My album of 2017

Minutes pass by. Days drag on. There is a picture. I am standing in it. Probably folding all my laundry, not neatly I must add. It’s a weekend obviously, for what are chores on a weekday? Isn’t showing up to work enough?

That picture, I don’t always see. I am a part of it and seeing would mean removing myself from it. I don’t always see that picture but there are times when I do. One moment I’m trying to master the art of fitting all my clothes into the abomination that is my closet. The next moment, a huge wave of self-awareness crashes all over me. There were times when I thought ‘Woah! I am named Pooja. Pooja is my name. I exist and I am called something. Woah!’. During epiphanies like these, I can climb out of the picture frame. My brain then screenshots a scene without me in it. From my point of view. It then tucks it away into an album of my life.

These times are incredibly rare. Mostly it so happens that a life-defining moment whooshes past me while I’m putting together outfits in my mind and simultaneously debating if I really need that eighth cup of tea. All these add up and make me a very changed human by the end of an year without me realizing it. It’s literally ‘New year, new me’.

2017 was when I finally felt that I hold the reigns to my life. Like Kendall Jenner so famously said, this year was the year of realizing things for me. There were many moments when I was out of my metaphorical picture frame. However there were many more times when I was unconsciously inside of it. So I’m taking a stand. I am going to remove myself from the events I can recall from the whirlwind that was 2017. I’ve compiled a list of some things I have come to realize. Sharing is caring so I’m choosing to write down my newfound wisdom down below.

1. Balance is very important. Anything you take, everyone seems to be gravitating towards one of two extremely opposing takes on the topic. It is achieving an intricate balance incorporating both these views that takes up entire lives or even generations of human beings.
2. Maintaining relationships takes a lot of work. Sometimes the work that we need to put in is less than the apparent benefits that we seem to get out of them. It looks like a very good option to lock yourself away from the human civilization and enjoy your own company. Yes, we as humans suck. But we as humans do not suck at all too, at the same time. We are good for each other, contrary to the popular opinion. We need each other. We need each other through all our shortcomings and all our greatness. Find your people and stick with them, through the proverbial thick and thin.
3. Corollary to the above point: Humans are different shades of grey. You love them for their white parts, resent them for their blacks but you embrace all of the grey.
4. Love yourself just the right amount. Self-love is important and so is loving others. Like I said, attaining the balance will probably take up our entire existence. But knowing there’s a balance helps.
5. Extending Realisation #4, self care and mental happiness are very important. And sometimes, your metal happiness is derived from those around you. So if there’s an ideology you believe in that your loved ones do not agree with, it’s okay to reach a compromise if that makes you content and happy. You are important. What you believe in might be an important part of yourself but so are those close to you. You are not a loser if you let go sometimes and choose to be happy.

These are few of the pictures I’ve managed to jump out of. All the screenshots that my mind arranged into my very own album of 2017. I would love to see yours too. For (quoting myself from Realization #2) we are good for each other! :)