Cheers to the New Year: Delights of the Ordinary No. 27
In the quiet noon of the December I I expect that the year 2024 will be kind and retreating from all the wars that 2023 has seen. I hope -like every one of you - for peace in the world.
Welcome to Delights of the Ordinary.
Hi, I am Anugrah. I write Delights of the Ordinary for us who are trapped in the world of hustle culture but are quiet at heart with an itching creative bone. If you know even one person who will benefit from reading Delights of the Ordinary then feel free to share it with them.
It is nearly noon now.
A quiet noon.
I sit down to write to you plenties of goodness for the year 2024.
One of the things we all did in these past days was to have geared ourselves into mild to moderate to full-blown grades of celebrations! And I hope that along with some degree of celebration and warmness around, you could also take out time for things that were overlooked and neglected all year round, paying attention to details that were missed in the brushwood thickets of numerous duties and obligations of this year.
But in some form for some of us, even festivities can become severely daunting. Instead of catching a breath of comfort, babying ourselves in some guilt-free naps, and not worrying about chasing the time schedules - celebrations can turn into chaotic affairs of people pleasing and handling a zillion responsibilities to make events and things happen.
Another pressure that looms is to make certain plans for the 31st night! A compulsion to scream out from our rib cages ~~ ‘Welcome 2024’~~ under party lights and with eardrum-shattering music - that to some of us it feels nearly criminal to quietly welcome another year with a quiet relaxed whiff of wonder and amusement.
I don’t know if you are the quiet kind. The misfits in the lot.
Because I am.
I hate to ring into squawking shouts and screechy music and loud lyrics being sung in some dark room where you can hardly see around.
There is nothing wrong in calling in the new year in cacophonous loud cheers. But this is also not a universal code of celebration.
I prefer the nostalgia of the ageing year to blanket and carry me, tucking my feet under the light duvet (since Mumbai weather is hilariously hot even in December) and wiggling and stretching my toes into a gentle smile.
To look out of the window for a while and get back to my favourite book or doodle my way. A sleep takes over and I would let the year wrap itself gently and unhurriedly as it always does. But the wonder is - it will bring a newness- a new sun, a new mist and a new spirit again.
I hope all of these for you.
That, you may find newness, comfort, as well as strength to gear up your inner spirit and let gentleness be your beauty or your machoism. And I expect that the year 2024 will be kind and retreating from all the wars that 2023 has seen. I hope -like every one of you - for peace in the world.
I wish you plenty of goodness for the coming year and till I get back to writing my essays to you in the letter form, may the world and all the goodness preserved in it be all yours.
Much love.
- Anugrah
Delights of the Ordinary started somewhere in April of twenty-twenty-three with just two readers and now has a readership of 100+ of you. I am highly grateful for the time and room that you give me in your heart.
Delights of the Ordinary is currently a free publication. Yet it takes me many hours of effort to write and curate it. I may need lots of coffee to keep me going. You can :)
Stumbled on my publication? Explore all my previous editions here. And in case you don’t wish to spend time browsing then complement this post with Fomo, Jomo, Wagmi And Why We Need Them in Our Lives, We are Trying to Eliminate Complications, Not Add to Them or read about The Art of Walking.
And don’t forget to
Happy New Year