The December Journal

HEY!

Happy New Year! For those of you who have followed my monthly journals throughout 2018 (all four of you), thank you. Really. It means a lot.  

This penultimate journal of 2018 is well overdue, and for that I’m both mortified and pleasantly surprised. I love to write - more than most other things – but I’m discovering that the more contentment I find in each day, the less I see need for a pen in hand. And if there’s any way I can summarise this last month, it is with the greatest contentment and satisfaction and happiness my heart can handle.

I love a New Year. And I love an Old Year. Particularly this one.  

2018 was splendid – I moved to Melbourne, found a home, met incredible people. Hung out in Japan for a wee bit. I learnt a language. Bought a guitar. Sang on stage again. Had my first (and last) hangover. Won trivia. Turned 21. Got a real job. Kept a plant alive. Got accepted to study abroad in India. I can’t really believe this is my life?  

For the festive period, I ventured up the Gold Coast to spend time with family and friends. Despite catching a horrific case of the flu, recovering, and then coming down with tonsillitis, it’s been one of my favourite holidays yet. Being by the beach again - having sand between my toes, salty skin and that delicious sleepiness that the sun leaves you with – was bliss. Even more wonderful was when my two families collided – my housemates surprised me and travelled up to get a taste of the sun.

Living away from the Coast has fostered my love and appreciation for it. But for the first time this year, it didn’t feel like my home anymore – Melbourne is home now. It wasn’t until I got back to the city that I realised how much I’d missed my tiny room, the way the stairs creak, my pantry shelves, Lygon street; if only I could kidnap my family and have them here too, I think I’d combust with joy.

Melbourne isn’t forever (in fact, my next move is already on the horizon) but for now, it is completely and utterly wonderful. No matter where I go in the world, I know I’ll always have two homes: one by the sea, and one painted green.

Happy New Year, from me to you.