💌 Love Letter
Growth, Even When You’re Spiralling
A reflective spiral on value, greed, throwing yourself into chaos, and choosing to grow anyway, and even when it’s uncomfortable.

✈️ Travel Journal
First Day in Seoul
I got lost. I sweated buckets. I dropped $20 on kimbap. Welcome to South Korea, where the trains are deep and the pastries are elite.

👛 Travel Staples
Coming Soon.

🎥 Lil Project
My First YouTube Video
It’s a working progress, but there is a plan.

🛍️ BIG Project
Carew’s Excavations Website + Capability Statement
My first ever client project is live. Designed in Figma, built in Framer, and a major step toward building the design agency I’ve dreamed about.

🌀 Reflection
This Week’s Letter Was Powered By
K-dramas, tattoo destiny, four train mistakes, and a quiet determination to learn Korean. Day one in Seoul? Wild.

It’s been three months since my last newsletter. And in that time, I’ve done a lot of thinking. Or more truthfully, I’ve been forced to think about what I actually want to build for myself. But if I’m being honest, it’s only in the last month that life really threw shit my way, and I’ve had to get serious. Strategic, even. About my physical health, my mental state, and yep, my bank account.

As I write this, I’m sitting on a plane bound for Seoul, South Korea. The first stop on a three-month solo trip. It’s a trip I’ve been planning for months, and now that it’s actually here, I feel... everything. Nervous. Stressed. Anxious. And also so, so excited. I’m 21, about to begin the first of many overseas adventures. Who’s to say what the “right” emotions are for a moment like this?

This trip, of course, came with the classic pre-departure worry: money. Would I have enough? Truth is, probably not. But I’ve realised that no one ever really feels like they have enough, especially when you’re stepping into new places, trying to take in as much as possible.

It made me think about value. About how we exchange money to obtain things. How that’s always been the deal. Even though the form of money keeps evolving, physical, digital, social, psychological, its power hasn’t changed. What has changed is how we perceive value. And now, perceived value is the currency. The more value people think you offer, the more return you get.

That’s why I love business books. Not the boring ones — I mean the semi-biographies, where entrepreneurs talk about building empires from scratch, surviving broken systems, and turning trauma into trading power. These books aren’t just motivational. They’re efficient. Packed with perspective and quick returns. Every sentence is optimised for impact. And for someone like me, someone who hates reading, that kind of book changed everything.

I read Diary of a CEO at 18. The first book I ever finished. It didn’t feel like a book. It felt like being handed someone’s blueprint. Someone who had played this human game, the one where we’re all chasing something, and actually won.

Since then, I’ve read more. And one thing stands out. All these so-called “successful” people live by the rule of value exchange. They give. They build. They optimise. They understand that everything, even words on a page, can hold weight. Can be worth something.

That’s why I write these letters. Sure, sometimes it’s just a laugh. A quick dopamine hit. But more often, I hope what I write gives you something. A shift. A thought. A reminder. A return.

Okay. So maybe this is where things got a little unhinged in my brain.

Lately, I’ve been spiralling. Not just over money, but over people. Over greed. Over how we take from each other, sometimes without even realising it. How we complain, pull down, nitpick over small things while sitting in abundance. I do it too. I get spoiled by my own privilege and forget to be grateful.

But what really breaks me is seeing people take from those who were always willing to give. That kind of greed makes me ache.

Sometimes, I hate this world. I hate how we feed off each other. And while there is beauty in dependence, in community, there’s also destruction. Stealing. Manipulating. Hurting. All because we can’t ever fully trust one another.

We’re just hyper-evolved bags of organs, walking around trying to find meaning. We’ve mixed ourselves like primary colours until we don’t even know where one shade ends and another begins. And yet, we still hurt each other.

I’ve always wondered what would’ve happened if humankind had started on just one piece of land. Would we be more united? Or even more divided?

I’ve been on this plane for over four hours now. Which means I’m less than four hours from a whole new country. A whole new chapter.

And despite all the spirals, I’m deeply grateful. For the humans who built the systems that now let me move through the sky. For the fact that I even get to ask these big questions while chasing my little dreams.

I know I’ll keep spiralling. I’ll keep criticising. I’ll keep analysing the world and sometimes hating it. But I’ll also keep waking up every day, chasing peace. Building a life that feels like mine.

I won’t leave nasty comments. I won’t tear down strangers. I’ll keep choosing movement. Not because I’m greedy. But because I refuse to stay still.

That’s what growth looks like sometimes.
Messy. Emotional. Spiralling.

But still forward.

Love,
LeHare

First full day in South Korea. Over 11,000 steps. Four train mistakes. One travel card lost. Zero regrets.

It was hot. Muggy in a way that clings to your body. Tomorrow I’m hunting down one of those handheld fans everyone seems to carry like second nature.

