Hiiiiiii,
I have so much joy!
Can you believe it’s already 5 days past our golden jubilee? Time flies by sooo fast.
I don’t have a particular taste in music.
What does it for me is the chord progression and rhythm. Some songs hook me just because of that. A good example is “C.I.T.T (Cheese in The Trap)” by Moon Byul. I have listened to this song no less than 10 times today (probably an understatement). Nigerian artists like Olamide and Wande Coal are also pretty great with chord progression. I wouldn’t say I’m particularly impressed with some of their lyrics, but that’s my opinion. It doesn’t take away from the value of their songs. For k-pop, Mamamoo, TXT, and Enhypen are my current favs.
Sometimes, it could be the first line of a song. A good example is a song I’m currently listening to: “I want to break free” by Queen. It’s been on loop for a few minutes now.
Other times, I just love the lyrics. Asa always gets me with her amazing lyrics. Alessia Cara was also the G.O.A.T of lyrics for me at some point. I would say Disney songs are pretty great with lyrics too. “Honour to Us All” from Mulan is pretty sick for me. Same for “I Choose You” by Alessia Cara for Disney.
What else? Perhaps a song that frequently finds its way into my ears? Like every single TikTok song ever. I don’t even know how I end up knowing those songs.
Anyway, the point is that I clearly don’t have a music preference. All these artists have totally different kinds of music. Something just works for me somehow. I think that allows me to have a very robust musical experience. I love it.
Happy New Month, btw. How do you feel? It’s the 5th month of 2022. I remember someone talking about how a “new year” doesn’t equate to you entering into a “new realm” or something. It’s pretty funny but totally understandable. We attach new years, months, weeks, and even days with new beginnings. There’s nothing wrong with that.
But, thinking about it, don’t you agree that it may make us have some high expectations that may be bashed if the “newness” we conceptualised just doesn’t happen? 11:59 pm on December 31 isn’t different from 12:00 am on January 1. At the end of the day, we may be forced (and shocked) to realise that yesterday and today are pretty much the same.
I’m talking to people whose lives follow a pattern. You wake up. Do some morning activities. Eat breakfast, Go to work or for a class. Come back home. Eat and do some evening activities. Sleep. The next day, you do pretty much the same thing.
Detour: do you know the nasty thought that just crossed my mind as I was typing the above? "No one wants to hear your opinion. It does not even make sense". Well, I'm proudly and publicly telling that voice that I have every right to share my opinion. It will resonate with people who it will resonate with. For some others, it just wouldn't and that is absolutely fine. Moving on...
Realistically, your expectation for newness will remain void because you do the same things. Thus, you’re met with disappointments daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly.
There are two things you can do, but no matter what, you must be happy.
First, you could acknowledge that your life revolves around a pattern that won’t be changing anytime soon. Accept it. Love it. Find some beauty in it. Your expectation for a new day, week, month, or year then becomes that you’re enthusiastic to relive the system you’ve created for yourself. Let’s see… Is it the noodles you eat every Saturday that is just perfect? Look forward to the weekend just for that. The electrifying vigil in church and the countdown to a new year that you’ve been a part of for over 15 years? Look forward to that. You journalling for exactly 22 minutes every morning? Look forward to that. Trekking to work every morning? Look forward to that. Taking a bus to school three times a week because you live off-campus? Anticipate that. Those thing you do repeatedly, find joy in them so you won’t feel trapped in a life where everything seems recycled. Who knows? You could also discover new thing to enjoy within those patterns.
The second thing you could do is to make the newness happen. Deviate from your everyday norms. If your weekends are synonymous with staying at home, call up some friends and go out on Saturday and Sunday. Do that for three weeks in a row. In anticipation of a new month, create a list of interesting activities you want to engage in. Be spontaneous. Remember to make sure that you’re enjoying all of this. Our goal is to be happy, right?
Now, the questions you should ask yourself are, “what do I want?” and “what do I genuinely enjoy?”
It is fine to enjoy the pattern if you are content with sticking with it.
It is fine to enjoy the newnes if it your desire to create on.
As long as you are happy. So, rather than look outward and try to adapt the expectations of new beginnings when new times approach, stay enveloped in your love for everything predictable and repeated. In contrast, you could also uphold your anticipation for unending fresh experiences.
Happy New Month. Be unabashedly who you want to be.
These are 500 words (or more ?)! Talk to you tomorrow!