Friday, 1 January 2016

Just … being happy

Wide awake with arms wide open
Catch your breath, walk this way
No regrets on New Year's Day

Obligatory end of year post!

A few highlights of the year:
  1.   I got to go for an Ed Sheeran concert!
  2.   I got government funding for my undergrad project!
  3.   I got into University!
  4.   I moved out of my parents’ place for the first time in my life.
  5.   I read 38 books in 2015, altogether.
(Yes, I count that many books as an accomplishment and wish I could have made it an even fifty, or at least forty.)

I realize that 2015 is the only year where I have officially lived in two different countries. Even if/when I go back home to Mumbai, it would be on vacation so to speak. I am surprisingly okay with that (says the person who would be bawling her eyes out while leaving).

Moving to a Different Phase
Somehow, moving out from your parents’ and into your own apartment is a seamless transition. That is, if you do not count the parts where you complain about the conversion rates, have to find new friends, buy almost everything except the sink to furnish your new apartment and so on.

That was only the first month. After that, it was mostly me and my laptop at the library. We have a wonderful relationship where I spend twenty hours a day with it and drop it on the floor when I am really sleepy.

I also discovered a new love – baking. I am hoping to expand into savory stuff as opposed to just baking muffins because I cannot eat them all!

Friendship
This was also the time where some friends lasted the distance, while some just could not. I have made my peace with it. Either the time zones were hard, or I was too difficult to hold onto. With online friends (you know who you are), the situation was exactly the same with just my time being earlier than them instead of later than them.

Making new friends is usually not hard for me. However, there is a difference between making friends for the time you are there and making friends that last you a lifetime. With respect to the latter, I think I can count the number of friends on one hand, maybe two. With time, I guess I may or may not find more.

Music
If you see me in the library with my earphones in, I am most probably listening to an 8tracks playlist or a variety of chosen music on Spotify (Do I get paid for advertising them?:P)

Somehow, I got closer to music when I got here because that is the one connection that will always stay with me. Certain artists that remind me of a person, certain songs that reminds me of simpler times, or just making new memories.

One thing that frustrates me is that I could not attend certain concerts because lack of time. I went from ‘no one I like comes to Mumbai’ to ‘I have an exam the next day but FALL OUT BOY’. Instead, I visited a dueling pianos bar about two days back which I absolutely adored because live music and sing-shouting lyrics at the top of your voice is the next best thing.

Shows
If anyone knows me from earlier this year, they know that I am/was crazy about shows to the point that I binge-watched three season in a week, or followed about fifteen shows every week. All of that came to a pause after I got here. Mostly because the only free time I have, I spend in sleeping. Not counting Jessica Jones because holiday time. Also, that show deserves to be binge-watched.

Writing
Writing has been such an integral part of my life for the past four years that I almost felt like I was cheating on it when I stopped writing due to lack of time. Despite feeling this way, I have written fifteen articles/poems which I have posted on this blog in 2015. I am hoping to be more frequent than once a month on the blog this year.

Compared to me last year, I am definitely different. My priorities, to some extent, have also changed. I think this is a good thing, though. This could be the start of something new (Quoting Disney, as usual, I am sorry).

I am not going to do the resolutions thing because, well, it is the first day of the year and I already want to go back to sleep.

Instead, I will put up a list of what I am looking forward to doing this year:
  • Making more friends
  • Concentrating on my research
  • Playing racquetball
  • Opening up to new experiences and opinions
  • Writing more. Definitely.
  • Just … being happy


Leaving you with a song I love which is also thematic for this article:






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