Somehow, it feels like a lifetime ago, a different home, a different life, a different me. Two years ago, give or take a couple of days, take, ten to be exact, Life Unplugged breathed its very first words. Come to think of it, a lot has changed since then, but in a way, in a very good way, a lot has remained the same. True, circumstances change, people grow, they move away, maybe motivated by this sudden urge to make a life of their own, or maybe because they had to get out of the shiny bubble they had been living in all along. But whatever it is, whatever the situation, deep down, our hopes and dreams remain pretty constant, independent of the distance ripping you away from reality.
But "pretty" is not necessarily "entirely", and as fascinating as it is to me, our dreams seem to change every year. Or at least mine do. Actually, you could be living one right now but you wouldn't even know it because you're too busy being busy, chasing one after the other, faster and faster, again and again, until eventually you'd have to stop. Stop. Think. Breathe.
If I learned anything this year, it's that happiness doesn't have to be chased, especially if happiness has been sitting right next to you this whole time, holding your hand, giving you every reason to just be. Happiness is a broken umbrella in the rain, the chance encounter in the library, the last page of a sad but beautiful book, the little girl on the train waving you goodbye, the purchase of mini Christmas decorations, the thought of a memory, the wait for the snow that never falls. Happiness is. It just is. You don't have to chase it. If it's not there, it will come to you, and if it's there, don't chase it, but then again, don't forget to look for it.
Oh, and if the predictions are true, if the world really is going to end on December 21 2012, if Life Unplugged doesn't get to celebrate its third year anniversary, then so be it. But you have to promise me one thing, you have to promise me that, starting today, you're going to look for it. It's there..
Just Look For It.
(Happy New Year)