What we did with a $27,000 pay rise

From June to July this year, my husband and I were both very fortunate to receive a pay rise: an increase of $14,000 for my income, and an increase of $13,000 for his. Our last combined pay rise had been $6000 in 2019 (a story I share in the first edition of my book), so we were stoked to have more than quadrupled this number with a combined pay rise of $27,000!

So what did we do with it? Here are the four things we did with our extra income.

Sponsored a child

I’ve always wanted to sponsor a child. Prior to quitting my banking job, I managed to sponsor a child briefly before giving up my main source of income at the time for the sake of my mental health. With my $14,000 pay rise, I was delighted to be in the position to sponsor a child again! I signed back up to World Vision’s child sponsorship program and am now the sponsor of a 9 year old girl in India, helping to provide clean water, nutrition, education, healthcare and hope to her and her community for $50 per month.

Started studying

I graduated with my Bachelor’s degree almost a decade ago, and had been wanting to study again to learn something new, upskill, and gain another qualification that might help me further my career. I signed up to study a national certificate through Open Polytechnic, an institute that offers online and distance learning. While I have always needed to pay for my studies with a student loan, this time I simplified the process by paying cash for my first course, which was $500. The next course is $600 and the course after that $800, which I will also pay cash for - skipping over all the paperwork otherwise required in the process. It is refreshing being able to skip all the admin and not have to rely on Studylink to help pay for my studies! Bonus: completing my certificate online means that I’ve been able to study during evenings and weekends, so that it doesn’t disrupt my work at all.

Increased our savings

Although we managed to save 40% of our income while we were saving for our wedding and honeymoon, since getting married, we’d returned to our default saving strategy of 20% per the 50/30/20 rule. After we got our pay rise, we created a new savings account called ‘10%’.

Now, every fortnight when we get paid, we send 20% to our savings as usual - then send an extra 10% to this account. We do our best not to touch it, using it only if an important, unexpected or urgent expense comes up, and at the end of the fortnight, we send whatever is left to our savings.

This has worked incredibly well, and means that we are now saving 25% to 30% on average while always saving at least the minimum, fixed amount of 20%!

We’ve also increased our savings slightly with another new account…

Started a baby fund

Yep! We recently made the big decision to start a family in 2022/23, and have started a baby fund!

We are starting small, with $100 per fortnight going to our new savings account (named ‘Baby’, featuring a cheerful baby smiling adorably). Over the next year we’ll create a new budget, accounting for things like new baby expenses, specialist appointments, maternity clothing, prenatal supplements, and living on a reduced income. While we definitely have a lot to learn, we’re feeling very hopeful and excited for what’s to come.

If you’ve also received a pay rise recently, I hope this has given you some ideas on how to spend it meaningfully. Of course, if you haven’t quite figured that out, you can always do what my husband did with his $3000 pay rise in 2019: hide the pay rise from yourself! Simply calculate the actual dollar amount difference between your previous net (after tax) income and your current net income. Then, set up an automatic payment to send that exact dollar amount from your chequing account to your savings account every pay day. You’ll avoid the slippery slope of lifestyle inflation, while boosting your savings rate!

I hope this has been helpful. If you have any thoughts, please feel free to comment below, or contact me on Instagram at @mindfulwithmoneynz.

Sophia

Lockdown diary #1: staying sane with books, TV & ASMR

Happy Sunday! It’s officially our second weekend in lockdown in New Zealand. Compared to our first lockdown on 26th March 2020, this lockdown, I’ve somehow found myself feeling more restless. Perhaps it was that the first lockdown gave many of us the chance to slow down, spend time with loved ones, devote ourselves to our personal projects, and look within - something many of us didn’t realise we needed. When I look back, I remember fondly how heartwarming it was to see people collectively making dalgona coffee, baking banana bread, working from home for the first time, and exploring a whole new way of living.

This lockdown, my husband and I are both working from home full-time. We live with my husband’s best friend who isn’t currently working, and is also fully vaccinated, so he has helped get groceries for the three of us. At night, we cook and share warm, hearty meals and enjoy a good TV show. Life is quiet, peaceful, ordinary; yet I still find myself caught up in moments of stress, anxiety, and negative emotions - some of which are lingering emotions from past trauma earlier in the year, and some I can only attribute to our current climate of uncertainty. It’s sometimes hard not to spiral, catastrophise, and wonder, ‘What if…?’

