"I Got Life, I Got My Freedom"

Here comes the already traditional post. I have to say, I love these ones - They make me think about how quickly things can change, how much I learned, and how much I have to look forward to this upcoming year.

Song of the Year - Nina Simone's Ain't Got No, I Got Life

The Main Accomplishments:

• I did travel quite a bit this year, and visited: Berlin, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Vienna, Rome, Florence and Pisa, Subotica, Copenhagen, London, and then back to Lisbon for Christmas; 
• I don’t know how many concerts went by, but I am sure they were more than 10, which is kinda awesome; 
• I went by myself for Open Mic nights, met great people, and had the most fulfilling night ever singing a song by Mr. Bob Dylan. Each of these nights was wonderful, each of them unique; 
• I had the privilege to play and sing with amazing musicians in the Akvárium Klub, for more than 1000 people. Unforgettable experience!; 
• I had great dinner nights with the girls, party nights with the guys, dinners with Fran, and so many movie weekends with Zita, I lost track of them all – And we watched a couple of more Hitchcock movies, so, score! 
• Some old friends visited, other new friends came along.
• Went in and out of the Couchsurfing world, met amazing people, had unforgettable experiences. The world is incredibly small and big at the same time. 
• Sziget came and went and we had an amazing time at it - Even if, when the time came, we didn't get to play - But there is alwasy next year! 
• With our awesome "Monday Movie nights" we watched some weird movies and amazing ones, so thanks for that!; 
• This year I am not quite sure if I fell in love – But I certainly felt ready to do so. I had long walks, great conversations, and exchanged messages hoping for them to turn into something else eventually. They didn’t, but the journeys were always quite sweet; 
• I got some unexpected nude photos which brightened up my day. Thank you Universe, thank you Germany!; 
• Was welcomed into a great band/family, Post Mortem, and met the best Hungarians ever;
• I met great foreigners at work which made me open my horizons in many ways. Jay, Ana, Rustem, Peter, Ildi, Tami... I got to call them friends and I am sure I will never forget them; 
• I lived by myself, successfully, and then I went back to life with flatmates - After all, how could I resist Juan, the best Colombian I've ever met?; 
• Started yoga and bodyweight, and grew to love Nerd Fitness; 
• I still write my journals regularly, specially when I travel, and keep building up my meditation practices; 
• I built my "Do not forget" list which keeps me quite balanced; 
• Realize the wonders of public speaking and Toastmasters and how much I love it. 

And the biggest accomplishment of all: I decided to move on from this beautiful city to my next challenge. I am ready to face my fears and try myself out with my music. If it doesn't work out? There are worst things in life... I will manage!

So this upcoming year, my expectations are still high, but simple:

• I guess I should probably continue to try to drink less tequila/jagger and more wine - Or, should I?; 
• To get to know Hugh Jackman – I should definitely try to research HOW to do this; 
• To ride a rollercoaster – Please! Let this be the year!; 
• To pass at least two ACCA exams - Shall we?; 
• Drink hot chocolate and take a bubble bath; 
• Hold someone and be held, and walk barefoot by the sea (May these things never disappear from these lists); 
• See five more Hitchcock movies; 
• Read Stephen King’s Dark Tower Series; 
• To travel? Sure... Just a little bit!; 
• Survive London - Whichever way possible; 
• To sing and play live and to continue to write songs; 
• To dance by myself, always sing the song I have in my head, and my heart; 
• Love with passion, desire and no fear. 

This year is almost starting! London, I'm not sure I am ready for you. But well, life is short, right? We might as well make the most out of it!

“It's a terrible thing, I think, in life to wait until you're ready. I have this feeling now that actually no one is ever ready to do anything. There is almost no such thing as ready. There is only now. And you may as well do it now. Generally speaking, now is as good a time as any.” Hugh Laurie

Short last-minute wake-up call (just in time for NY!):
I came to Budapest to run away from my past - Best decision I've ever made! And this year, I made peace with myself. I did think, for a couple of weeks, that I could go back, maybe for a second chance, maybe start from scratch. But - I guess life just doesn’t work like that. - It doesn’t matter how much you love/care about someone, if the person is just too __ [fill in the blank with whichever word you prefer] to love you back. "All you need is love" is not really true, but that's ok. That actually seemed way too easy anyways!