Beauty, Now

This might be the longest that I've gone (in recent times) without writing. Well, not completely without writing, because then I wouldn't be me, would I? A more accurate thing to say would be 'without writing for an audience'. A larger part of that is due to changes that have been occurring in other parts of my life, and inevitably, everything ties back to my writing. More of that in another post though; today, I really want to talk about beauty. And wonder. And the joy of novelty.

Courtesy of Unsplash

When (and where) my parents were growing up, pizza wasn't really a thing. Difficult to fathom for someone like me; pizza is VERY much a thing in my life. Today at tea time (it's really good to be back in Kenya...), I asked my father if he remembered the first time he'd had pizza. He shrugged noncommittally, and said that he didn't. 

Of course, that led me to wonder what it would be like if he (or I) were to try pizza for the first time ever now. Suffice to say, I'd probably be the more excited of the two. 

Has anybody ever asked you what it would be like if you could watch your favourite movie again for the first time? Imagine the joy, the wonder, the discovery, the gradual (or sudden?) knowledge; YES, I love this! 

Now substitute 'movie' with basically anything around us. A smile, A sunset. Your favourite food. Your partner. Falling in love. The depth of sadness. When did we as a society get so desensitised by all around us that we forgot to celebrate the beauty of simple things? 

Two years ago, one of my best friends told me "You make a big deal out of things others take for granted." At that time I felt a little ridiculous, but now I realise she was referring to my tendency to get excited about little things like a cup of tea.

There's more than enough in the world to depress us, to dissuade us, to leave us feeling that life is pointless. But it takes only a little bit of seeking of the world within us and around us to realise that we are surrounded by wondrous beauty and sheer magnitude. Honestly, who could feel pointless then? 

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Snippets of Me

A year ago, I did something rather uncharacteristic and wrote a whole piece about myself. I was hoping to have something more concrete that I could use when somebody asked me to 'tell them about myself'. I'll admit that I got kind of carried away with the whole self-discovery blah-de-blah, but some interesting things did emerge that strike me as being very true about myself (and that I don't mind sharing with my readers). Hope this gives more insight into the craziness that is my mind! (Beware, these are just pieces from the longer article that I wrote, and may at times make no sense at all!)

I love people. Being around them, learning about them, helping them, loving them and learning from them. Yet, it gets tiring sometimes you know? The energy in the people around me most definitely rubs off on me. So sometimes, I like to retreat into my space, and be with my thoughts and music and writing and dreams and silence.
People are surprised when I need time for myself. "But... you're so social! Why do you need to be alone?"
Because I can at the same time be my best friend and my worst critic. 

I think that's my way of self-defense sometimes. In a serious or tense situation, I'll step forward and be the immature person. Or the naive person. Because reality is no fun sometimes. 

There is something important I've learned though; not all successes are successes, and not all failures are failures. Life is definitely easier when I'm trying to live up to my own expectations; and yet at times, harder.

Having grown up so fast, I welcomed with arms wide open the chance to be young. And careless. And free. To make mistakes and enjoy them because I made them all by myself.

I'd like to call myself an old soul, and yet I never want to grow up.
Tea is one of my weaknesses. I’m not a morning person, but my day always starts up with a nice cup of Kenyan tea (with milk of course).

A common thing I do is make a list of whether or not I should do something, get opinions from other people; and then go along with my gut instinct anyway.

In line with my Piscean spiritual nature, I love elemental things. Being at the beach during sunrise, watching the stars, or just gazing at the moon are things I really enjoy. My room this year faces East, so in the morning I get beautiful light pouring into my room. I’m not a morning person at all, so anything that makes mornings great is appreciated. 

Someone read my palm when I was younger and said that I would become a famous author. Haha. One day maybe. Tonight, the papers I have to write for psychology are looming threateningly over my shoulder.