I often catch myself wondering what life would be like if nothing had an end to it. Just one long indefinite period with no minutes, hours, days, years or decades. Think about it...if this was life, it would strip us of the fundamental privilege of having hope. Hope that Tuesday will be more gentle to us than our blue Monday; hope that next week will hold more adventure than this fruitless week; that next year will be prosperous, that we will be wiser and more content in our 30’s than in our 20’s, or perhaps that our next lover will be the one who respects, treasures, adores and loves us more than life itself.

According to my dictionary, “end” means to finish or to terminate. In other words, to be done with something and to be able to leave it behind, move on and start fresh. In 2010, I have lived to experience the end of life as I knew it. This year brought about the end of my twenties and with it, a new perspective on things. I have learnt that nothing in this life lasts forever. Jobs, diets, exercise routines, new years resolutions, friends, bad hair days, worse hangovers and even the guy you once adored will all come and go. I have learnt that the only way people can make you feel weak or inferior is with your own consent; that love, hope, faith and trust can be lost but regained again; but most profound of all, that the sun will rise again tomorrow (if you like it or not) and if you surrender to the splendor of it, it might just have a lovely surprise for you stashed away in it’s pretty little Louis Vuitton backpack.

Perhaps this day, week, month or year has been tough on you, but at least you can awake again tomorrow with the ability to choose life and new beginnings. I have the words “live life” tattooed on my wrist; serving as a reminder that I have an obligation towards myself to play my cards to the best of my ability. It is you and you alone that is responsible for the quality of it. Everyone else is too busy with their own sh*t to give a damn. I have gone through a phase where “live life” meant to live life hard and on the edge; partying continuously to numb my pain or preferably to run like a mad woman from it. Luckily for me, that phase also had an end to it. “Live life” has transformed itself into me sitting right in the middle of my pain, joy, disappointments and ecstasy; being present, feeling it and living through it day by day.

Although we all know that New Year’s resolutions will die a silent death by January the 10th, I have decided to make one anyway. I have borrowed it from my old friend Johnny Walker whom many of you may be acquaintances of. He always says: Keep Walking. Whatever you do, just don’t stand still or keep lying down. Maybe the end is another word for beginning. Get up, be done with it, start fresh and continue walking your journey. Forget about the lost lovers, the lost opportunities and the multitude of things you can’t change, and hold on to the fact that the sun will rise tomorrow and when it does, you my friend will be rocking and rolling beneath it!

A merry Christmas to you and the ones dear to your heart. Eat as much as you can on Christmas Day and make sure to drink the best wine you can afford. May 2011 have many splendid surprises and blessings in store for you, but most importantly, may the sun shine within you even on a cloudy day!

Attraversiamo! (Italian for let’s cross over!)
Amber x