the end of a year always feels like a true new beginning. but before the new begins, i want to reflect on what 2016 taught me. so here’s what i’ve learned:
getting to the end of your twenties feels a lot like freedom.
Finland in the summer is made of incomprehensible beauty.
cats are weird. i already knew this, but 2016 has made it more apparent.
political grief is a real thing, but neither brexit nor trump’s presidential nomination will be the worst thing to ever happen to you, nor to the western politics. you are privileged. keep moving forward, don’t let them shake your values, don’t let them take away your belief in the goodness of the world & the people in it.
food is complicated. living according to ones moral beliefs & values is complicated. your best effort is enough.
grief is a lot like fear (as C.S Lewis once wrote). grief is weird.
unthinkable loss brings out the best in some people. the amount of love is astonishing.
yet. some people will fail you. you can choose to hold it against them, or you can choose to understand that death scares people, you can choose to forgive.
loss of a parent makes you feel abandoned.
books can mend you. and they will.
moving abroad is filled with so much bureaucratic shit you will never be afraid of it again.
people are kind.
there’s incomprehensible beauty everywhere in the world.
living abroad is just living. you will change, but only gradually, only in ways you experience. to others you will remain the same. your life will also stay the same. you will still remain you. and that’s a good thing.
you should always try to see live music. it is the purest form of joy there is.
you will endure. and you will heal.
so here’s to 2017. i could hope for less pain and turmoil, but that is not how the universe works. the universe gives and takes the way it pleases. and all we can do is endure, learn and heal. so from 2017 i wish Love, adventure and as always, opporturnities to grow.
I’m inside with my friends
We build fires and pretend
That the night could just bend on forever
While outside in the frost
Are the wolves and the lost
And we sing to the dogs or whoever
Singing don’t let me into this year with an empty heart
With an empty heart
Don’t let me into this year with an empty heart
Josh Ritter – Empty Hearts
xx Satu
To The Yet Unknowing World 