The 7 lessons of 2015

As there is little time left until 2015 makes room for 2016, I take a moment to be grateful for its gifts. 2015 is a year I end without regrets, that’s been great on many levels. I finished two manuscripts (short – stories and my first non – fiction book), got published for the first time as a translator and started a podcast. My faith in humanity was restored by the way people helped in each other during the crises that hit modern society. I grew calmer and wiser. Learned some new life lessons that I hope you’ll find useful.

1.Shut the door behind me when I leave my house but keep my heart and mind open.
A  short walk to the grocery store or a three week adventure trip in Thailand is a great opportunity of learning something new and making new friends. I had this experience in all the four trips – none shorter than 10 days, I took in 2015. In Khanom and Koh Lipe (Thailand), Paris and Dublin (Europe) and Santa Ana California, I met and made friends with wonderful people with whom I share the similar values, life vision and hobbies. They are healers, travellers, boatmen, actors, writers, businesspeople. They all have open hearts and minds, they love life and people.

With a lovely Thai woman,in Khanom, Thailand

2. Solitude is a gift
2015 is the year when I took pleasure in solitude. It allowed me to connect to my inner self, find out who I really was, know my weaknesses and strength. In solitude, I can meditate and do yoga. In solitude, I write my books. In 2015, unlike other years, I travelled alone. While the Internet allowed me to keep me in touch with the dear ones back home, I had the freedom to be myself. To meet new people and spend time. 

3. Intuition is the best guide
Intuition is that little voice that sometimes whispers, sometimes shouts at you to do something. Intuition guided me to Dublin and Santa Ana (California). In both cases, for the first time. While I had long wanted to visit Ireland’s capital, I had no idea Santa Ana existed. The result? I had the time of my life, made new friends and even forged professional projects for 2016. How do I know it is intuition and not my mind is a question I hear often. Intuition feels the right thing to do. It brings a joyful feeling, excitement and relief. When someone acts according to intuition, everything falls into place. When you follow the mind, the opposite happen. At first, I was reluctant to go to Dublin, to a writers’ conference I knew nothing about it. I postponed my decision for a week. But when I made the payment and booked the airplane tickets. I still thank my intuition for this hint :). 

4. Be true to oneself no matter what others say
I hear often people complaining they are tired. In my experience, one of the most powerful factor of tiredness is not being true to oneself. Wearing a mask, trying to fit in, pleasing other people can be gruelling when we neglect our true self. So, it doesn’t matter to me anymore if others  – including family and friends, think I am bit cuckoo. I chose to believe in my dreams and stop listening to anybody who’s saying my dreams are crazy. In 2015, I gave up eating meat. I also gave up cable TV.  I started being open about being a Reiki practitioner.  I started daily  yoga and meditation.

5. Persist, giving up is not an option
Interviewing Brian May (from Queen) is high on my  2015’s…. high. I had never thought I would ever have the chance of meeting a rock legend of this calibre. As I wrote here, Brian May is more than a great musician, he is a great human being. Before the press conference he held at The London Book Fair, I was informed that he would not be given interviews. Nevertheless, the PR persona advised to hang around when it ended because, you know, “you never know”. I took her advice. I dislike being pushy so after the event ended I took some pictures and waited foe a little while for Brian May to finish his private conversations with English journalists he apparently knew. I was so excited about his humanitarian projects and his whole attitude that I really wanted to talk to him, even for only one minute. He must had seen something in my eyes because, to my great surprise, Brian May came to me and asked if I was ok. Was I ok? I was ecstatic. We a three minutes chat you can listen to on my Soundcloud channel. I am grateful now to Brian May not only for his music, but for reminding me that persistence pays! Giving up is not an option anymore!

6. The Universe supports life 
This is one of the main topics in my first non – fiction book. A benevolent Universe is a common idea in all spiritual teachings. Looking back at 2015, I see it at work in my life. Here’s a funny example. I left home for Santa Ana angry, in a hurry. I didn’t realise I had forgotten the luggage key at home until I reached the airport. It was already late. I panicked than  I took some deep breaths to calm down, than panicked again. On the flight from London to Chicago, the passenger next to me was a very nice Latvian lady. She explained to me how to open the luggage without thrashing it, using a ballpoint pen. It was something she had seen on Facebook. It worked perfectly!

7. The largest family on Earth has over 7.3 billion members. Guess what? We are all part of it.
Bonding with people from three different continents made me realise that I have a huge family: 7.3 billion members. Behind the illusory differences of race, culture, religion, gender, we are humans. We need to give and receive love. We all love laughing and hugging and doing good and helping each other.

I wish to all my 7.3 billion members family a Happy New Year! May the 2016 be a year of freedom, happiness, love and prosperity. I confess I can’t wait to meet as many of you as possible. Even in the remotest places on Earth.

HAPPY NEW 2016!