The time has come. I turn 28 and find myself watching the blinking cursor, determined to leave everything on this (digital) paper. It may seem like an old habit now, but I write on my birthday, every year [21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27], with renewed curiosity that pokes at my mind and heart.
An observation from this process of “reflecting in public” over the years is that if I go back to read a past entry, I can sense that the person whom I was addressing was myself precisely in the present moment. It’s pretty surreal. Yet, I am more grateful at each new opportunity that I get to keep writing.
I spent many evenings and Sundays on the cricket pitch. This “athletic” activity, which had started only as a way to touch grass, has become a major part of my life. Cricket is a (colonial) game with one too many rules. I’ve watched and saved a million reels dissecting all its technical complexities (how to run in a straight line, how to jump forward, how to hold a bat etc.). Even Pros playing this game recreationally have hours of repetition before they’re any good. Despite the physical hurdles, success is proportional to whether you can operate effectively in a high pressure situation when your team is counting on you; possessing the emotional strength or attitude to be that “clutch” player is an area that I can spend a lifetime perfecting.
If we’ve met in person recently, you may have seen an addition covering my teeth: braces! I was previously expected to get these back in 2020, but the world shut down for obvious reasons and my appointments were all cancelled. After a long wait and many new appointments between my dentist and orthodontist, I finally had a portion of the braces fitted (more to go including..jaw surgery).
I recognize, as someone with a really significant overbite, that people immediately notice my teeth especially if we’re meeting for the first time. To me, because it has always been my norm, it hasn’t bothered me. The reason I chose to “correct” the overbite is more for medical over cosmetic reasons. Yet, despite my own reasoning, the surgery will be considered a “cosmetic surgery” (as my surgeon made very clear) and could significantly change my “profile” (the medically-appropriate term instead of saying “face”). How people may change their behavior towards or opinions about me once I have that “corrected profile” will be an interesting future case study. For now, I’m glad that the people who assume I’ve never been to a dentist will finally stop encouraging me to go to one.
It might sound anticlimactic, but the greatest lesson the last year taught me was the importance of returning to simpler times. How I define simpler times is when the burden of challenges or events that cannot be controlled is lightened by your innate ability to stay enthusiastic and determined. While I haven’t (yet) remastered this art, I made a start by publishing my first ever YouTube video. This small endeavor reminded me that the possibilities to experience, create, and share wonder still exist around me.
I need only to look.
Until next time,
Riz