IT’S MY BIRTHDAY! HERE’S WHAT THIS PAST YEAR TAUGHT ME

Every year I share some wisdom on my birthday and this year 2020 has been quite something. Let me be honest, the countdown into the New Year was far from pleasant and the emotions I felt at the time were unbearable. Little did I know that those energies would hit the world harder than we could’ve ever imagined.

So I left Italy two days before the entire country went on lockdown, only for Ireland to go on lockdown a week later. What was meant to last two weeks turned to months and miraculously remained oblivious calling offices, applying for jobs, doing online courses and homeschooling my little miss. I refused to acknowledge the pandemic even though it was invisibly in my face and screaming in my ears everyday. As much as giving up was “acceptable” given the circumstances, it never was an option and things started falling into place invisibly eventually. The strength it took to stay sane was and still is beyond my comprehension, but I am glad it’s finally paying off. This wouldn’t have been possible without the love and support of my family, bae, friends, Tiktok and Netflix.

Being the serial planner that I am, I learnt to do my best and let God do the rest. Realigning with the cosmos of my perfectionist way of life. This year really did pull a number on me and like most of you’all, a world pandemic wasn’t on the cards. This year forced me to push the breaks, stop, drop and reflect. I could’ve sworn that this was a scene from a horror movie with the remote control under quarantine.

But seriously though, “Who sent me?”

To a new country where socialising would get me arrested, visiting an art gallery would leave me marvelling at the door chains and tinder (cough! cough!) turning into digital PenPal. My hotspot became Dunnes and since then I’ve been a loyalist. Despite dodging the virus, trying to get a job when the country was shutdown and homeschooling, oh and not forgetting.. wrecking my brain with a garden wrack. I did learn to appreciate the finer things in life, for one, the art of walking over the car once owned in Nairobi. The switch from an apartment to a house that had a garden, glorifying the summer season with some yoga outdoors and meditation. I had mindfulness on my mind 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.