If you could also use a distraction, today I’d like to share with you six things keeping me sane this lockdown.

NEON

This lockdown, I thought I’d be cheeky and sign up to a free trial of NEON just to watch The White Lotus. I’d heard of the show from reviews of Nine Perfect Strangers, which my husband and I are enjoying on Amazon Prime (we got it for free when we upgraded our 2degrees internet plan). After binge-watching The White Lotus, I signed up for a subscription because I was so blown away by the amazing variety of movies and TV shows - most of which I like more than the ones on Netflix! There’s Broken Hearts Gallery, a quirky, whimsical romantic comedy. There’s Bombshell, the star-studded movie about the Fox News sexual harassment scandal. There’s bloody Game of Thrones! On my list are The Discovery of Witches, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Five Bedrooms, with more to come, I’m sure.

If you’re curious, you can grab a 14 day trial at neontv.co.nz. I got the annual subscription to save $31 per year ($15.99 per month vs. $159.99 for the year).

My reading stack

In our first weekend in lockdown, I finished Before You Knew My Name, a dark, soul-stirring thriller by New Zealand author Jacqueline Bublitz. Over these two weeks, when I haven’t been reading comforting books that help me stay calm and balanced, fiction has been my go-to choice for escapism. I’ve just started The Covered Wife by Wellington-born author Lisa Emanuel, another thriller that I’m really enjoying.

Next on my reading list is The Girl and the Goddess, Nikita Gill’s magical story in verse inspired by Hindu mythology - a story sure to inspire awe and wonder.

ASMR / ambience videos

Recently, I have become weirdly addicted to ASMR / ambience videos on YouTube. It started with video recommendations for RainRider Ambience and Alley of Ambience, which I immediately fell in love with. These 3D soundscapes are so soothing, not to mention beautiful to look at! They also provide a very welcome escape from the reality of being home 24/7 with nowhere to go. I love having a video playing on the TV in the background, so that even while I’m working, I can imagine I’m relaxing in a cosy spring garden or having a picnic in front of the fire by a waterfall - all with the sounds of birdsong, flowing water, and crackling flames.

If you’d like something more ethereal, you can also transport yourself to an enchanted forest. Reminiscing your travels? There’s gorgeous cultural locations, like a Japanese onsen.

Trying new recipes + supporting local businesses

In times like these, I feel extremely blessed that we still have access to supermarkets and meal kit deliveries. My husband and I have been using HelloFresh for years, but this lockdown we’ve decided to expand our repertoire and try out new recipes we wouldn’t normally try. Trying new things helps infuse fun and novelty into your life, no matter how small. Last night, we made a delicious Chocolate Toffee Pudding with Poached Pears. Coming this week are Cherry Cream Pancake Stack and Spiced Carrot & Nut Cake with Orange Buttercream Icing. How good do they look?! If you’re keen to try HelloFresh for the first time, you can score $100 off here.

Another company I’ve supported this lockdown is EcoRoll, who make cashmere-soft, environmentally friendly bamboo toilet paper. They’re wrapped in colourful designs that will definitely brighten up your bathroom! To me, this was a great alternative to going to the supermarket for toilet paper that may or may not have all been bought by panic shoppers.

Keeping busy with passion projects

Every lockdown, I try to stay busy by immersing myself in things I am deeply passionate about. It makes time go by quicker! This time, I’m proud to have created this very blog and online store, mindfulwithmoneynz.com. I’m going to sound like an ad, but I was truly surprised by how easy it was to set this up on Squarespace. It took three days from start to finish, including choosing a design template, personalising the colours, uploading my book as a product, setting up e-commerce with Stripe, transferring blog posts, creating pages & categories, and more.

The book itself has been one of my passion projects over the last few months - I am currently writing the second edition, soon to be released!

When I’m not blogging or writing my book, I do my online study - which is less of a passion project and more personal development. When I get easily distracted, listening to binaural beats or planting a tree helps.

Gratitude

Cheesy I know, but gratitude is a powerful way to pull ourselves out of a dark place and overcome something us humans all have: negativity bias. Gratitude turns what we have into enough when we actively focus on the small, positive things in life. What is going right, instead of what is going wrong. Plans that are going as we’d hoped, instead of falling apart. Things that remain steady and consistent in our life, despite spontaneous erratic changes in our external world (like sudden lockdowns).

