🖤 10 Things That Make Me Happier: Life Update

17 October 2022


Seeing the twists and turns, the portholes that make life the way it is lately, I'm genuinely surprised by how many of us have been coping with all of that. The plot twists of twenty-twenty two have certainly been interesting. There’s been multiple times that I’ve opened this exact draft, seen the same blank page and cursor blinking, only to close the tab again. There’s a lot that I want to say but I haven’t written my way in a long while, I must have gone out of practice.

Or it could be that I can’t write as the same person I was months ago and I’ve been away hoping that by the time I come back here, she’d be back too — the reliable old me, you know? The problem with this is, sometimes there won’t come a time when things go back to “normal” or exactly the way things were, instead the situation and you change, for better or worse. They come in different faces: new dreams, new hobbies and interests, friends, a different career path, a new destination.

I’ve always been someone who worries and overthinks a lot. But there’s this thing all over TikTok and Twitter about how we shouldn’t make one particular trait about us as our entire personality. They say it makes us self-absorbed and just another way of forcing ourselves to fit in a particular category or box. Unfortunately, this is me 24/7 of the time. And because of this, I know I have the tendency to forget the good happy things that I like in the present. With that, I thought to dedicate one post about things that have been making me happy. 

  • I’m reading books again. I’ve just finished The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde and On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong. I’m currently reading A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara, not a happy-ish book but I love each of the characters and the pace of the story right now.
  • Bookshopping is my new therapy. I’m a regular visitor of MPH Online and Bookcurve websites these days, constantly checking if the books in my wishlist are in stock. Not to mention, I really missed the smell of fresh new books!
  • Signorina Misteriosa Salvatore Ferragamo perfume. I bought the 30ml bottle a couple of months ago after I was convinced with the trial bottle version, and I’ve never looked back since. I’m very, very particular with perfumes which is no wonder why my collection is so small, what’s with my sensitive nose and all. But I absolutely love the soft fragrance. I think it’s my signature scent now.
  • I’m addicted to Ahmad Tea’s Apple Refresh Black Fruit Tea. I’m not much of a tea or coffee person, but I do love the occasional cup once in a while. I rarely drink tea though just because my gastric hates it. However, for some miraculous reason, I’m very much okay with Ahmad Tea apple refresh black fruit tea. Both me and my mum absolutely love this, with or without a spoon of sugar. It feels like drinking tea at a spa. 
  • Ranting Talking with my favourite person (hello!). 
  • BullyingPlaying with my two cats more - Dessi and Leo. I’m mostly working from home these days which means more time with my cats. Leo has gotten so much bigger since my last update of him. 
  • Healthier, softer hair. Taming my hair and keeping it healthy can sometimes feel like a chore because it just refuses to yield. Most of the time it just chooses to dry up and wither very much like your average plant. But I’ve been religiously shampooing my scalp thoroughly, applying the most moisturising conditioner and hair mask I can find within my budget every few days, and it’s finally paying off! 
  • Cosy mornings in bed. I’m not much of a morning person, period. But I like to make the effort to roll myself inside my duvet into a human-burrito while scrolling through my phone and enjoying the morning while it’s still cold. 
  • Taking small bites of Farm Fresh fruit yoghurt. Currently my favourite dessert!
  • Reading manga. I’ve been anticipating the anime Chainsaw Man since I first saw the trailer earlier this year. But there’ll only be weekly episode uploads and I don’t have the best patience record that I know. I’ve resorted to reading the manga at my own slow pace just because other than the quick plots, I love seeing the artwork. 
And what about you, what things are making you happy?