Yesterday, as I spoke to my mom and little sister via video call after months of being away from them, I just couldn’t help but laugh and giggle throughout. Meanwhile, I was also the same person who whined about being too tired to raise a finger some minutes before the call. And eventually, a video call with them ended up being a whole virtual meetup with family and friends as we kept joining others to the call. Oh yes, you don’t even have to ask. My cheeks hurt so bad after the call ended three hours later.
That leads to the first non-material thing that brings me joy: time with friends and family. I love spending time with my family and friends, whether virtually or face-to-face, but mostly face-to-face. Quality time with these people makes me so happy. When I’m around family, I behave like a 5 year old girl, free and excited. There are times I feel so tired of everything, and just spending time with my loved ones rejuvenates me, making me feel like I can do anything in this world.
The nicest thing about spending time with them is how sometimes, they don’t need to even talk. Nobody needs to utter a word, but just their presence brings this sense of security, peace, and love. I remember when I was a kid, anytime I got home from school, the first thing I did was scream “Mummy! Daddy!” or find my brothers, and after knowing they were around, I would just go about my activities with giggles. Even now that I’m grown, I still do it. It’s just something about knowing they are present.
How can I talk about this topic without mentioning sketching? A lot of people don’t know this about me, but growing up, one of the things I used to do to escape reality anytime I was far away from home was sketching. And I still do because it just makes me so happy. It puts me in a place where everything seems possible. For me, it’s not just putting pen or pencil on paper; it’s leaving reality to enter a different world that I have created for myself mentally. More like escaping the universe into my own reality, a fairytale world maybe.
Currently, I’m miles away from my loved ones, and when I’m unable to reach them through the internet, I just enter my own world with my pencil. The day before yesterday, I couldn’t reach my family and friends on the phone because of a thunderstorm, which caused electricity and internet damage. So I escaped reality for hours using a pencil and an empty page. I went to my favorite place in the world, the beach, and while I was there, I brought all that I envisioned to life. Tell you what? It automatically put me in euphoria throughout the day, and I even forgot I didn’t have electricity or internet.
Speaking of the beach, the third thing on my list is watching the sunset at the beach. Anytime I talk about the sunset at the beach, I feel like I don’t get the right words. And that’s because no amount of words can describe what that sight does to me. But I’m still going to try and say something. Sunset at the beach makes me forget all that is happening in the world and disposes me into jocundity where nothing even matters.
If you see me at the beach watching the sunset, I look like someone under hypnosis or in a trance, good ones actually. I feel so great and elated and peaceful and ughhh! It just puts me on top of the moon. Sometimes, I smile so hard after watching the sunset that I only realize I’m still smiling when I go home and someone asks me, “Why are you smiling like that?” Yeah, I know, I know. It really does a thing on me.
At some point in life, you get to realize that the things that bring you exhilaration are the very little things around you. And although you can’t buy them with money or can’t hold them, but trust me, they are priceless. Now, if there’s something I know about priceless things, they are to be cherished forever, and that’s exactly what we should be doing. Look at me smiling so hard after writing this. Alright, I’m getting shy; I’m leaving.
Images are mine
