Aug 31, 2021 - The Perfect Moment

Last week, I went to the beach after a long time. It was a full moon night. From where we swam, we could see the Burj Khalifa - like a gorgeous and tall Swarovski crystal, reaching for the moon. Both the moon and the building were golden - it felt like the perfect moment. If time paused, this scene would seem like a page out of fairy tale. It was so perfect I was tempted to swim back to shore, take my phone and click a photo. But I didn't - I just stared in awe.

Aug 27, 2021 - That Horrible Birthday Realization

When I was 16, my phone was engaged between 11 pm and 3 am. I did not consider myself popular, but I had a lot of friends. They would all call me - some would get through, others would call back a couple of times. I would go to school the next day with blood shot eyes, the bloodier the eyes, the more the friends. 

Over the next few years, phone calls reduced - first, instead of 4 hours, to two hours, and then one hour, around midnight. Slowly, the phone calls shifted to during office hours, a brief phone call, with only a couple of friends calling in the evening for more than 5 minutes.

Today, as I turn 33, I got only one call from a friend, everyone else wished me on Instagram, LinkedIn and Whatsapp. My bank and my hospital sent me an email wishing me. The one constant has been my immediate family. While I'm grateful for my family, I can't help but feel a little sadness at how the number of phone calls, friends and hours of conversations went to a flat line.

The graph, you ask? Yes, I drew it. I gifted my husband randomly one day an apple pencil. 

If you don't get it, it's fine - just goes to show that over the 15 years, nobody has time to pick up the phone and talk, even on one's birthday.

SS

Aug 26, 2021 - Of bullet Journaling

I diligently wrote bullet points in my new leather bound diary bought from Typo, for 1 month. I found myself writing what I eat (bonus points if I cook something), if I did yoga/exercise, if I watched a TED talk, if I did a few minutes of learning a new language (Spanish words, Arabic letters), if I started a new K-drama, if I had lunch with someone or spoke to someone for more than 5 minutes - stuff like that. Stuff that makes me realize that I'm doing something other than working and commuting. Stuff that will help me down the lane, to realize that my life has been fuller than I give credit to it for.

But lately, I've been stuck in a rut. It's the same routine. There's nothing new that I do.