The Year in a Capsule

100 Happy Days – Day 75

Happiness is A New Year! Happy New Year!

31st Dec 2015, 11.49 PM

I hear a lot of activity around. The dogs are barking mad since the fireworks have begun. There are a lot of vehicles on road and an ambulance is rushing past. I pray that whoever is in it gets well soon.

As 2015 comes to a close, here I am doing what I love the most; writing. I cannot help but remember where I was 365 days back, at this time. I was on my Lavy (Hero Pleasure) with two friends, exploring the roads of Cochin on New Year Eve. The roads were heavy with traffic and we were wished a Happy New Year a thousand times by random people. We passed through a street whose walls were entirely adorned with lit candles. Later, we had ice cream and reached our room by around 2 am.

And now, I sit here, by my laptop. Look at the difference. The year has been similar too, with its highs and lows.

Blogging

• Won a couple of contests and a really big, unexpected one. I still wonder how that happened.
• Two of my poems were published in the Magazine Writer’s Ezine. You can read them and let me know if you like them.
  – Tresses
  – One Lie
• Ventured into freelance writing and wrote for half a dozen entities. I learnt a lot from each experience. Also, rejected some due to exams and I regret that deeply. This is how we learn, right? I know what to do next time I get a lot of work amidst exams. Go for my passion. 🙂 It isn’t as easy as said, but I’ll fight it through.
• I completed the 30 Days Book Challenge where I discussed various aspects of different books I have read.
• I began the #100HappyDays challenge, recording my happy moments in my blog. I couldn’t finish it in 100 consecutive days, yet I decided to complete it as and when time permitted. This is one. 🙂
• Lastly, I changed my ‘Shades of myself’ page. I have been intending to write a proper one for a long time. I made it by the end of 2015.

Career

Not much progress on the CA front.

 I attended my first interview, got the job in one of the hot shot companies. With time, I realised that the corporate life alone would kill me. I realised that more than earning in lakhs, I preferred earning less and having more of ‘Me’ time where I could rejuvenate myself with some art and writing. I learnt what sort of job I shouldn’t take up. 🙂

Random Acts of Kindness

I came across the Flower Granny and with the help of some lovely friends in the Blogosphere, gave her some money to pay off some of her debts. You can read about it here.

I also came across a group of students from USA who decided to buy a toy to a child who was running around in Marine Drive. I stood their watching the kid’s reaction, the students clicking pictures with the kid and when I had the time, I too took a picture. He was very happy. So were we. You can read about it Here.

Family

• A cousin of mine whom I have never met, visited from US this year. His wife, knowing me through Facebook, gifted me a queer diary. It has 365 leaves with a question on each page to answer every day of the year. There are 5 slots to answer the questions for 5 years and finally compare the answers and see the difference. I absolutely loved it!
• Another cousin who is of the same age as me stayed at home for a couple of weeks. As children, we have craved to be together a lot. But it was never possible. But this time, we enjoyed like never before. This time, I got to know her better and moved a hundred steps closer to her.
• I was sleeping one evening and my little sister ordered pizza for me from her savings ❤ What more can I say? It was a big moment for me 🙂

Miscellaneous

• Went on a trip to Ezhattumugham & Thumbormozhi
• Explored my very own Kochi and even now, I feel like going back there.
• Read Divergent, Insurgent, Life in the time of Cholera and half of Book Thief this year.

This were just a few among the hundreds of things that turned the hands of the clock this year. How can I not mention the lovely friends I found here? There is one thing about friends from blogging. You could know them too well because they write their hearts out. I have been wanting to know more and become closer to some of them here. I wouldn’t mention names here. Let it happen with time. Hopefully, 2016 would help me with that.

Here is to writing more, making more friends and laughing more. Here is to living! Wishing all my blogger friends and readers a mind-blowing New Year! 😀

Do let me know how yours went by.

Love,
Rangelz

PS – The image with the red fireworks is from a compilation of pictures of New Year from celebrations around the world by The Telegraph. You can see the compilation Here.

I’m sharing my #TalesOf2015 with BlogAdda