You do not get to see the wonders of living often but when you get to catch a glimpse of the uniqueness of living, you need to break a bone for celebration. I was never really sure if I would be writing anything again this year. It is safe to say that I have absolutely closed for the year but then it struck me: why? So, while I munched on chicken laps, I made a resolution that I would write to you: I would tell you stories, maybe share some things that have helped me this year, or tell you something nice, or create a poll of questions and answers.
No month goes by without the constant psychological badgering that I need to send a letter to you but I have masterfully become defiant of that trigger. This is not to belittle your interest in consistently reading my letter but rather as a result of the constant choke of life's happenings. While I think I enjoyed life to the fullest this year, I think I had some other times when I just looked at the minutes of the day and I wish it was faster than how it was moving—sometimes I think it's paradoxical that the exact thing that gives us a sense of living in a moment can turn against us as a weapon to sap energy away from our soul.
So, 2023, huh? As I scrolled through my gallery, I saw different shades of laughter, sides of interest, growth, life, and relationships. However, all of a sudden, I remember when I was growing up, when I would think of December 31st to January 1st. Then, it looked like there was so much that would end once the time struck 11:59 PM on December 31st and as I'd be subsumed into a quick halo effect, my life and world would be ordered by 12:00 AM on January 1st. While I might have tried to be less troublesome in the first two days, I could recall that before 7th, I would have been hearing the same battering I heard all through the previous years.
Then this brought to my consciousness: why the fuss about the new year, new me? Maybe you are also like me, thinking it all ends this year, or you've set your goals for next year, hoping to start on January 1st, well—shrugged. Let us assume this: if there was no concept of time, would you have stratified your goals and plans for a specific time and day?
The truth is, while time provides the opportunity to count your growth, sometimes it robs you off the instant trigger to start executing. Tonight, a lot of people will be screaming their lungs out in prayer, which I am not against, but without plans for what they want to achieve. The truth is, the transition from 31st to 1st is nothing; your life is in a continuous conversation. Nothing is stopping by 11:59 PM and nothing miraculous is happening by 12:00 AM.
Your life by January 1st is a testament to how you have managed or mismanaged it. No divine duster is cleaning your mistakes in the new year; if anything, it's another arithmetic progression towards the addition of your age.
The world is changing, nature is changing, and the country is changing, and amidst this change is you, a human who is hoping for a miracle, forgetting that every formula behind these changes was never on autopilot, but rather was orchestrated. Therefore, as you wrap up the remaining hours of this year and amidst the felicitations of the new year, know this: your life is a continuous conversation of the past year. Nothing changes except how you orchestrate it.
Selah.
I made a list of my 2023 readings; kindly access them here
While I have not been writing to you here, I have been releasing some essays on my medium.