I have my struggles with overcoming negativity bias, which is why I write in a gratitude journal every day. It’s a habit that’s low effort, high reward: making myself list three good things that happened in my day every day is a small price to pay to literally transform my mindset into being more optimistic, open-minded, and adaptable to change. A bonus is that, on bad days, it is uplifting to flip through and remind yourself of all the good things that have happened that you would’ve otherwise forgotten about!

Here are my three things that I’m grateful for, not just today but for the whole of lockdown:

• I’m grateful that during a global pandemic, I am safe at home, with everything I could possibly need: a warm, dry home, heating, fresh food, my laptop, access to entertainment and education, books, and the time to read, write, create, and dream.

• I’m grateful that I work in an essential service, and don’t have to worry about income. I’m grateful that many who may need it can get financial support and mental health support too.

• I’m grateful to be in a country that has absolutely excelled at their COVID response - we’ve made international headlines for how successful we’ve been at effectively having eliminated COVID previously, which gives me hope that it will happen again. I know we have received criticism for locking down the country over 1 case, but it was clearly a wise decision given that number has now increased to 429. That makes me grateful to be in a country where we’re constantly encouraged to wear masks, use contact tracing, socially distance, and be kind.
  
  I watched a YouTube video of someone who has experienced lockdown both in California and in New Zealand, and describes how much better it has been in New Zealand due to our ‘team of 5 million’ mentality and clear, communicative daily updates from the government. How blessed we are to have lived life perfectly normal for the past six months, when we could've had it worse.

I hope you’ve found a few ideas and inspiration to stay sane, happy and healthy this lockdown. To those in New Zealand living south of Auckland, I envy you for being able to move to level 3 from Tuesday! To Auckland and Northland, kia kaha 💗

Love,

Sophia

Five books to read in lockdown

Last week, on August 17th, I was celebrating my birthday with my husband when the unexpected happened. We were at our favourite local Italian restaurant, enjoying creamy seafood marinara pasta and lamb gnocchi paired with prosecco and old-fashioned. Earlier that day, news had spread that there’d been a positive COVID-19 community case in New Zealand for the first time in six months.

The TVs in the restaurant were all playing the 6pm government announcement, and we joined our fellow diners as we held our breath, awaiting what this would mean for us.

Lockdown for 7 days.

Over 5 days of lockdown, so far our national community cases have risen from 1 to 72. With most cases being from Auckland, it’s unlikely our city’s lockdown will be limited to 7 days. It’s hard to describe my emotions at the moment: a mix of anxious, discouraged, optimistic, restless, determined, devastated, and content.

If you’ve also been on an emotional rollercoaster, I’d love to share with you five books to read during lockdown - five of my favourite books, and words that are perfect for this strange time we’re in.

Where Hope Comes From - Nikita Gill

A beautiful, hopeful book. If I could recommend only one book for anyone experiencing anxiety during lockdown, it would be this one.

In this poetry book, published 2021, Nikita Gill explores our collective trauma through the life cycle of a star. She invites us, the reader, to feel connected to the universe, by taking us on a journey through the five stages of grief to the five stages of hope.

Nikita Gill has a way with words - I’m a big fan of her other books, Great Goddesses and Fierce Fairytales - and Where Hope Comes From is no different. The poems in this book will remind you that what you’re experiencing is normal. It will remind you that you don’t need to be productive every second of the day. It will remind you that it is okay if all you do is breathe, take it slow, and survive another day. It will reignite your hope.

The Comfort Book - Matt Haig

Another fresh 2021 publication, The Comfort Book is a collection of reflections on hope, survival, and the messy miracle of being alive. There’s philosophy, self-reflection and anecdotes, lessons learned from nature, animals and famous people, lists, and inspirational reminders.

The Comfort Book is, indeed, comforting. It doesn’t try to tell you that everything will magically get better. It doesn’t make you feel guilty for going through a tough time. It’s calm, patient, and hopeful - and allow you to see more of life’s beauty and possibility.

This One Wild and Precious Life - Sarah Wilson

In This One Wild and Precious Life, Sarah Wilson uses science, literature, philosophy, and her own personal journey to encourage us to overcome our collective despair and disconnection. Chapters of research and commentary are interlaced with stories of her travels to places like Crete, Los Angeles, Jordan, Australia, and Japan. Along the way, she explores our crisis of connection, loneliness, social media, capitalism, climate change, and coronavirus.

This is perfect if you’re feeling contemplative and in search of a deep read.

The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho

‘To realise one’s destiny is a person’s only obligation.’

The Alchemist is an inspiring, fascinating novel that is always powerful and uplifting, no matter what I’m going through.

Paulo Coelho’s story follows Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who travels from Spain to Egypt in search of a treasure. Along the way, he meets a Gypsy woman, a man who calls himself king, and an alchemist, all of whom point Santiago in the direction of his quest. What starts out as a journey to find worldly goods turns into a discovery of the treasure found within.

One of my favourite books, I re-read this novel often - sometimes when I like some light reading that’s also deeply evocative, sometimes when I need encouragement during tough times. Because of how simply it’s written, this is also a brilliant book for those who want to get into reading more often, but don’t know where to start.

Home Body - Rupi Kaur

Rupi Kaur named her latest poetry book ‘Home Body’ because, she says, these are synonyms for each other.

after being disconnected for so long
my mind and body are finally
coming back to each other

- home body

If I could describe this book in one word, it would be cosy. This book feels like a warm hug for the soul, full of short but captivating poems that will help you cultivate feelings of self-love. Rupi Kaur also addresses topics like racism, sexual abuse, and trauma, giving victims the knowledge that they are not alone, and that healing is possible. A beautiful, raw, and honest poetry book that will resonate with those who have gone through similar struggles, or for those looking for a thought-provoking, introspective read.

If you are looking for mental health support this lockdown, you can get help from the Mental Health Foundation. You can also follow them on Instagram for helpful tips to take care of yourself during this time - even if it is simply taking a deep breath.

As I write this, the government is due to release our latest COVID-19 update, with the decision on whether to extend lockdown being announced at 4pm tonight. Wherever you are, I hope you are staying safe and well. x

Love,

Sophia

Budgeting, saving, and making space for each other’s needs & wants

Money had always been an awkward topic to talk about.

So in 2018, when I first heard of the term 'getting financially naked' from Erin Lowry of Broke Millennial, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that my partner and I had already done it without knowing. Rather than shying away from the topic of money - how much we made, how much we had in our bank accounts, how much debt we had, how much we had in savings - we'd brought it up as easily as one would bring up what they had for lunch.

Talking about money wasn't the only thing that suddenly seemed simple and easy with him - being in a relationship was also much less complicated and messy, and full of more joy, affection, and communication. So, surprise surprise - my first real 'partner' (rather than boyfriend or girlfriend) became my husband!

Our (financial) relationship timeline

March 2016 Went on our first date + became a couple.

March 2017 I bought my house.

July 2017 He moved in.

September 2017 Made our first big purchase together - a 5 x 5 white cube shelf!

April 2018 Opened our first joint account.

November 2018 Went on our first overseas holiday as a couple to Melbourne, where we got engaged at Eureka Skydeck 88.

November 2020 Finally got married in Queenstown, after COVID delayed our March 2020 wedding!

As a couple, we've always been extremely open and honest about money. While personal finance books constantly cite money as the #1 topic couples fight about, I feel like my husband and I have avoided this due to a few reasons:

I took it upon myself to manage our money, purely out of curiosity and eagerness to try out the tips in all the books I read;

We are both the same with money - neither much of an impulsive spender or obsessive saver;

We talk about our money goals, and are on the same page when it comes to our personal goals, careers, kids, etc;

We both contribute to our fortnightly couple's budget, allowing both of our needs & wants to be met.

Today I'd like to share with you how we do this fortnightly budget. It's super quick and easy to set up and maintain, and of course, free!

How we budget (+ example!)

We use Google Sheets, which you'll find in the top right corner of Gmail or here.

Make sure you check the privacy settings!

We created three sections:

1. Our net (after tax) fortnightly income;

2. Our respective savings amount based on this income (we're currently saving 25%);

3. Our living expenses, which are the things we have to pay for every fortnight, like bills

Creating automatic calculations can be done by selecting the cells you want - for example, all of the cells with your incomes - then going to the Functions dropdown menu on the very right and selecting 'SUM'. This will add up everything in the selected cells.

