It's the 31st of December. In nine hours, we will ring out 2021 and welcome 2022. In the last hour or so, I've just been listening to music that has me grooving. Yeah, I like dancing, or at least moving to music and a beat. It lifts the spirit. And for most of this year, I've been in a funk and found there is a lot of joy in dance music.
Pharell Williams' Happy just ended. It's now Justin Timberlake with Can't Stop the Feeling. Earlier it was We Are Family by Sister Sledge, and a lot of Earth, Wind & Fire and Kool & the Gang. Next will be Bruno Mars.
Perhaps I should inundate my days with music. The dance kind. I don't listen enough. My taste for music is quite eclectic. But I will always be partial to 80s and 90s music simply because they are the best! (Ah, ah, ah, no arguing!)
Yesterday, quite unexpectedly I had to drive to Laguna for our belated Christmas get-together. Unexpected because the supposed driver bailed out the last minute. The other option is a newbie and I'd be more stressed sitting as passenger while thinking if he can step on the gas but control our vehicle as it speeds along the highway with other forms of transport also going at break-neck speed. So, I'd rather take the wheel.
It wasn't as bad, although there were pockets of traffic that didn't use to be there. Really, it's the traffic that I don't miss and is perhaps the best thing while we were on strict lockdown. I love driving through near-empty streets, or at least with disciplined drivers.
The one thing I didn't relish driving through provincial roads is contending with drivers of tricycles and jeepneys who don't know to keep to their lanes, insisting on driving on the left lane even when they're slow and have to stop anytime.
And as an observation, what kind of roadworks did they undertake in the province, especially that stretch from Calauan to Victoria, because I know it's not even three years but already it's jarring to drive along their expanded highways! That's a lot of wasted funds if the cemented highway can't hold the volume and type of vehicles passing through it and needs a layer or two of asphalt every year.
So much has changed in two years (aside from the traffic build-up), in terms of structures and buildings rising, which changes the landscape and scenery. But there is still something soothing spending time outside the city. You can have your fill of fresh air, and the simple living.
It helped to de-stress because the venue (a new resort owned by a relative) was spacious and filled with flora and fauna. Okay, I didn't take a photo of the cottages and covered spaces but was enthralled by the flowers and animals, so that's what I took.
Was it a good way to end the year, and a hopeful way to look forward to the new year? I haven't quite made up my mind yet. I was just extremely glad to have been able to drive back and forth ( a total of 7 hours???) safely and with no hitches. That's what I was grateful for yesterday.
There is much going on in my head... things that need to be thought of, decided on, resolved. And I don't think I'm ready to go over them all. I need to get back to, or start, a routine that will be good for my physical and mental well-being.
I need to persevere to allow myself to just lift my burdens to my God and have faith He will help clarify my mind and guide me to do what is not just right, but what is needed.
As traumatic as 2020 was because of the pandemic that seemed to halt the world, everything really came to a head in 2021 because all the pent-up emotions and struggles now came crashing down and became stark reality this year. So, if you were still feeling okay in 2020, things started to truly unravel a year after. At least that's what happened to me.
And that's what I have to get out of in 2022. I have to find my footing, my bearing. And make myself truly whole again. I need to accept, embrace, or discard things that have thrown me off-kilter.
Does it require me to make plans? I don't know that long-term is what I'm after. So, I'll do it day-to-day. Get through each day. Just sit down and plan how my day will go based on tasks that need accomplishing, then do things and find a sense of fulfillment in that.
And then keep praying that my countrymen will sit down, spend a few moments of quiet to reconcile what's in their heart and mind before they troop to the polling precinct to choose who the next leader of this country will be. I know there are many conflicted because their heart is saying one person, and their mind another. That's why they need that moment of discernment. The right leader - one who will serve and not just lead - will be good for my heart.
A blessed year to each and everyone here in read.cash, friends and fellow authors. Thank you for the supportive ones... you know who you are.
All original photos.
There's a general sense of happiness and sadness at the same time the past couple of years. Let's focus on feeling good instead. It's tough but that's the way to move forward.