June Things

Breaking my social media hiatus, a week by the lake, and a good omen

Did June fly by for anyone else?

I can’t believe that tomorrow is the last day of June! My family and I were chatting this last week about June being our favorite month. It’s full of fresh fruit and beautiful weather for outdoor activities without being tooooo hot yet (but I am the kind of person that likes to sit in hot cars, so what do I know about it being “too” hot).

Jonny and I are making a big move in September (to Thailand!!!), so I have been enjoying spending all the time I can outside in the wonderful dry-heat of Utah before we make our way to the tropics.

Here’s what I’ve been up to this month ⤵

DID:

I did some changing this month!

1. I cut my hair :O

Coco Chanel’s words have been circling around my brain lately: “A woman who cuts her hair is about to change her life.”

There’s a lot of changes coming my way with our move to Thailand, pursuing parenthood, and still (still!) navigating this post-Mormon world, and so a haircut felt in-line with that change.

My sweet sister is a hair stylist, and my complete trust in her haircutting abilities helped me have the courage to just go for it! We ended up cutting off 8+ inches.

I love it! I feel free! It’s been a long time since I’ve had hair fully my natural color and this short (I think the last time was when I was 8 years old?), so it feels like a return of some sort.

2. I broke my social media hiatus

At the beginning of 2025, I vowed to go off of social media. Social media & I have had an interesting relationship. I’ve always liked to share my life online since the early days of Tumblr and Facebook, and a few years ago I went viral on TikTok for making teaching videos. I ended up gaining over 100K followers — followers I didn’t know what to do with!

I started to feel weird about it all — I knew this was a great opportunity, but I didn’t feel like I had a direction, I almost felt like I had to be a brand, and I felt like I was losing my personality (only knowing and liking trending TikTok songs, saying TikTok-jargon, etc.) Plus, in my free time I scrolled mindlessly on Instagram comparing myself to other bodies, other lives, other successes.

So I just… stopped. And at the beginning of the year, I stopped going on social media (pretty much) completely.

And it was great!

I had more time to read, write, and create! I stopped worrying about what was trending! And I was still able to make and keep friends!

But lately, after six months of no social media, and 2ish years of no video-making, I started to remember why I liked to make videos in the first place. I like connecting! I like sharing! I like being creative and just having fun!

So, I posted a story on my Instagram sharing about my recent life updates: getting into my dream grad program at Harvard, deciding to defer, moving to Thailand, starting a family… it’s all things that I want people I know and love to know about me. I also posted a video of us visiting Moo Deng in Thailand earlier this year. And I felt great about it!

I needed the reset. I needed to learn to say “let them think I’m weird” “let them think mean thoughts about me” “let them judge”, and I needed to take my own advice and learn to really trust myself.

My first video back, hehe:

keemyung

A post shared by @keemyung

SAW:

I saw the most magical place on earth… Hope, Idaho! A family tradition that holds a very special place in my heart. Being by beautiful Lake Pend Orielle, seeing extended family, and eating good food! Doesn’t get much better.

:’)

READ:

I believe in good omens — if something keeps showing up in your life, you should pay attention to it! That’s what happened this month with a book.

First I saw quotes from East of Eden by John Steinbeck in articles here on Substack, then I heard it referenced in a podcast, and then I saw it laying next to the employee’s computer at a help desk.

And if that wasn’t enough — out of the blue, a friend texted me and asked, “Have you read East of Eden? I think you’d love it!”

After I found a free instant download of the book for my Kindle, I started to think, Hmm, I think East of Eden wants me to read it!

I haven’t read a proper novel in a while, so I’m excited to report back about this one. I’m only five or so chapters in, but the writing is so delightful that it makes the whole thing a pleasure. It’s based on the biblical story of Cain and Abel, with a “rivalry” of sorts between two brothers. You all know, any biblical-related storytelling is right up my alley!

Here is my favorite quote so far:

“But I think that because they trusted themselves and respected themselves as individuals… they could give God their own courage and dignity and then receive it back. Such things have disappeared perhaps because men do not trust themselves anymore, and when hat happens there is nothing left except perhaps to find some strong sure man, even though he may be wrong, and to dangle from his coattails.”

DRAW:

I am an amateur watercolor-er, but I have fun painting cards! I have a goal to mail out 10 cards this summer. Here are some I painted while at my week at the lake:

Happy June! I’d love to hear about what you are doing/seeing/reading/drawing!

Past Monthly Things:

May Things

April Things

March Things