You can do this for all three sections - income, savings, and expenses. For savings, select the cell where you want the calculation, look at the cell where your income is, then type the formula "=[Income]*0.25". (E.g. our formula looks like this: =D2*0.25 for 25%). It'll automatically calculate how much you need to save!

Then, create a calculation at the bottom that automatically takes your total joint income and subtracts savings and expenses, showing you what's left over.

You can do this by selecting the cell you want balance to show up in, then typing in "=A-B-C" where 'A' is the cell containing the sum of your income, 'B' is cell containing the sum of your savings and 'C' is the cell containing the sum of your expenses. (E.g. our formula looks like this: =E5-E11-E39)

Voila! This is our basic fortnightly budget. We then take this basic budget and create a specific budget, tailored to each fortnight and any expenses coming up.

Simply right click on the tab and click 'Duplicate'! We name ours to the date of my next payday, which happens first.

Now the fun part. Since everything we always pay for is copied over, we can put in anything we want to buy or spend money on that coming fortnight. My husband will put in $100 for a video game that's coming out within the next 2 weeks; I will put in $80 for an event I want to attend (I have one in our budget right now for a Modern Intuition & Manifestation workshop!).

Anything else specific also goes in here, like car rego renewals and whatnot.

As long as we save at least 20% and what's left over is not in negative, it works for us! Both of us get to buy things we want or attend events we're interested in, as we've made room for both our priorities. (Though we do sometimes find each other's chosen expenses questionable...)

You don't even need to set aside time to write this together. Because the spreadsheet is equally accessible to both my husband and I, we just put in expenses whenever something crosses our mind, whether we're at home, on the bus or at work.

When it's payday, we bring up the spreadsheet and cross out (strikethrough) the ones we've already paid, so we don't send a payment twice.

So what happens when we do find each other's expenses questionable? Like, do you really need to spend that much on this thing, babe?

Money values

It all comes down to values: finding out what's important to your partner, and why - then, learning to understand and respect that.

For me, spending money on advocacy is the highest purpose for which my money can be spent on. Buying new books, attending spiritual workshops, they're nice luxuries to have - but donating to a cause I'm passionate about, or raising awareness of said cause, to me, has never had a definitive spending limit. Hence, the first year I decided to buy pâtissier-made rainbow cupcakes, rainbow lollies & rainbow mugs to raise awareness of Pride Month at work, my husband asked, "Why did you spend almost $400 on this?" and my (admittedly cheeky) reply was, "It's a small price to pay to contribute to social equality and elevate human consciousness."

This year, I spent $100 and still got to raise awareness for the LGBTIQ+ community with rainbow lolly bags. My husband, unsurprisingly, approved much more of this. :P

When I asked my husband the same thing - "To you, what's the highest purpose your money can be spent on?", he said, "Protection." This likely explains why he has health insurance and life insurance, which we pay fortnightly premiums on, and why I am content with health insurance covered by my family's plan but don't have my own life insurance - yet. I definitely understand the value of it, but it seems like something that would only become a priority for me when we have kids.

It's also because my husband has a very stable income - he's been at the same company for 7 years and has a great relationship with his team, as well as a shit ton of leave. His company also offers a lot of work perks, including a career break of up to 1 year off! He also has a strong individual emergency fund.

Who brings home the bacon?

We both do!

We earn the same income - roughly. He earns $3000 p.a. more than me.

While I earn income from a few different income streams - my salary, rental, and miscellaneous income from book sales, photography and candles - he earns all of his income from his salary.

Both have their pros and cons. I have do more to earn almost the same amount he does, but I love having the freedom to explore my creativity and curiosity. Profit has never been the top motivation behind my passion projects, but a bonus. Plus, if I ever lose one income stream, I still have other income streams I can work on.

Photography, for example, is something I've put on hiatus and stopped actively advertising for - but if I lost my job, I would probably pick it up again since it provides a consistent stream of income (people are always celebrating special milestones!), plus it's fun and perfect for introverts.

On the other hand, my husband can earn everything from just one stream of income, so has less to worry about - and doesn't need to keep income records or file an IR3 individual income tax return. Of course, if he ever decides to make a side hustle out of his skills and hobbies, like guitar & fantasy writing, I'll be there to support him, too.

