becoming atlas.

atlas was created long before i even had a name for it.

for a long time, i felt like i was searching for somethingi wasn’t even sure existed. alongside that was this constant feeling that i was meant for more than the life i was trying so hard to force myself into.

i spent my entire university life believing i was meant to be a teacher. i loved working with kids, crafting, and the idea of shaping young minds. honestly, it sounds beautiful, and i know i could have done it and done it well, which was part of why it was so hard to take a chance on myself and my creativity.

i’ve always romanticized freedom, movement, beautiful places, and creating things, i just had no idea how to turn those things into a real life and not just hobbies. so after graduating, life felt empty, confusing, and uninspiring, it felt like everyone around me knew exactly where they were headed while i felt completely stuck, standing still while slowly losing myself at the same time. and the hardest part was that feeling didn’t go away after a few weeks, it lasted almost an entire year

i think that’s the hardest part about losing yourself, it happens slowly. little by little through settling, shrinking yourself, and staying in places you’ve already outgrown simply because they’re familiar

and i’ve never been very good at staying still. sometimes to my own detriment, i always need movement, something to look forward to, a concert, a trip, a different version of myself waiting somewhere else. so travelling became the one place where i felt fully connected to myself again

and sometimes it’s not even about the destination, it’s the feeling of waking up somewhere unfamiliar, filming little moments i can find beauty and vision in, ocean air, long walks, airports at sunrise, and realizing i felt more inspired in those moments than i had in years

somewhere in the middle of healing, creating, traveling, and trying to figure my life out, atlas slowly came to life. not as some perfect business plan, but as something deeply personal to me

proof that maybe i could build a life around the things i genuinely love, proof that creativity isn’t frivolous, that starting over can actually be beautiful, and that maybe losing yourself is sometimes the very thing that leads you back home

atlas feels like the first thing i’ve ever created that fully reflects me

and for the first time in a long time, i feel truly excited about what’s ahead

with love, liya