Here Comes 2016

还记得上小学的时候老师让我们写一篇作文《2015年的世界》。

现在2015年已经过了。The bad news is that the world did not turn out to be the way I had envisioned. Maybe envision is too strong a word for a child like me back then, I probably did not even have a vision. Rather, the world I had imagined, where transportation would be much more sci-fi like. So our society did not end up developing in that way...yet.

The good news is, I have also become someone I would not have imagined when I was very young. At least, my life has been drastically different from those of my childhood friends who ended up staying in my hometown, went back to our parents' workplaces and married someone they met through their parents. 假如当年没有去新加坡，没准我的人生也就不过如此。还是很感谢妈妈的远见和坚持。

又过了一年。细细数来，我在香港也有三年多。很快的，这会成了继西安/新加坡/加州后我第四个家。我想我一开始肯定没有想过自己会在香港久留，不过人算不如天算。头几年我还真的不是特别钟情于这座城市，因为大街太挤，工作太忙，到处都上演着人与物质的戏码。不过这一年下来，我的心里对于这个地方开始变得柔软了些。当我开始真正地用心去享受工作外的时间，才发现香港虽然不是那个我想念的加州，但有些非常像加州的地方（比如11月份的天气，Duddell St上的星巴克，午后的Hong Kong Park）。在如此多元化的城市里，为什么不是幸福的呢？我终于明白了，生活方式应该更多地是自我心情的一种延伸，而不是跟着大环境随波逐流。

2016年来了。Another year, lots of new dreams. This year started on a really good note because we woke up at 4am on New Year's day to hike to Victoria Peak. I followed the Japanese tradition of praying to the first sunrise as it is supposed to carry some special power.

New Year Resolution:

1) Healthy lifestyle - sleep before 11pm and wake up at 6am. At least one gym/yoga/hiking session per week.
2) Pick up a 3rd language (either French or Japanese)
3) Learn to play the guitar (LF is supposed to give me a lesson package as Xmas gift)
4) Complete another hiking adventure
5) Travel more with my parents
6) Read at least one piece of work-related report per week + monthly PDP = I want to be an expert on our China business
7) Volunteer
8) Start using my camera more
9) Learn to cook
10) Keep up with my journal writing

其实，最重要的是我希望自己在2016中可以继续成长。活在当下，成为一个自己喜欢的，喜欢自己的女孩儿。

“You can be gorgeous at thirty, charmimg at forty, and irresistible for the rest of your life.”
- Coco Chanel

The Playlist

晚上，正准备刷牙睡觉，电脑里传出了Hotel California的前奏。然后，望着镜子的我脑海里立刻重回到了summit day的那晚。

应该是很艰辛的一晚，毕竟我们晚上十一点起床，凌晨十二点开始登顶。漆黑黑的山路，前方只有头灯里发出的微弱的光芒。一开始，我们有时还有说有笑；后来，氧气少了，我们都渐渐沉默不语。

真的不知道自己是怎么熬过这六个小时。又黑又冷、睏意不断。但是，我一直告诉自己：我只负责在每一刻的当下，迈出那么一小步。This is what I have learn from "The Power of Now", and I shall practice it. As for the other things，time will take care of them.

就是这样，在六个小时后，如我们预期的，太阳徐徐升起。也如我们预期的，自己爬上了非洲最高的山顶。

至于这首歌，在登顶的那六个小时里，我靠着这个playlist挺过了最难熬的一个小时 (凌晨四点到五点那一段时间)。所以，现在这首歌被赋予了新的意义。

歌声响起，仿佛又回到了那个凌晨，如此虔诚的自己。

Back from Tanzania

Landed in Hong Kong at about 8pm. Everything is again so streamlined and organized, and all I need to do is go with the flow.

Back home, gently lit the candle I brought from Planet Lodge, hit shuffle play on Spotify and jumped into the hot shower.

慢慢的，这次的旅行开始沉淀。

我不时会想，这趟非洲下来，我到底改变了多少。但其实真的很难说，因为有些改变很微妙。在机场买的那本书《The Power of Now》让自己的内心安定不少。在8天爬山的过程中，我一直在告诉自己要活在当下。如果路程有点枯燥，那就把它当成一个人的朝圣，这样子跨出的每一步又多了一份神圣感。

我不想承认以前的自己多多少少还是对非洲有一些偏见。不过这也是为什么我们都需要多出去看看这个世界。去过非洲的人，都不难爱上那里。爱的是它的幅员辽阔，以及人类与自然的那份和谐。以前很难想象人类的祖先源于非洲，当你真正的到了那里，才会发现人与人之间没有什么不同。反而，我很羡慕那里人民的单纯和朴实。没有太多烦恼与奢求，嘴里总挂着一句： Hakuna Matata。然后一笑而之。

这次最深刻的印象，是在Kilimanjaro山顶上看着太阳徐徐升起。暖红色的晨光出现在地平线的那一刹那，耳边渐渐响起了《狮子王》里的那首 “Circle of Life"。

It's the Circle of Life
And it moves us all
Through despair and hope
Through faith and love
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the Circle
The Circle of Life

是呀，我们每一个人和其他万物都在这世间轮回。没有什么不一样。