The pursuit of happiness

Hello, 2014!

A public holiday on the 1st of January here in Singapore is the perfect start. There were fireworks in the city last night, but this year, we were content to sit at home and watch it on TV in the comfort of our couch and sneer at the thousands of people who decided to endure the crowds and be smothered by others and their body odours to catch the fireworks in person. We also sympathised with them for taking extra long to return home after braving very long taxi queues, traffic congestion on the roads and exhaustion while we simply hopped from couch to bed.

It is great waking up to happy and hopeful people sending out new year wishes. All my lines of communication are clogged with notifications which are all going to take awhile to sort and clear. I woke up without an alarm, I set up my indoor fountain which my sister brought from Dubai when she visited me last month, had a traditional Sri Lankan New Year breakfast and sat down to blog in he midst of the loud noise my water fountain was making.

Surrounded by thoughtful cards! Thankfully, the postal service is still alive.

New Year Resolutions don't really work for me. I don't even remember what I made last year, let alone if I managed to keep it. But I'm going to try and save more, exercise more and work less this year, since it didn't work out too well last year.

The first day at the beginning of a new year is as good as any other day, but all the man-made hype is making it feel like standing on a cliff edge, knowing exactly where you are while being able to glance back on how you got there and decide what to do going forwards. 

Looking back, I recall having a good year, surrounded by love from the people I care about, comfortable means to live and enjoy life, safety, good health, freedom of thought and free will - all for which I am thankful for. However, as we plunge into a brand new year of unknowns, I hope there is plenty of love, blog posts, travelling, music, cake and dancing in it for all of us!