If you're in a relationship, I hope you've found some inspiration for your own joint finances!

Looking for more money inspo? Follow me on Instagram at @mindfulwithmoneynz.

Love,

Sophia

I quit my job (without another lined up)

A few weeks ago, I shared with some close friends that I was working through a 'job quitting list'. Working through a to-do list, I was going to quit my job - without another lined up.

If you are in the same boat, and if for any reason you are also quitting your job without another lined up, I wanted to share the things I did to financially secure my husband and I.

Work out current emergency funds

Worst case scenario: if I didn't secure a new job soon, how long could we survive on my current emergency fund?

This was what I asked myself.

I should say 'funds', because I accounted for the worst case scenario and took into account every savings account we held, from short-term savings to long-term savings. I counted in terms of fortnightly essential living expenses.

The answer? 33 fortnights.

A reassuring number, and more than I’d expected!

But I didn’t think I was going to take anywhere near 1 year and 4 months to find a new job, so that allowed us to do the next step...

Sit on it

We agreed that I would wait two weeks before I made the decision to resign.

The two weeks weren't easy, but I did distract myself by coming up with other small ways to reduce our expenses!

Switch car insurance

My husband drives a trusty, reliable Nissan that's 14 years old. With any car that is lower in value, we asked ourselves, "If we accidentally crashed this car, would it be one we would want to completely replace?"

The answer was no, so we reduced our cover by switching from a Comprehensive policy to a Third Party Fire & Theft policy. This means that we'd still be covered for damage we do to someone else's property, plus of course if it was lost in a fire or stolen. As you'd expect, this significant change in cover reduced our fortnightly premiums.

Combine life & health insurance

My husband has life insurance and health insurance at two different companies. It happened unintentionally, but we never gave it much thought. We did a quote online at a company that does both under one policy, and it showed that it would cost less!

Not only does combining insurance policies often work out to be more affordable, it also simplifies things by giving you only one company to deal with, only one policy number to remember, only one policy statement to read, and only one payment to pay fortnightly (or monthly, weekly or quarterly).

If you're also trying to reduce expenses, ask your insurance company which of your policies can be combined. Is it your home & contents insurance? Is it your house & landlord insurance for a rental property? Or is it life & health insurance? All of these are real combined insurance policies I have seen or sold, so it's definitely worth asking about!

Secure references

Most employers will ask for two job references. I wanted to have them ready when asked, so I politely asked some people if they would be willing to be a referee for me, including my previous manager from the recruitment company I was employed at while working as a tax consultant.

What I got back was a heartwarming reply:

'Hi Sophia, yes I remember you, and am more than happy to give you a job reference!'

How kind and reassuring!

A small withdrawal

As a financial buffer, I wanted to withdraw a bit of money for the future, just in case we needed it.

I decided to withdraw from my Kiwibank Notice Saver, a PIE savings account that allows you to withdraw money only if you give either 2 or 3 months notice in order to earn interest. Giving 3 months notice, I withdrew $2000 - a sum that will be deposited into my everyday account early August.

However, the title of this blog post could have also been I quit my job! (before I had another lined up) because... I won't be needing to use that $2000!

YAY!!!

I resigned with a 4 week notice period, taking 1 week of annual leave. My optimistic logic here was that, if I secured a job soon, I wouldn't want my new employer to wait an entire month for me to start.

Luckily, my last day present at work turned out to be just the right timing - even before I knew it. I trusted the universe but also worked extremely hard during my job hunting process, and it paid off.

Next time, I'd love to share with you what happened during this job hunting process, how I aced some of the interviews (and epicly failed one), and the exciting outcome!

It is still a stressful time, but I'm praying things will settle down soon, with a fresh start, a new door opening, and plenty of learning opportunities ahead.

My heart swells at the thought of the happier, more abundant, more purposeful path I am about to take.

If you are also in the same boat, I hope this post has helped give you some ideas and inspiration!

I wanted to share a quote that really helped me when I was terrified.

Was I making the right choice? Was I being too impulsive? What if I lose everything in search of something better? At the same time, doesn't every decision in life come with risk? What is the point of constantly talking about trusting your intuition and acting with faith if you don't put it into action?

Well, here is a beautiful, inspiring quote from Brené Brown:

“I'm just so grateful, because to feel this vulnerable means I am alive.”

Love,

Sophia