I like many of us have I've experienced many different forms of love. Many of these are often taken for granted or seen as 'like' rather than love. Some dream of finding the perfect partner, others are more active, seeking a connection here and there until they finally find someone. This unfortunately is what we usually think of when we think of love. What we tend to forget, is that there are many different forms of love. Kids are some of the best teachers when it comes to subject the of love. Kids aren't afraid of expressing their love. As an adult it's easy to think "they are just saying it so often due to their age" or "you can't use the word love that much". But I think that kids sense and see how much love is needed in the world, especially today. As adults we build our walls high and are afraid to use the word love unless it's to address the feelings between us and our partners. To quote a movie that I love (see what I did there!); love actually is, everywhere.

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I've found myself in situations were I've felt sort of ashamed to express my feelings of love. For some reason my love of strangers has always been greater than that of my environment. Also I have no personal space whatsoever and I can get very touchy feely, something that Finnish people feel weirded out by, so I try my best to tone it down. But I think all of us need to feel physical touch not as in sex but as in hugs or gentle strokes on your back, intimacy. It's a human right to feel the physical side of love. Another love language I operate with is helping others. More often than not I do these little things for people as a way to express my feelings towards them rather than saying it out loud. My point being that the way we express love may change depending on our age but it is still there no matter how much effort we put into trying to hide it.

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The love between friends is something I wish everyone would get to experiences at least ones in their lives. Very often people think of friends as people to spend time with and see when your partner isn't around or the once whom will help you get over a terrible relationship. To me friends are soulmates. If it doesn't feel right then they aren't my soulmate. I have a few friends that I love, probably more than anything in this world. They are way more than just people to share a conversation with sometimes. They are the people whom understand you and share a life with you. Isn't that beautiful? To know that someone gets you and you get them. Don't get me wrong, sometimes opposites attract even in a friendship way but I think everyone also needs at least one friend who is similar enough to understand them but different enough to have their own thoughts, dreams and values. And a friendship is never easy either, just like a partnership conflicts and times of separation due of course occur but only a true friendship will continue growing on despite hardships. I once told one of my friends: "no matter how much we fight or whatever you do that might be annoying it will not make me leave you." That was me saying; I love you.

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As we grow older we might start to notice our environment more than we did as kids and teenager when the main focus was on other people in our environment and how our environment makes us feel. As adults we often see our environment for what it is and often it may seem grey and dull. But within this reality check hides a true gift! Our view on the environment may lead us towards acceptance and seeing beauty in the little things around us. We might not always feel happy with the state of our lives or the place that we live in but hey isn't that sunset beautiful? Aren't I kind of lucky to be alive right now and having the pleasure of enjoying it? Yeah, I do love life after all.

❤: Rebecka

- We are gathered here for our annual meeting regarding time and how people perceive it. Because I am the present I suggest that we take a look at how people view time right now after we have entered a new decade and of course, a new year. Thoughts?

- Well I'm not trying to be nostalgic or anything but I remember the present suggesting the exact same thing the last time when a decade changed and the time before that and the time before that! Isn't it a little old fashioned to go back in time like that?

- I must say that I as the future,agree with the past!

- But how can that be? said the present. You guys live in different spaces of time.

- Don't we know it! But dear present moment, me and the past need to depend on eachother. What didn't work in the past will probably not work in the future either although, future has this unknown element that neither me, you, the past or anyone else can figure out until it happens. The unknown lives within me. But nowadays people think about me more than the past. People want to see what life will be like in 10 years, if they are married, having a great career or traveling around the world or more general things such as "have we found a solution to stop climate change and if so does everyone follow it anyways". My point being that maybe we shall remind people that what has changed in the past reflects the present but doesn't define it but what happens in the present will define the future.

- I do not understand, said the present.

- No you don't, of course you don't, said the past, for you are always stuck in the present! But I can say for sure that people in the past have responded well to solutions by the future but they have also responded badly, so it might be equal to taking a risk.

- Ah, risks! Without risks the present would not have a past or a future! the future screams.

- Why can't we be living in the present moment! the present shouted.

- Because in exactly one second a moment of the present has become the past, the past reminded everyone.

But then space and time became silent until the next change of a decade.

The sun was shining back home in Finland as well so during the very first day of 2020.. yeah you guessed it, I took a long walk. I saw bottles of wine and cans of beer on the streets, tired people ordering pizza and everyone probably looked at me like ; "there goes that annoying person who didn't get drunk on nye". I celebrate things in my own way. Sometimes I need to sit alone in the darkness and watch the firework, sometimes I find myself sitting in cab filled with strangers. This Nye I just wanted to be still and figure out what 2020 was going to be like for me. I like to stop for a few hours and review my goals, themes and the perspective I currently have in life. When the clock strikes 0.00 I feel like I can accomplish anything. It's a lovely feeling.

But truly the thinking process continues for as long as the very first week of 2020. In my opinion we tend to rush our way through life too much. We celebrated the shift of a decade during one night and then we clean the floor from glitter and sparkling wine and just like that, we move on. We may invent a few rules to follow the upcoming year but the we rush back to our daily grind. When are you supposed to face yourself head on and question your past actions? Are we afraid to talk to ourselves regarding how we really are doing? How can anything change if we aren't ready to see if change is needed? For example I tend to communicate in a certain way, the way I would prefer. But it recently occured to me that others may not understand my way just like I don't understand their ways of communicating. It wasn't a "nice" discovery exactly but it helped me understand that I sometimes need to compromise myself, even if I hate it and even if it might be difficlt.

My Christmas break has been lovely. I got to spend time with family and friends and even if I enjoyed it a lot, I noticed a couple of days ago that after this social period I was craving alone time more than anything. I try not to be ashamed of being introverted but it sometimes feels like a real struggle. I enjoy being with people I love and sometimes I even love meeting new people but when I'm done with being social, I really am done. But I must say that I'm also very proud of myself! I've only met people if I really felt social and energetic enough to meet them. Which is something each introvert needs to learn.

Introverted or not,work started today (7.1) and I need to start getting back into the correct mindset of work, studying and staying on top of my game. I felt so happy to be back in my routine and everyday life again after all the travel and running around like some eager life loving teenager. So many things had however changed at work that I felt a bit lost hahaa, but I guess that's normal. I tend to feel a bit lost in the beginning of a new year but once I get that calender out I begin to feel a certain sense of purpose again.

Hope you liked this little realistic update and hopefully 2020 will bring you many blessings 💫

/Rebecka