Over breakfast the other day, the few of us were on the topic of cameras when Eugene remarked that he couldn't recall when was the last time he used his camera. He takes photographs occasionally, using his iPhone which has a built-in camera. With camera-enabled smart phones these days, he observed, there is no need to carry a camera around since a mobile phone could perform the same role. Our kopi-talk then shifted to the pre-digital camera days which we all recall fondly. Those were the days of film camera when you can't see the photographs taken instantly. Whenever a roll of film was sent for developing - especially after a vacation - we would be waiting excitedly to see the developed photographs. K shared that he once went straight to the film shop from the airport to drop rolls of film for processing right after he returned from a trip. Such was the excitement of seeing the pictures taken, as compared to seeing digital images instantly today.
A week ago, I uploaded pictures taken in 2011 which I had compiled into a '2011 album'. This has become a tradition which I started only a year ago. The idea behind the album is not to walk down memory lane, but to share the photos which I had taken over the past year but had neither the time nor energy to upload and share. It's like being on a high speed train and it's only at the end of the frenetic journey, when the train slows down, that I found time to pause and organise the contents that have accumulated throughout the journey. Besides, I like to dabble in some creative pursuits now and then. Putting disparate photographs together into a album allows me to string together a year's worth of highlights (excluding those events whose pictures I've already uploaded) and making a running commentary of sorts. I like the fact that I can also view these favourite pictures anytime - so long as I have my mobile phone and there's internet connection. Pictures and words, I've said before, pretty much fill the narrative of my life.
By all accounts, twenty eleven was a year of many highs. I've grown older (as in any year), lived another year's of life experiences, made some new friends, learnt a few lessons, and laughed more. January was a special month because I had three pairs of friends getting married. I know all of them from different stages of my life, but they have all gotten hitched as husband and wife at the same time, that glorious January of 2011. Lisa not only married JM, but she got pregnant soon after and gave birth to Lucas last month. I am terribly happy for both of them. She's one of my most cherished friends and I am happy to see her so blessed and now going through motherhood. It's one of life's beauties that you know another human being at a young age and progress to seeing him/her move through life and creating another life that will soon come full circle. We were barely teenagers when our paths crossed in a stroke of divinity. Now she's a mother already and we are no longer the impish and innocent young teens that we used to be.
The other two friends who got married in January, they are both lovely and wonderful people with whom I clicked easily. Coincidentally, I found out this week that Josh is going to be a Daddy while the Chongs are also expecting their first child. I feel happy for both of them even though I didn't learn of the news sooner. It wasn't long ago that Josh and I were talking about his impending fatherhood. Now it's for real. For Yvon and Dan, I think they are going to have a beautiful child who's going to inherit their athletic finesse and good looks. From a trip that Yvon and I went on together 5 years ago to her wedding in January this year and now impending motherhood, I think time has been kind and I feel blessed for making two more good friends who are warm and genuine people.
Myself - it would take many paragraphs and pages to write about my 2011 experience, but suffice to say that the most profound change is my switch in profession. I not only quit my job but I gave up a lot of salary and moved into a completely different industry, one in which I lacked both knowledge and the requisite networks to get by comfortably. But in embracing change and uncertainty (and perhaps insecurity), I left behind a lot of angst and unhappy stress. Since then I have been able to run more, sleep more, cycle more, and complain less. Things are still tough and I am not sure if this is what I want to do in the long run, but at least right now I am learning new things and leaving behind the past. This is not to say that I've had a bad time previously; I was alone battling many things and exhausting every ounce of my energy, but that also forced me to manage difficulties and be a survivor. At the end of the day it is the relationships and my interactions with people that give meaning to what I do. I am glad I have gained from all this. But now I have reached another crossroad, and it's time for me to move on.
There are other things that I want to write about, but I think 2011 on the whole has been about friends who have reached their milestones in life and of me getting through tough times and moving on to the next phase in my working life. Blessed also is Kel who found out, got treated immediately, and survived cancer, and we all survived a potential nightmare.
Twenty Twelve has barely started, but I know before long we will be crossing the first month, then the first quarter, followed by the first half. I have no resolutions to make because I will not keep them. But I hope I will be happier in 2012, keep up with new and old friends, read more books, live a more healthy life and become wiser and richer in my experiences. For my friends, I hope the same for them and I can't wait to share their happiness - those who have just turned parents, those who are turning into parents, and a couple of them who are getting married this year.
