Year In Review: 2017 (With More Positivity)

You all already know my feelings towards 2017. TL;DR: I'm either too upset about what I've done yesterday or I'm too worried about tomorrow. But the secret to stop this is to focus on today and make the most out of it. Okay, I may not have made the most out of this year but I did have a good starting point. Meanwhile, here are my 2017 highlights, big and small:

• God gave me a second chance to live after checking in the hospital. Okay, negative start. But the bright aftermath left me thinking to go after what I really want this time.
• Meeting up a lot with friends I see both rarely and often. And I'm very happy each time.
• Reflecting on my life vision. My mom always had this one complaint: "Saan ba direksyon ng buhay mo?" (Where is your life headed towards?) I do have a clear goal this time. But I'm making sure it's flexible enough to make room for detours.
• This is a really damn good year for me finding out series and films to watch:
  • The Room. I keep bugging friends how this movie is bizarrely amazing.
  • Stranger Things 2. Pretty sure the season finale last year had left us all hanging, so this season had a good closure to that.
  • Terrace House. Thanks to this show, I've grasped some good Japanese basics and motivation to work on whatever I want to promote if I were on that show. I've watched three seasons this year–two I've finished, one I just started... You'll see what I mean when you start hearing the "Konbanwa".
  • All Marvel Cinematic Universe films this year. I don't expect them to be Oscar bait so I had pretty enjoyed them: Guardians of The Galaxy Volume 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Thor: Ragnarok. But mostly, Thor: Ragnarok. Taika Waititi's my favorite director and Hemsworth is my favorite Chris (when I'm not stanning over Evans), plus the movie is good and fun. (So ready for Infinity War.)
  • Wonder Woman. I'm more of a Marvel girl but I enjoyed this. I've heard nothing but mess about DC comics films so this is something.
  • Black Mirror. Holy shit is all I can say. Also, the new season starts today.
  • Bliss. One of the best Filipino films I've seen that's got me questioning how crazy the fandom scene in the Philippines is.
  • There are a lot more films I could go on about but damn what a list!
• Attending comic cons this year! And experiencing that dope af Netflix booth in APCC.
• Getting to meet other creative and cool people and making friends with some of them. Sometimes, they're even from different places!
• Going out to Enchanted Kingdom with friends! A good long day trip away from home definitely boosts morale. 
• Started on a new diet because I needed a change of taste.
• Getting published in a magazine as a contributor. Hooray for firsts!
• Escape rooms may be my new high. Okay fine, I only did one escape room that I still haven't solved but I'm definitely smashing it (figuratively) the third time.
• Started taking full on Japanese lessons. So all these kana characters on your timeline actually make sense, and I try my best to use Google Translate only for checking.
• My art! I've gotten better and stronger in watercolor and digital illustration. Nothing more than having a lot of grit in being a creative!
• And most importantly, how the lower moments in my life gave me blessings in disguise.

I've reached the limit of my ability to remember all that happened this year. But I'm happy I went through this year because it gave me strength and motivation. As one tweet said, "may the tears of 2017 cultivate the seeds of 2018", some shit like that. I'd like to wish you all a good start for 2018 and may it bring in even better memories!