Hello everyone. Feels a bit strange writing here after such a long time. 

I remember the year 2020, one of my resolutions was to be more active in my blog. But here I am, after almost 8 months of the year, making my first post. 

The year 2020 has also been some sort of stalemate for the entire world. So it still gives that feel of ‘the year has barely started’ despite it being 8 months old. At least for me (and I need some excuse), I feel that way. 

But a man has to start somewhere. So here we go. 

Although I wasn’t much active digitally for a good part of the year, I have actually had a very good time this year! 

I had stopped working full-time last September just to do some other things that I had always wanted. Things like traveling, reading a lot, and above all living life in a slower mode. Travel I got to do a little in the first month of 2020, and after that, thanks to this Corona Virus lockdown, I got to experience the other two to the fullest.

That is, reading a lot and living life in a slower mode. 

I like knowing about things in general. And there were so many things that I had always wanted to know or even understand. Yet I would always think it would take a lifetime to know about some of the things. I had created this impression for myself that ’I was too busy’ and a notion that whatever I had wanted to know were ‘not related to my work’ to curb my curiosity. 

But now, I finally had the time to read about a lot of things I had wanted, and I have actually realized you can know just about enough to make you feel happy in just a few months. 

I spent a good part of the year reading about history and probability. I love reading about history because it helps us understand the root behind the things we see in the world today and potentiality the causality of events, and probability because it helps us understand randomness and even analyze that causality (or if there was actually one in the first place!)

I also enjoyed reading the history of our religions, and right now enjoying reading the spiritual philosophies. And lastly, I also read (and understood a little) the world of finance, one domain that I think everyone should know a little and one domain where I had almost zero knowledge before. 

Living life in a slower mode was also a joyful experience for me. Almost all of us live life at a pace not even remotely set us. Our alarm wakes us up, and we just run. Having an alarm itself is a reminder of the race we are all part of. Thanks to this lockdown and the sabbatical I was taking even before that, I was also able to sleep at night without any alarm. 

The past few months have also helped me incorporate two M’s in my life: Minimalism and Mindfulness, and both the M’s have been a very rewarding experience for me. I will write about the two M’s in my future posts. 

Regarding my blog, I will try to be more honest with myself now and also write regularly. Also, I have decided to write about two more things, rather than just my travel. First, I will write about whatever little I have even able to learn from reading and maybe create some sort of a series along that line. And second, I will also write about my opinion on just about random things. 

And lastly, it is not a mere coincidence that I am posting on today’s date. From what has been a super long break, it was this date that sort of pushed me to start writing again, and also realize how some dates are always special for us no matter how much we try to trivialize it. I was born on this day 28 years ago, so this new start to my blog is my gift to myself. (The number 28 seriously kind of feels old, even if I do not want it to feel that way. So, this is one area where I should probably stop thinking numerically.) 

Also, I love the idea of gifting yourself on your birthday. There is no one that understands you more than you, and surely there is no one that you should care for more than your own self. You are your own responsibility and there is no replacement for you. So, never hold back from rewarding yourself. 

I will soon be back with more articles. 

Talk to you all soon.