Clean slate 2018

Darker skin and thick tan lines - pretty much what summed up the style i ushered 2017 out and 2018 in.

No more looking back, just forward. No more sour-graping or griping, just gratefulness. No more regrets, just restart, reboot, restore. No more chaos, just calmness. And no more settling, just finding and discovering what a big picture of life it is you're holding!

Zoom out and you will see there is still so much to be done, bucket lists to tick, spaces to shade, exciting opportunities to choose from, meaningful encounters to show up for, people to love, friendships to build or rebuild, families to reconnect with, experiences worth-taking, routes to tread slowly or wildly, places to visit or revisit with renewed sight....trees, flowers to be in awe of, babies, children to watch grow and blossom into beautiful human beings.
That you don't need to conform and shout YOLO to make the most out of this fleeting life. You just do, because you believe time is a gift and so is your existence in the here and now. So find your true purpose and use it with love and kindness despite the cruelty you received when you first tried.

Find comfort in knowing that while you acknowledge you need fixing, maybe it's also true that you don't. Because for one, it is from your flaws that you're able to draw inspiration so you could deal with life's jokes creatively. It's how you learned laughing in the midst of set-backs, living instead of merely existing. How you aimed and achieved thriving not just surviving. To move forward with hope instead of giving in to quitting because you matter.
Secondly, it is through those wrong turns that you have learned the better ways, the wiser steps and acquired a stronger heart. It's how you understood acceptance and saw others who were wearing the same shoes you did so that now you judge less, learned tolerance in a world of diversity and different timelines.

There's still a chance.

Make amends. Welcome some, set free some. Build bridges, burn some. Lose enemies, to love or friendship. Hate less when you get the chance. Agree to disagree, co-exist with things that make you uncomfortable. Seek answers, stay curious but always be willing to eat the proverbial humble pie and stand corrected.

Make a stand. Let others do the same, in fact support their right to do so even when you're on different grounds.
Be foolish no more, be adventurous instead. Allow room for spontaneity, but be less careless. Find your bliss.
See more, get lost but always come home.
Yes, come home to the ones you love. There's always a chair and plate for you regardless of how long you've been gone.
Just like how they've always been in your heart before life had to split your paths.

Be a storyteller. Don't hold back drama if it makes you a poet. Don't revolve around it either, instead evolve through it.

Live alive. Find love and when you do...Love fully. Forgive more. Let go. Be free. Believe. Repeat.

So here's a new chapter. Don't be afraid to go do it all over again!