I started my day wandering through Gyeongbokgung Palace. To be honest, the heat made it hard to properly take it in, but I found a few indoor rooms with displays on the history of the palace, and they were incredible. The whole space has this feeling of restraint. So much white space. So much intention. It made me think about how different cultural ideas of “luxury” and “power” are. In Western palaces, like the ones in London, it feels like the goal is to fill every corner. Here, it’s the opposite. I couldn’t help but imagine how small and precise life must have been back then. Me, a 6-foot woman, absolutely would not have belonged. But it was beautiful to witness.

I also visited COEX Starfield Library. I’ve seen the photos online, and yeah, it looks the same in real life, but it was smaller than I expected and absolutely packed. I just passed through.

After that, I ended up at The Hyundai mall. Giant. Fancy. Expensive. I paid $20 AUD for kimbap. But I’ll be back. They had a bakery section that looked next level. The kind of pastries that make you feel something.

Navigating the trains was a mess at first. I got on the wrong line four separate times. Turns out transfer trains are usually located on deeper levels, which I didn’t realise. The system itself is super clean, though. There’s a double door system on the platforms, reserved seating, and it’s quiet. Like, really quiet. You need to move quickly if you want a seat, but otherwise, everyone’s respectful. I like it.

I’ve had to interact with a lot of Koreans already. Mostly while trying to order food or get directions. It’s awkward, and I hate how I have to force people to adjust for me when I’m the visitor. But I remind myself that we all start somewhere. And even if it’s uncomfortable now, it’s necessary. I’ve started watching videos to learn the language. Slowly, but surely.

That’s it for day one. More walking. More sweat. More lessons tomorrow.

I’m currently filming my first ever YouTube video. I’ve got some pretty wild gear to help me out: an iPhone 16 Pro Max and an overly enthusiastic attitude.

Jokes aside, I’ve wanted to start vlogging for a while now, but I kid you not, my schedule was painfully boring. I’d wake up, stay in my pyjamas, sit on the couch, work, and let the TV run in the background. I’d only get up to eat or go to the bathroom. That was the show.

I did play competitive basketball for a bit, but I didn’t film any of it, mostly because I spent most of the season warming the bench.

But as of today, my life just got a thousand times more interesting. I’m officially travelling to Seoul and Italy. I’ll be trying to spend every day doing something new, and I reckon that’s enough to make this a little entertaining.

Honestly, I also just want to record things for the memories. And so my family knows I’m alive and well.

I’ll pop a link in the next letter, because I’ll hopefully have a video up by then.

That said, this newsletter still means more to me than video ever could. I’ll keep writing. I’ll keep sharing here. This space holds all the good stuff. So even if I’m filming, posting, editing, spiralling... this is still home.

I onboarded my first ever client on Monday. I’m still struggling to find the words to explain how major that feels. But I know this: it’s the start of something big.

The project is a full web design and development build, along with a written capability statement. You’ll find a preview of it in the screenshots below.

I’m using platforms I’ve never worked with before, which comes with a fair bit of nerves. But that’s always been my thing. I throw myself into uncomfortable situations, sometimes consciously, sometimes not. And while I’ve definitely had moments where it’s all backfired, more often than not, those moments have shaped my life in the best ways.

It’s why I’m here now, travelling solo at 21.
It’s how I landed my first corporate job.
It’s how I’ve met wildly talented and successful people.
Because I decided I could, and acted like it.

So yes, I’m nervous. I might make mistakes. But I’m approaching this with the belief that the best-case scenario is just as likely as the worst. And when things do go wrong, I try to remind myself that mistakes aren’t always failures. Sometimes they’re just outcomes I hadn’t thought of yet.

This project will be completed. And it will be the beginning of something great.

It might not seem life changing to anyone else, but to me it means everything.
It gives me my first proper case study.
It teaches me new platforms from the ground up.
It motivates my goal of building a design agency.
And, maybe most importantly, it gives my dad something he can proudly show his mates. Which is exactly how I got this project in the first place.

More updates to come.

I’m going to be a little vulnerable here. I chronically binge-watch K-dramas, and maybe that’s what planted the idea of travelling to South Korea for my first ever solo overseas trip.

That, and the fact I’ve always wanted a back tattoo. Coincidentally, I came across a Korean tattoo artist with the exact style and design I had in mind. So I took it as a sign. The stars aligned, and here I am.

My first official day in South Korea, more specifically Seoul, is nearly over. And to say I made the most of it might actually be putting it lightly.

I clocked over 11,000 steps, visited a palace, spent more than $200 AUD, and lost my main travel card (don’t worry, I had a backup). I had plenty of tough interactions trying to order food or drinks, fumbling through communication.

But all of that has pushed me to want to learn the language. I’ve already started watching YouTube videos and practicing phrases. While I’m only here for a week this time, I’ll be back in September for a month and a half, and I’d genuinely love to be able to speak Korean, even just a little. So I’m determined to keep learning.

I’ve still got a lot of work to get through, so tomorrow I’ll likely only leave the house once, maybe to visit the seafood market. The rest of the day is going to be all about getting shit done. We’ll see.

If you’ve made it this far, thank you. I hope you enjoyed reading my first letter back after three months of being totally MIA. I’ve missed this. And I’m so excited to send many more.