I usually do these yearly wrap-ups to share my understanding of my world with the people around me I respect and care for. I have to be honest; I was very reluctant this year because I felt so unsure of myself. so I’m posting it here instead.

Dear you,

I am typically the person (depending on if you know me or not) to be full of energy and damn sure of myself. Still, I lost a lot of my magic this year: wildly unhealthy coping mechanisms and tyrannical inner voice.

How did I get my magic back? The reality is I didn't. I needed to comprehend that it wasn't coming back because that magic had become too old-fashioned that it had expired. Things can expire, and they must; otherwise, they taste awful.

It was a painful year for me but needed for growth, which spun me into a wheel of thought.

Two significant events left me crippled with thoughts.

1. A conversation with someone great who went through prison

2. Losing the kindest person I know to walk this earth

These events reminded me how precious this life we have is; I was too zoomed in that I forgot to zoom out. It propelled me to look into the mirror and face all the qualities I was not ready to greet—my self-righteousness, dishonesty to myself and being too judgmental toward others. I realised my characteristics and rejigged my strategies to become simply a more authentic version of myself; a better friend, girlfriend, colleague, student, family member, and a lifelong member of club de earth.

Here I will share 18 of my cherished learnings- realizations this past rickety rocket-y year:

1. Finding out the colour green is a lot sexier than I believed
2. Listening to music with your eyes closed is more fun because you can practice isolating each instrument; oddly helped me make more effective decisions
3. Using clean language can help cultivate a more positive and a less judgemental mindset
4. Running in the rain will teach you more resilience than Mr Miyagi
5. Using childlike methods in a work setting does aid thought visualisation
6. Hopping on the free trails from massive corporations is completely ok (legally of course) god bless coworking spaces
7. Pointing out criticisms when not invited to do so is not acceptable
8. Gingerbread cookies need more attention in the summer