Quick Summary

So, a quick summary of what I had written in 2015:

1. 22 poems posted here
2. 39 essays/rants posted here
3. 3 prose/stories posted here
4. 1 NaNoWriMo winning entry available here

And thus the grand total here is 65 articles, down from the 280 articles in 2014.

That's an average of 0.18 pieces of writing a day, compared to 0.77 last year. It's a little low, but I think that it is representative of the new normal for me, where I no longer have the steady supply of stimulating events (both good and bad) that come from intensive social interactions that come from being in a pure academic environment.

The past year itself passed by with very little lows, much to my satisfaction. I now have a steady companion who will be transferring her base of operations back into Singapore, and she has reminded me of a life that I had once denied myself of because I had been hurt quite badly due to my naïveté in thinking that people can and will change, not to mention the whole loss of trust in people due to... let's not talk about it here since it is already in the past.

Last year saw the whole marketing hubbub that was ``SG50'', the year-long government-supported marketing blitz to celebrate Singapore's 50 years of independence. Despite my interpretation of just how tacky that sounded, I was probably involved in more events relating to SG50 than I would care to admit. My interest in my music has heightened and levelled up, partly because of the co-influence of my companion and partner, partly from an exposure to the ``real'' world of professional music through a collaboration or two, and partly from a candid realisation of the trials and tribulations to pursue an ideal. I reaffirmed my love of music not as a means of bragging about my prowess, but as a means of expression, which goes as far as standing up for my own thoughts and views against the establishment.

No regrets there.

I am starting to enjoy the new-found feeling of assertion. Unlike the past where I was subjugated in one form or another and always having to play toady to ensure survival, being older now and a working adult has given me more leeway and conviction to assert myself, that I can think and am willing to think, and am unwilling to let anyone cow me to follow their own perspective of rightness and wrongness without having a convincing argument. I find that I am clearer in my values, and am more willing to assert my values in the face of opposition, mostly because I am now less beholden to many external parties.

In short, I am fast learning how to be my own man.

The value of a good mentor is often understated, and my interaction with an elder is the reason why there is sudden clarity in many things. There is no shame to ask for help and advice when one needs it---it is when one has doubts and yet refuse to seek advice despite spending time thinking through that one is the fool.

Much of my free time not spent on practising on my 笛子 or piccolo/flute was spent on reading. My martial arts training had been slackening from the haze and general laziness, and I will be bringing them back on track this year. Like my companion says, there will be some big and wonderful things happening in the year ahead, and like her, I am looking forward to them as well.

To the future and beyond!