For as long as I can remember, I have loved seeking and sharing experiences. Whether it was practicing six days a week for the latest high school musical or getting on a plane to study abroad in Ghana for five months (and blogging about it), I wanted to collect experiences the way you would shells at the beach. Without fully realizing it, I felt that the memories I accumulated and people I met along the way would have an impact on who I am, what I believe and what matters to me. As I get older, this love of experiences has only grown as I reflect on what I’ve accomplished and what I want to achieve next. Hence, my second Huffington Post blog on why we need to place more value on experiences.

Right now, society measures success through our possessions — a flashy car, a nice house, expensive jewelry, etc., but research has shown that our possessions don’t give us happiness in the long run, experiences do. With that in mind, I felt it was important to write about why we need to change what we value and work toward accumulating experiences rather than possessions.

Read more here.