15 Things I Learnt in 2015 by Lee Shu Shien
1. There’s something called black pudding (no it is not just any pudding).
2. Hand toasted bread from morning markets are the best thing ever.
3. Watching aurora borealis move across the sky is the most breath-taking sight ever. Even if it’s -19 degrees out there.
4. Travelling actually gets tiring after a while.
5. You can always find solace in movies.
6. Getting all down and dirty at a mud festival is not as gross as you might think.
7. Brothers are irritating but love them anyway.
8. Never feel guilty for eating and drinking your night away, especially if you’re in Seoul, have fried chicken on delivery and a few bottles of soju and beer in your fridge.
9. Age is starting to catch up with me. All-night karaoke? No. Way.
10. The best drink to have in winter is warm mulled wine.
11. Or Baileys coffee.
12. And when it comes to food, it’s Japanese nabe hands down.
13. Sometimes, you just have to let nature take its course.
14. Wearing less make up is okay. No one really cares.
15. You will feel so much more empowered when you stay away from your phone.
15 by Tomohiko Sugiyama
Every year of my life there has always been a variety of changes, I guess there is always a constant movement in our daily life that creates certain automatic adjustments that allow us to coexist with our ever-changing environment. These adjustments are the resultant products of infinite external and internal changes, which ultimately becomes part of our identity. It is almost impossible to creates a specific profile of the occurrences that will represents the most symbolic changes in a year. However, it cannot be denied that there are certain memories or events that are printed in our memory so clearly that it becomes what represented the entire year. Some of these occurrences that were imprinted in our identity, are not necessary representing happiness but in the contrary it could represents sorrow. Nevertheless, these events are crucial to survive and to mature.
1. Friendship: I have never had the necessity to have an immense quantity of friends around me. I learned to enjoy solitude and never fear of it. I believe that life is created throughout changes; Friends have no responsibility to protect and keep the friendship. I have met wonderful people over the year, people that protected and accompanied me over the year, and some demonstrated that our friendship was nothing but an illusion. The only thing left in me is an immense gratitude towards all those who stood next to me and loved me for who I am.
2. Family: There will be no one that loves you more than your family; Family members have an extreme connection that it is impossible to describe in words. As all the years, my family played an important role in this year. My family has stood next to me and also loved me for who I am, despite the fact that every member of the family lives in different countries. There is no greater love that I could imagine but the love we share in between my family.
3. Music: For those who are close to me, and perhaps those who aren’t really close to me, know that I am addicted to enjoying a good time with music. Some might think that I enjoyed music in my private time, but for me there is nothing better than feeling the base of a song in a enormous speakers dancing with your friends. In those nights, I connect with my closet friends, smiling to each other, fully knowing that we are all experiencing that moment.
4. Travel: I have created an extraordinary tradition with my closet friends; we always backpack a country that no one has ever visit. Generally, we like to travel to underdeveloped countries as it is the best way to escape the craziness of Tokyo. Moreover, there is certain rebellion that we have against imperialism and elitism. Therefore we prefer to discover different realities and cultures in underdeveloped countries. We have learned and opened our minds every single time.
5. Sincerity: I recognize that I have committed several mistakes this year because I was not true to myself; I let myself to take action based on other’s people opinion which ultimately just affected myself. It is extreme hard to at against your will, especially when you are ignoring that feeling of guiltless with all your power. This year, I understood that I cannot make this mistake ever again; I will always be true to myself and others.
6. Strength: There were several times this year that I felt extremely weak and fragile. There were moments that I needed a change in my life because I was not happy with the environment that surrounded me. Don’t get me wrong, the environment itself was extremely positive but there was something missing or wrong. However, this feeling became an ultimatum to change some aspects of my life and it became my strength. It reminded me that there will always be extreme difficult days that you feel defeated, but it can make you stronger and stronger.
7. Comprehension: This year especially taught me the importance of comprehension. Every action we take is based only in our internal judgement, and we automatically think that the action is the correct action. Nevertheless, we should not evangelize our beliefs, there will always be opinion that does not concur to yours. It is much ore easier than done, but it is extremely necessary to have comprehension to others. This relates to every single interaction with others.
8. Entertainment: It is not a secret that I have an obsession with television programs; There is something about these shows that hypnotizes me into a deep consternation state. My body is completely sinked in the visual images that are presented in this screen. This year, there are extremely good television programs that I am solemnly dedicated to; Narcos, Sense8 and Games of Thrones etc. Yes, I will admitted with dignity; I am a television shows geek.
9. Humble: This is a word that was extremely important to me this year; I started to notice not only in myself but in my environment that this word has lost its importance. Humble refers an extremely attractive quality and it should be remembered more often. The academic, personal, economical aspects of each individual are completely different and there is no necessity show it around, it is more ridiculous to feel superior than others. Don’t forget folks, humble is sexy.
10. Open-mindedness: I believe that open-mindedness has been one of the characteristic that represents me. Nevertheless, Tokyo and my incredibly diverse and openminded friends always expand my mind into the unlimited diversity of humanity; In addition to the fact that each of my friends possesses unique characteristics that we accept and respect, and the majority of the time admire, we incorporate new ideas to each other expanding our minds endlessly.
11. Love: Truth be told, this subject has never been my central focus point in my life. There are people that are in desperate need and search for human affection and emotions. I do understand its importance and the crucial role it plays in human life, nevertheless I have never been dependant on love. In addition to the fact that I am a horrible boyfriend, I feel a necessity to explore not only physical but also emotional aspects of my life. As same as the previous years before, I guess I just did not care enough about this.
12. Change: Life is continuously changing, and it is extremely important to adopt to the new changes occurring around. It is crucial to let other people go when is needed, it is important to accept when you were wrong or defeated; These are changes that are inevitable to avoid as it comes annexed with life itself. This year, there were variety of aspect that changed in my life; some left important lessons in me and some left scars. Nonetheless, I cannot complain about a phenomena that will continuously occur.
13. Forgiveness: It might be one of the most difficult things that people can do; Forgiveness is not only the act of forgive but also the act to forget and move on. One act is inter-chained with other actions that it becomes harder to achieve the ultimate act of forgiveness. However, I learned that forgiveness is a quality that can strengthen our self and the relationship with others. I learned that by forgiving others, others will forgive me too and little by little we grow up together.
14. Fearless: I have learned that it is extremely hard to be who you really are. Especially it becomes much more difficult to express out true identity when it doesn’t concur with the normality of society. This year, I understood that I should not cover myself for any reason and embrace those characteristics that made me different from others. I will never be afraid of solitude, and I will never be scared to show who I really am to the society.
15. New starts: I strongly believe, or perhaps I choose to believe that there will always be a new start. There are period when grey days become predominant in your life, where our purpose and goals are long forgotten in the dark sky. I have to confess that these days have consumed be several times this year, not for external reasons but much more internal. Nevertheless, there will always be a tomorrow and maybe a new start.