A NOTE FROM 2022

Novelist Jean Rhys once wrote:

“My life, which seems so simple and monotonous, is really a complicated affair of cafés where they like me and cafés where they don’t, streets that are friendly, streets that aren’t, rooms where I might be happy, rooms where I shall never be, looking-glasses I look nice in, looking-glasses I don’t, dresses that will be lucky, dresses that won’t, and so on.”

Reflecting back to 2022, I can’t help but feel content with everything that happened to me this year. I know we should never really feel “content” of everything in life (because if we do feel 100% content, then what’s there left to search for?), but let me give you my own definition of contentedness.

I believe we all have our sets of questions. Layers and layers of it. It could be about ourselves, people we love, what we wake up to do every day, or pretty much anything we find important. Sometimes we’re the ones who have to work hard to get the answer; sometimes, the universe just decides to hand it to us without warning. Either way, the answer is always there. It’s just a matter of when and how we can truly look at it in the eye, fully acknowledging it for what it is.

I have some of my questions answered, but even more of them left in gray. This year has given me a fair amount of shock therapy by revealing answers that I didn’t like (although important for me to know) and enough optimism for me to look ahead in the future and seek other answers. I feel like I’m right where I need to be, with specific missions to complete, and any other things that come my way are just nice elements of surprise. That, I guess, is my definition of content. For now ☺️

People don’t always find themselves in one go. We are shaped by everything we’ve come across and since life comes at you real fast, while we’re at it, might as well just absorb it all. Every learning, no matter how bittersweet, will eventually help us gain a new perspective. I find it really moving when we see the purpose of life is not just to seek for more happiness, but the richness of experience. Being able to open our arms to whatever it is that the world has to offer, letting ourselves be drowned in it, and then resurface at the right time.

So, what do we say to 2022?

Thank you, next!