Happy New Year!
Welcome to the year of 2024. The air is crisp with potential and promise. It usually takes a few days or weeks before this newfound global confidence crumbles, though I suppose Japan had a rather unfortunate earthquakey first day of the year.
Fun fact: Despite millions of humans dedicating themselves to their New Years resolutions (which are often centered around health), the first of January has more food deliveries than any other day in the year. Humans are somehow able to be both complicated and simple at the same time. Fascinating creatures, we are.
I made plans to hang out with a tattoo artist I knew from Taiwan 'whysmilesally' and her friends that was flying in on the 31'st, but their plane was delayed and they entered the new year high above the landscape below. I got in touch with a local musician friend 'Eugene' that was performing all night, and went to her instead, after cleaing up my entire condo to give me the best start of the day. To get around Chiang Mai, you either need a motorbike or an uber-esque app that sends the motorbike driver to you. I found a driver on 'Grab' and for the entire ride he was watching a 'Mr Beast' video about staying in one of those padded mental hospital cells. The bikers in thailand are highly skilled, though the feeling of safety is never going to suffocate you. Only a small percentage of drivers will offer you a helmet as you hold on tight while you're speeding past Tuk Tuks, Songthawes, trucks and other motorbikes. I arrived safely at the bar, sat down and had a couple of large Chang beer while reflecting on the past year and visualizing the year in front of me.
Midnight came and went, and the people rejoyced! I was happy to end my year with a friend that is actively following her dreams. Sally notified me that she had landed, and since the Thai band had to wake up early to get to another province next morning, I got another grab bike (this time without a Mr Beast video) and met up with her and her three friends. We had been internet friends since 2019, so it was really great to finally connect face to face. She has visited Chiang Mai twice before, but her friends had never been to Thailand before. We talked and laughed and I had another large beer. A strange old man was dancing around on the street, enjoying the atmosphere and the traditional music playing from the speakers. (I could recognize the "Phin" guitar, an instrument I bought a few weeks prior on the sunday night market) I got out on the street with him, syncronizing my own sick dance moves to his own. I think that made him very happy. Around 3am it was time for us to get some rest, and we split up with smiles on our faces. What a beautiful night. I got on my third motorbike of the day, and realized I was drunk enough that I had to remind myself to hold on, lest i forget it. Back in my condo I crawled into a bed that was newly made, and fell asleep.
2024. This will be the year that changes everything for me, I can feel it.
I have recently made some very interesting contacts and connections, and unless I'm mistaken this will speed up my schedule quite a bit. I do have a dream I am chasing, and nothing is going to get in the way of my dream.
Thank you to everyone that made 2023 a special year to me. I'm blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life, and I hope I get the chance to be as beneficial to your life as you are to mine. We've made it through one more celestial cycle, here's to many more! Humanity's future is not yet written, and we as individuals have the power to change the course of history, if only we put our minds to it. Adieu!
