What do you do besides music? LiFTED takes the long-loved afternoon talks at a dim sum joint in Asia to get the scoop of what artists enjoy besides making music in Dim Sum Down-low. This month, our spotlight shines on 夏沐Melo Moon and her tips for self care.

From the time 夏沐Melo Moon heard ‘Lose Control’ by Missy Elliot in third grade, she was hooked on the bouncy, otherworldly sound that was Hip Hop. She then talked her friend’s parents into taking them to a record store and was soon innocently singing along to 50 Cent’s ‘Candy Shop’ and Lil Wayne’s ‘Lollipop’ without knowing the real meaning of the songs.

Fast forward to 2020, and 夏沐Melo Moon decided to release a rap track at the beginning of the pandemic called ‘洗手 WASH WASH’ with the original intention of making educational content entertaining to prevent the virus from spreading. “I finished the entire project in three days including writing, recording, coming up with a script, shooting the music video at home with my laptop on Photo Booth, and editing it with iMovie. I love using my creative ways in my visual presentation instead of big-budget productions.”

夏沐Melo Moon was excited to get her foot in the door in Taiwan’s Hip Hop scene in 2020 and seeing her first track getting reported on major news platforms, TV stations, online articles, newspapers, as well as watching fans from countries in Asia making TikTok videos with her music gave her the confidence to believe what she was on the right track. Soon, 夏沐Melo Moon made her second track ‘宅在家HOME ALONE’ about how people can make the most out of social distance life while staying home. Since then, she’s done a lot of performances as well as appeared in MTV’s The Rappers show.

In troubled times, 夏沐Melo Moon believes that people need to prioritize their health. “Every single person on the planet has been affected by COVID-19 on different levels. I keep in mind that this is a global challenge that we are going through together. With the right mindset, we can turn anything into a learning experience. Mental health should be everyone’s first priority, especially in the entertainment industry.”

Here are five self-care tips from 夏沐Melo Moon that can make these difficult times just a bit better.

Using music as an example, the more I take time to learn about my voice, the better I know how to use it as my weapon and how to maintain it for its longevity. So take time to learn about ourselves, what makes us unique, what triggers us, what brings us true happiness and fulfillment, and why we fear what we fear. Being aware of our emotions is the first step to self-care.

The stories we tell ourselves each day have a big impact on our lives. If we tend to be too harsh with our inner dialogue, the results can be low self-worth. I try to choose the language I use when I speak to myself and others wisely. I also try to be more flexible with myself, because I used to push myself too hard not realizing that sometimes resting a little makes me more productive in the long run.

Reframing sentences such as ‘I messed up that part on stage,’ to ‘I’ll learn from this experience and improve’ helps me have a healthier attitude and stronger mindset to cope with tough situations in the future.

The entertainment industry can be a stressful place where a lot is going on sometimes. So building my own circle of people as my safety net to fall back on when things get intense sometimes really helps with my mental health.

When we put ourselves out there for the world to judge, people start telling us what they think we should do. I got 134,000 views and more than 500 comments on my performance at The MTV Rappers show. If I took all their words to heart, I’d have already lost my mind.

It's very important to have different people who you can count on in different aspects of life. People who know how to pull you back and provide wise and natural insights. I had to learn this the hard way, but on a musical journey, I can go fast alone, but further together.

PS. YouTube comment sections are not the best place for constructive criticism or mental health. Most of the comments only tell you who the commenter is as a person.

The way I journal is to split it into two times per day:

Morning Routine

1. List three things I’m grateful for in the morning [Harvard studies shows happy people practice gratitude]

2. Write my daily positive affirmation or quote [I would write & speak It out repeatedly sometimes. I like the feeling of knowing I’m programming my brain in a healthy way]

Bedtime Wind Down

1. Things I achieved today or the memorable moments [memories are unreliable so it's easy to forget how much we’ve accomplished and feel like we didn’t do enough]

2. Write down three things I can improve on for tomorrow [self-reflection is key]

3. How I feel [cleanse my energy]

I meditate all the time - before shows, when I’m emotional, when I wake up in the morning, after workouts, or when I’m traveling from place to place. It not only calms me down but I also use it to practice being aware and present with my feelings and thoughts.

I used to suppress my emotions way more. Growing up with my mom and dad being in the entertainment industry and being surrounded by a lot of artists, I subconsciously learned how to hide my emotions because I don’t want to offend anyone. Through time, that impacted my mental health because I wasn’t aware of how suppressed I was due to the fear of what others might think of me. Now, I can catch myself when I’m feeling a certain way and make a note in my head, ‘You’re suppressing your emotions right now. Take a couple of deep breaths to let it out and gently bring yourself back.’

Look for 夏沐Melo Moon to keep releasing music and working on her debut album in 2021!