Monthly Highlight : January 2020

Hello! I’ve been posting for 3 days straight, haha, it happens every the first 3 days of the month which is part of the challenge I have given to myself. January, as I said in the Monthly Message of February was our first 31 days of the new decade which brought the intense energy, mostly to let go. We could see some endings and separations which might scare us. But, please believe that it’s for the better. I’m not going to talk about the recent news, but as usual this monthly message will be about the highlights of my life during the past month. I’m still keeping this format since the first post of this section because it’s already fun.

Okay, January is a month that’s been blessed by rain. We got sunny days too, but once we got rain in a day, it wouldn’t stop, haha. I always feel like the sky wants to clean us from the pollution and to slow down from our routine. When you get stuck in a place because of rain, it might mean that the universe wants you to take a break, not to rush, to slow down from your should-be-submitted-within-an-hour-task. 

Thank you for blessing us with the rain and sun, thank you for the beautiful and exciting first 31 days of 2020. I believe that February is going to be an amazing month. 

Okay, let’s take a look what I have done and gotten during January.

Starting this year of 2020 I received and sent some new year cards. It’s actually a sudden idea that popped into my mind in December, so I decided to make it. As I posted in the New Year Card 2020 entry, I sent it to my friends who wanted to receive it since most of them live faraway that I have to ask their address first before sending the cards. I’m glad that all the cards I sent have been received in less than a week. You can read the blog post about it here : New Year Card 2020.

If you read this post during February, you can join me and others in this project. You can do this project anytime you like too. Basically it’s a 29 day project to do kindness act daily. I realized that 2020 is started by some purging and shocking news which might shift the mass focus into negative ones. By doing simple kindness act everyday, we change our focus to the good ones. Even though it won’t affect us instantly but every move we take will change something. For project details, check this post : Let’s Join #MyKindFebruary

My January theme is freedom. I just got this word get stuck in my head when I set up my journal for 2020. Then I got reminded of a random quote that saying “Your will and power only will be enough. Walking alone is freedom”. I can’t remember who said that, but it one of things that drive me to execute #MyKindFebruary plan. It’s a freedom to do anything alone without relying on other people or situation. Doing what you love to do alone is not lessen your skill anymore. I believe that the help will come at the right time when I ask for it. Freedom is also one of keywords which represents Aquarius, my sun sign. In the previous years I couldn’t get to freely do what I love to do or express myself, I didn’t have as much as freedom I have now. So, I want to make something through this freedom as a gratitude.

Starting 2020, I joined some challenges as a warming up, I found some other challenges for January but I decided to join only 2 which is 10 days new year challenge by lavendaire and 30 days yoga challenge by Yoga with Adriene. I’ve completed the lavendaire challenge, and I missed some days of yoga challenge because I got sick in the middle of January that I change some of my routines to let my body heal itself. I like joining this kind of challenge, so that for February I made my own challenge.

I got the chance to try trial kit from Etude Soon Jung which came as free gift. I have been interested in this Soon Jung series but I have committed to be a responsible consumer by emptying all beauty products I’ve purchased. This free gift arrived when my favorite Hada Labo hydrating toner almost reached around last 3 or 4 applications. This trial kit came in a white-blue box that consists of toner, emulsion, moisturizer and spot treatment. All products from this series have Madecassoside (a component found in Centella Asiatica which is one of my favorite ingredients that has been popular around 2017-2018 that we can find almost every Korean brand has centella product in its line). My favorite ones are the moisturizer and cica balm (spot treatment). I don’t really use the emulsion, since it has moisturizer consistency but it’s packaged in a toner bottle. The toner has the strongest scent among 4 products in this kit (but it’s not that chemically strong). It’s hydrating but rather slower to be absorbed than my Hada Labo toners. Cica balm works very well to calm down the new born acne, and the moisturizer in more fluid than my usual moisturizer but it’s not greasy anymore. 

E-girls released the winter version of Cinderella Fit which I like more than the original one that sounds more summery. The winter version is sweeter and warmer. Some lyrics are changed to match with the winter theme. Also the solo line of Reina which is “crystal symphony” is my most favorite part, since the Japanese pronunciation for it sounds very cute. 
E-girls - Cinderella Fit (Winter Version)  (Spotify)

A new song from my favorite soloist milet is titled Prover. Based on the description, it’s ending song for Fate/Grand Order anime. The song hasn’t been released yet on Spotify Global, but the music video has reached more than 1 million views. It has English translation as subtitles so I find it easier to understand the song (beside the great English of milet herself). My favorite part is “If you slip into the darkness and lose belief, I’ll never leave you behind. If you can’t find your way, everything is not lost”. It reminds me of a song by Kobushi Factory titled Naseba Naru (Where there is a will, there is a way) which implies that when you can’t see it, it doesn’t mean that something doesn’t exist there. Prover by milet shows me that even though you experience it or get stuck at somewhere else, it’s not the end, nothing is lost, you don’t lose anything.
milet - Prover (YouTube)

Find The Way is an old song of soloist Mika Nakashima, which is Gundam SEED series ending song - my favorite series during junior high school. I re-listen to this song during January and every time I feel like being sent to the space and get to see the whole Earth. When I see that vision, I feel like everything which bothers me or the problems I currently face is nothing comparing to the whole universe. We are only small part or the cell part of the Earth. I wonder why we don’t stop arguing, why we get mad of differences, why we want to prove that we are the right one to be heard. When you can see the whole picture, you will feel more peace. 

Other than that vision, this song also has beautiful lyrics. It’s said that “it’s okay to cry, I’ll be by your side always”. It’s not that I need someone when I cry but it shows that everyone may cry because everyone has feelings. Feelings are here to be felt, not to be judged nor avoided. Then the last part of the song is calming everyone by “You’ll find the way”. This line matches with my January theme which is freedom. Even though you feel like getting lost in this long journey, you’ll find the way.
Mika Nakashima - Find The Way (Spotify) 

As I mentioned, I got sick in the middle of January and felt like the this months run too quickly. It might be due to my excitement to do all of my plans that I forgot my body a little bit. My body sent me a reminder to slow down through my digestive system. I realized that I have the habit of eating too quickly, it should be ended this year as I become aware of anything I consume. I’m no longer having to run by the schedule, even though I’m still working in the same place, but I have the power to set my own dream life. One quote that I like from January is : What’s meant to go will go, what’s meant to come will come. 

Okay, I hope you enjoy this monthly highlight, how about your January? Do you think that your January is the longest January ever? Let me know in the comment box below. See you in the next monthly highlight. 

Title picture by lailiving

Photo by Todd Trapani