2010 - 2019.
What a journey it has been. The official entry into adulthood. The 3rd decade of my life yet. These past years were equally overwhelming, ecstatic, downright depressing, filled with zen moments. I finished my UG and PG. Lived in a whole new continent. Learnt to cook, learnt to survive. Made friends who are family now. Unmade friends, without whom I thought I couldn’t be. Received my first pay cheque as an employee and wrote my first pay cheque as an employer. Learnt what it is to give your heart and soul to start something and make it yours, in ways possible. Unlearnt habits and methods. Discovered yoga and rediscovered my love for swimming. Learnt to appreciate hardworking and hustling. Learnt what it takes to dream and then turn it into reality. Learnt that fitness isn’t about just numbers and finally found what moves me. Accepted that I’ll konjify babies and puppies alike. Politics matters. Environment matters. The politics around environment matters even more. Transitioned from someone who texted for hours to together to the one who forgets her phone & doesn’t care. DND is a boon. Independence is so very precious - all forms of it! Living alone can be pretty scary as well as liberating. Living alone is solitude and loneliness rolled together. OCD is okay. Hoarding books and journals is okay too.
These years were pretty crucial for the fam too. Both the sis & I are post-graduates now. Amma unlocked major levels of achievement and Appa handled major changes in career & retirement pretty well - like the rockstars that they are. We learnt that it is okay be vulnerable, what it takes to be supple and hard, that we will drive each other crazy, that we will have each other’s back no matter what. My mountains and my oasis.
Adulthood can be and is pretty daunting and confusing. If anything, these last 10 years have shown me that no one has unlocked the secret of ‘adulting’ completely - handle the lemons life throws at you depending on the mood & situation - you can either make lemonade, oorgai or just plain wedges as side for a shot. Your call. This decade was also about long distance relationships! A side effect of adulting, so as to say. It has taught me that anything is possible with time management and technology - from long email thread & chatrooms groups to WhatsApp group chats! When the tribe is spread across continents and timezones, time matters. A lot. Time - the ever precious commodity. People will age. People will fade. Make memories and hold them close. Never stop because all that will be left will be the memories.
I found my lobster, my person this decade. I’d say that this was the most scary, yet, the best decision I took till date. Learnt what it is to give, and take. That compromise isn’t a bad word. That opposites are fun and frustrating. That respect is as important as love. That love is all forgiving and all accepting. Love is a responsibility, love is 2am youtube marathons & 6am breakfasts, love is taking care in sickness, love is road trips and gardening together. Love isn’t always fireworks and blooms, rather love is like the rain that can keep you awake and then lull you into sleeping.
Now, fingers crossed, let’s see what the coming decade holds. This year will be year I hope to learn the arts of time management & prioritising and conquer the handicap that is procrastination. Let this be the year of creativity and peace. Let this year be the year of Earth. Amen.
