Happy 2024!

 “My days must twinkle as radiantly as possible. I’ll do everything I can. Be it love or the band. I’ll do everything that will make my life twinkle.” 

– Ha Yi Chan, Twinkling Watermelon 

My 2023 4th quarter fave Kdrama: Twinkling Watermelon

If there's something I miss about youth, it's that drive to make life better than yesterday. We have more hopes and the biggest of dreams and believe that we're bound to be someone big in this world. We deserve the grandest things. Getting older, well, it taught me to be content, to "settle" for what's in front of me. It's a nice trait that I learned through the years because it lessened expectations, heartbreaks, and anxieties for the future. But somehow, now I want to see the balance between being "life's okay as it is" and having big dreams again.

Maybe that's why I was so amused by the Kdrama Twinkling Watermelon. The dad/lead guy, when he was younger, had so much passion for life but had the self-awareness that it might also be the last time he can "twinkle," so might as well do it now and do it well. Before he dedicated his life to his family and loved ones, he wanted to experience being his best self. And so he did what his heart told him to do, whether he was good at it or not; it didn't matter. He still had kindness in his heart for the people around him. Truly admirable traits.

Anyway, I remembered these quotes and Kdrama snippets yesterday when I started the year wearing my Watermelon Sugar band t-shirt. In the past years since the pandemic started, I lost that gusto to create a theme for the year or to make resolutions and big goals. I just wanted to survive with my whole family. But now it's safe to say that we are out of the red zone; maybe we're allowed to dream again? Make plans and yearly mantras? What will yours be? 

Welcoming New Year in our house, as usual!

January 1st mass with the whole family, including Ate's fam

Don't know how we ended up in Timezone, but glad we did! So therapeutic to PLAY!

With my family <3

My answer landed in front of me thanks to my fangirl life, haha. Like Ha Yi Chan, although I am way past my youth, I hope to "twinkle" this year. I hope to be a bright star that will give heart and meaning to whatever I do, so I can achieve bigger things but with a purpose. I hope to create a positive impact, no matter how small, on people I encounter on my day-to-day.

And if the plans don't work or the dreams turn out to be way too high, I hope I can tell myself that it's okay. I hope I tread through this journey with love, patience, and kindness so that it will still be a life well-lived and one with no regrets. <3 Viva La Vida!