By Alice Zheng, Columnist
(275 words)

Twenty minutes into our ride into San Basilio, and I could already feel myself fluffing up, a subtle but unmistakable feeling of the senses reawakening after a long dormancy. I love this place down to the yellow dust that covers my shoes.

Work can be thrilling and fulfilling, but it also makes me one-dimensional. It hones me into a blade, flat and sharp. I can easefully cut through all the complexities and capture the outcome. But I become just that one thing, instead of all the possibilities that are me.

Is there beauty lying around on concrete sidewalks and tucked away in yearly plans and goals?

The seven-day black & white challenge reminded me of how much I enjoy photography. Photography gives me eyes to see the world anew. I need that ability now, to remind myself of the beauty in the mundane. I need it because I don't want to wait for my next trip to Mexico to feel alive again.

So I signed up for an Instagram account @alice_shrugged. Find me there. I'll be posting.

I also want to write more, because writing is the vehicle that allows me to go deeper into the subtle. It lets me reach that tickle in my heart that says, something is here, look for it.

And dance, because dancing is movement poetry. It's my love song in response to the music that courses through my blood and lives deep in my bones.

In 2018, let the arts save me.

Alice Zheng is an author, photographer, meditation practitioner, and research science manager at a large e-commerce and cloud computing company in Seattle. She is a recovering perfectionist and over-achiever. Her life's mission is to be a bridge: between science and spirituality, between technology and business, between the inner and outer worlds. Alice shares glimpses of her quest for more beauty and ease as a regular contributing columnist for Lucia.