2022, i bid you adieu || a yearly recap & welcome to the new year 🏵️

29th Dec 202228th Dec 2022 maya rajesh18 Comments

It’s the end of the year again, and that always scares me a little.

I’ve always been tied to routine, and anyone who knows me well is well aware that change – even just the thought of it – isn’t something I adore. As a creature of habit, I’ve always found it hard to wrap my mind around new beginnings.

The close of a year always reminds me that life has new things in store for us; I struggle to put it into words – the sort of impending loss that overwhelms me. It’s almost like a premature longing for times that haven’t passed yet. Nostalgia – one word, three syllables, and yet, it fuels so much emotion in me.

We’ll never be here again: this moment, this place.

But then again, we did make it through these past twelve months. A new beginning is fast approaching, for worse… or for better. Whatever happens, we are here right now, and I think it’s up to us to make the most of it. So, it’s time to see the forest for the trees, and appreciate the hurdles and wins life’s thrown at us this year. Change always reminds me of this quote, one of my all-time favourites:

“[He] wondered if normalcy was something, like vision or silence, you didn’t realize was precious until you lost it.”
― Cassandra Clare, City of Fallen Angels.

On that note, I’d like to finally start the wrap-up. I’ve split up the year into four, with some of my favourite snapshots from the months, and a little note on the special moments. 2022 was a beautiful year, honestly. It gave me so much more clarity on what I want to do with my life, career-wise, I learnt to play the guitar, I danced a lot and school went great. Like everything else, it had its ups and downs, but I loved it.

the world is quiet here 🦋 picnicking, gilmore girls & life lately

2nd Dec 20221st Jan 2023 maya rajesh12 Comments

The days are getting shorter, the morning air has a little chill, and the jackets are coming out of the closets… if I didn’t know better, I’d say it was winter again. The skies go maroon at seven, we drink hot chocolate on the weekends, and the mid-terms approach. (Of course, there had to be a catch, didn’t there?)

Anyway, today’s post is a log of the last couple of weeks – we went picnicking, my sister and I have been binge-watching Gilmore Girls, and we did an assembly at school… it’s been a great deal of fun. Life’s had its ups and downs (and things have been leaning towards the latter lately) but I have been trying, and I’m just hoping that’s enough.

Life’s been a bit on the quiet side lately, with extended hours of school, holidays, and studying with Midnights streaming (constantly,) long, handwritten notes to friends, and it feels a little bit like hope again. Winter is slowly setting in, but through the mist, through the rain, I can still see flickers of light – of hope.

midnights: a taylor swift album review ⭐ stars by the pocketful

26th Oct 202226th Oct 2022 maya rajesh21 Comments

Last Friday, the 21st of October, Taylor Swift released her tenth (and arguably one of her best) studio albums – Midnights.

We Swifties truly hit the potluck because she gave us 20 new tracks for us to soak in… and freak out over. Today’s post is a review of all the songs and a ranking at the end. The ranking, mind you, was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do, and that’s saying something because none of the songs was bad.

But I love the whole new electro-pop vibe and the incredible lyricism in her songs – they really resonate with you – and that’s one of the main reasons I simply adore her music. I’ll be doing only the 13 main tracks and my favourites off of the 3 am tracklist today!

travel diary – andaman & nicobar islands 🌊

7th Oct 202216th Oct 2022 maya rajesh13 Comments

Hi.

It’s been a while since I did one of these, but in late September, my family and I flew south of India to the picturesque Port Blair, the capital of Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

And the week we spent there, on the beach, in the waves, under the sun… that was all the inspiration I needed to write. This is mainly a photo dump with a few scattered thoughts (because I’m too chaotic to manage them at the moment owing to a multitude of inexplicable reasons.)

It’s certainly been a rollercoaster, these past couple of weeks; from studying, to half-yearlies, to vacation, to worrying about the results, to actually getting the results today… and actually being happy about them. And now we repeat the process for the next 6 years? I’m just exhausted at this point, haha. Anyway, here we go~

summer diaries #1: and at last i see the light 🌄

26th Apr 202228th Apr 2022 maya rajesh37 Comments

When things are at the worst they can possibly get, there’s always this notion that washes over me, saying, “it can only get better from here,” and gosh… it has. The last few months have got me reminiscing, almost reliving early 2020 and I think we’re finally at the end of the tunnel (NOT jinxing anything! 🤞) But, regardless, I’ve been doing so much better especially since in my little corner of the world we welcomed summer a few days ago.

Also, I did manage to watch most of the Grammys as it was streamed and I am a little underwhelmed because I was actually rooting SOUR to with AOTY. It didn’t, though, even though it practically dominated the entirety of ’21 🤷. But I loved the Happier Than Ever performance (literal goosebumps) and Liv’s outfit paralleled Taylor’s from 2010 + she dropped her Grammy which was so funny. And that moment with the guy from BTS.

Anyway, this post is a welcome to summer, a recap of my year (so far) and a life update in general. To me, this spring/early summertime of the year has always represented hope 🌼. Biking down the streets of my town and seeing it come to life with the prettiest pink trumpet trees, and the pool opening up again (the swimming season is here,) it just feels a little bit like light. A much-needed life update: