vignesh mohankumar

These learnings are for me to be able to look back at this period in my life. I posted them last year as well. I don’t consider any of these to be new ideas, nor do I expect others to agree with everything I wrote. I’m happy to talk more if you’re interested in anything specific.

Friendship

I’m lucky to live within a couple of miles of most of my closest friends. I’ll probably remember the little things from this time: walking around aimlessly in Lower East Side, playing FIFA at my apartment, shopping in SoHo. I also know this isn’t going to last forever — people will get girlfriends, move out of the city, have more responsibilities, etc. There’s no guarantee of how much longer we have together like this, so I do my best to cherish every moment.

Learning

I’m about a year into my dance journey now. It’s been humbling to go through the awkward phase of learning, especially in front of people who’ve been dancing for decades. What’s helped me is taking videos to see the progress and viewing other dancers as inspiration rather than as competition. I’ve also never gone to class and regretted it, even the time I accidentally signed up for a semi-classical class.

NYC

People ask me pretty often what moving here was like. I usually say it takes a year to start to get used to living here, and by then people either enjoy it or move away. Even simple tasks here can get complicated, plus expect to spend money every time you leave your apartment. Two of the hardest things for me were finding a great barber (I tried 7 before I found Tim) and knowing who to call in an emergency (luckily, some of my best friends moved here). I could probably write an entire other post on why I couldn’t see myself living anywhere else.

Solitude

The past couple of years I’ve been spending a lot of my time by myself (since I live alone). It can be lonely at times, but I’ve been enjoying having space to live my life. Enjoying my own company has increased the standard who I’m willing to spend time with. I do worry if my routine is getting too rigid to add another person into, but it’ll make sense when it needs to.

Sister

Watching my sister grow up the past few years has been so rewarding. She’s unquestionably an adult now, and is already more mature than I am in a lot of ways. It’s hard for me to not try to give her advice all the time, but I also know that she has her own dreams and problems. I’d do anything for her, but she deserves the space the figure things out for herself.

Work

Life is too short to work with people you don’t trust or on problems you aren’t passionate about. If I wake up four Mondays in a row without being excited to get to the office I know it’s time to make changes. To me, the most important thing is being around the most talented people. That’s the tribe you stick with over the course of a long career.

Allergies

Took a while, but finally figured out what I think are my food allergies: lentils and lactose. Lentils have been a bit annoying to cut out as an Indian, and I’m still not fully convinced they’re an issue. For lactose-intolerance I’ve gotten used to not eating cheese, and I use macadamia nut milk for everything else.