Of turning 25 and new green beginnings.

Wow... I turn 25 in exactly a couple of weeks.

Recently, I was cleaning up my closet and lo and behold, found my old high school journal! While I wasn’t so thrilled to read all my lovesick notes (oh, high school flings!) and angsty rants about the silliest things, I did find comfort in reading a couple of pages I filled with a list of things I wanted to do before I turned 25.

On the list were some pretty far-flung, silly, ridiculously ambitious stuff: Go looking for faeries in Scotland; learn how to paint and finish a painting; graduate with honors (pretty ambitious for someone who hates school as much as I do! :p); get a scholarship in RADA or the Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York; organize a campaign against drug addiction; teach high school literature; join Survivor or the Amazing Race; etc etc.. Things that I know I might never be able to do now and even a few things that I now can’t imagine I wanted to do back then (an internship for a magazine? Watch a wrestling match?)…

But on the other hand, I was also extremely pleased (and surprised!) to find that I was able to check off a handful of the things I listed down, too: see the Angkor Wat; write restaurant reviews; record an album; make music videos; start my own business… and atleast half-checks on a few more: on the list, I wrote “be a professional stage actress or performer”, and while I haven’t done a single play in the last 5 years, I did a few plays with Dulaang UP before and got paid doing what I love and playing gigs with the band should count for a half-check, right? And I may not have “travelled the world” yet but I love that I’d been able to check off most of my dream destinations already.. Siem Reap & Phnom Penh in Cambodia; Phuket & Bangkok in Thailand; Bali in Indonesia; and several other countries from that must-travel-to list! “Write & keep a blog” was on that list, too, and I did keep a LiveJournal through my first couple of years in college (which I eventually abandoned after getting married! :p) so I’m putting a half-check on that as well.

But perhaps the biggest check on my list and the one that I am most proud and happy about is coincidentally the first one:

“Have my own family and live in a nice, sunshine-filled house”

I started laughing & crying when I read that first item on the list. I had forgotten how much I wanted this back then. It made me realize that having a small family at such a young age was in the plan all along after all. I do remember wanting to be a young mom. My mom had me when she was 25 and she really did become more like my bestfriend than a mother to me, and I knew I wanted the same kind of relationship with my own children when the time comes.

Now, I am married to my favourite person in the world (the most patient, most kind-hearted, most loving husband, really!!) and we have the funniest, silliest 4-year-old boy (who really seems like he’s 30 trapped in a little boy’s body!) and we live in a sunshine-filled house and I CANNOT ask for a better life than this. :-)

 

…On another note though, one thing on that list that I am a bit upset about not having been able to check off yet is this: “Make a difference for Mother Earth”. I studied in a school where Environmental Awareness was a big part of our education and grew up in a place where trees and fresh air are abundant so I grew up with a huge appreciation for Mother Nature & all it has to offer and also have always been a big advocate of taking care of our planet. However, now more than ever, I am beginning to realize that there are still a lot of things that my family and I need to change in the way we live that can lessen our environmental footprint. And this is what this blog is going to be about: mine & our family’s journey to a greener, more sustainable lifestyle. One that’s healthier, more natural & more holistic for us and one that will create the least possible impact on our dear, dear Momma Earth.

So I shall blog. I feel like maybe I can do more if I shared this journey with more people through a platform like this. You know, the hitting two birds with one stone kind of thing. I'll be using this blog to document our family’s journey towards a greener life and sharing tips & little changes we’ve been making and we’ll continue to make in our daily lives so we can live a healthier, happier lifestyle that treads lightly on the environment. And maybe along the way, inspire a few others to do the same.

So here's  to checking off a few more things on that list! (Extending the deadline on this one won't hurt!) And to *almost* turning 25 and to a fresh new beginning of a journey to a greener, happier life!

Love, light & pixie dust,

the earthboundfaerie

a beautiful sunrise over rice fields in Bali -- a salute to new beginnings!