.

This terrible, gnawing feeling inside of me. It’s bittersweet and nostalgic, and I cannot, for the life of me, put my finger on it. But I know I hate it.

The closest thing I could find to describing this inexplicable feeling was the Pernice Brothers’ The Weakest Shade of Blue. It strikes a chord in me; it pulls a string I didn’t know could be strung.

It’s the feeling of an ending. Yet, the start of something new. It’s how you feel when you’re seeing someone for presumably the last time. Or you think of what could have been. When you graduate. When you’re on the fence, and you decide to leap.

And I’m leaping.

Because while things are ending, the weakest shade of blue means
the start
of something new.

my how-to guide on multitasking 📝 [ft. a little life update]

5th Aug 202317th Aug 2023 maya rajesh16 Comments

I read a poem the other day which asked a question that stuck with me: what statistic from your life would you most like to see? It’s one of those whimsical questions, but this was my personal favourite answer – how many hours have I spent doing nothing, and not feeling guilty?

I could probably count that statistic on one hand. But gosh, I wish it was more. And if you’re anything like me, you’re also perenially immersed in lists of obligations, tasks, and the worst of them all: deadlines. I’ve been there one too many times. In fact, I’m still there. Still trying to worm my way out of it all, and stay focused on what really matters.

It’s still the middle of yet another crazy week. We just finished up with a couple of events, went on a day trip to another city (which is where the sunset is from,) exam results are nearly all out, and I have a long, long list of performances all through August. And so, inspired by this current state of craze, here you have it:

A How-To Guide on Multitasking [Maya’s Version] –

summer diaries #1: and yet, we march on || new beginnings & change 🌱

17th Apr 202317th Apr 2023 maya rajesh18 Comments

2023.

In all honesty, I’m still taking it in.

I kid you not, two weeks ago, at around 11 in the morning, I was updating my Goodreads and needed to change the ‘read’ date and on the dropdown menu, it read “April 1” and I went berserk. There is no way it’s already April. We’re already more than three months in.

Time never ceases to amaze me (as I’m sure anyone who knows me knows.) My friends and I have been in awe – freshman year of high school is already over. It seems like yesterday we were all nervous in that giddy-excited way, making our way through the gates, and seeing each other after summer break…

And we’re here. It’s summer again. Except I’m going to be a year older soon. And I feel myself trying to hold on to the memories, relish the moment but it’s like grasping for water: you have it for a moment, you feel the coolness on your skin, and just like that; it’s gone.

I write this a couple weeks after a terrorizing set of finals (you wouldn’t believe the relief) and my life just has all this empty space in it – it’s the perfect time for me to pick up a new project, or write some songs, or finish editing my draft… but I find myself unwilling to do something “productive.”

Because, after all, we all need a break sometimes don’t we? (aka, me trying to justify the fact that I haven’t posted since last year. Yes, I’m aware.)

my 2021 bookshelf || the best books of the year || life & literature ep. 10

30th Dec 202119th Jan 2022 maya rajesh44 Comments

2021 can be marked as the year I fell in love with reading again – the year I realised how much impact books can have on your life. From setting myself a goal of reading 70 books earlier this year to actually finishing all those books ~~well I’m still reading the last one, but there’s~~ ~~time~~ I’ve enjoyed the entire process of reading them.

It actually started with my Cassandra Clare obsession in late 2020 – where I binge-read the entire Mortal Instruments series. I remember being in my grandmother’s house and just reading all. day. long. By early January, I’d finished the series and started on the other three trilogies and was done by the end of February.

It sort of marked the beginning of new reading ‘era’ for me – after my middle-grade fantasy phase and I have read so many good books this year. Obviously, credits to all the book bloggers out there who put out amazing recommendations, and thank you to Goodreads and StoryGraph for all the stats.

I won’t be able to mention all 70 books I read this year, but I will be mentioning the biggest surprises, some books that literally changed the way I look at things, and books I absolutely adore. Let’s get to it!