Kissing Summer Goodbye

Today, as I’m typing this, marks the first day of autumn, which means that summer is officially over. *weeps in the corner* But, it also means leaves will be falling, autumny colors will be taking over the world and Halloween will be knocking on our doors soon. These are all happy things to be excited about except for closing the door on summer 2016. But since there’s nothing I can do about that, I thought I’d properly wrap up my summer and happily say good bye to it in a post.

During the late days of winter, I had a major breakdown. I completely lost touch with the real world; I didn’t spend much time with anyone, and when I had to I barely said anything. I felt nothing towards anyone and I cared about none. I built soundproofing walls and spent most of my time in my room. I was soaked in my sadness and I didn’t mind because I found comfort in it. I believed that accepting my sadness was the only way to recover from it and I was right; I was okay again by the start of summer. I came out filled with positivity and hope that I can make the best out of my 20s, and I’ve been doing a great job at it so far. That dark phase was another turning point in my life and now I feel so ready to conquer the future.

For starters, I wanted to do something crazy and entirely out of my comfort zone. I wanted to challenge myself and enjoy doing so. So out of nowhere, I decided to do the Say Yes challenge! For me, the challenge here wasn’t in doing the suggested challenges but in not minding the eyes of the public. I get so nervous when it comes to being myself in public places; and that’s why I don’t take photos, selfies, snapchat or act goofy when I’m out and about alone. If I do any of the previous, I always get the feeling that people are watching and judging me although I know it ain’t mostly true. But I’ve been slowly trying to overcome my fear and just be myself wherever I am. The challenge was a fun way to do so; at one point, I had a pink mustache drawn on me for an hour while I roamed the mall and people kept staring at it, but I didn’t break down. *a round of applause for myself* Surely I still find it hard to snapchat in public but it’s not as hard as it used to be.

I then did another kind of crazy and applied for a full time job at a career I have zero knowledge about, and surprisingly I got accepted. It all happened all of a sudden on a uni night when I came across the job application online; I just applied without thinking it through. The next day I was called in for an interview, the week after I got accepted and for four months I worked there. There was a hectic couple of months where I unawarely had no life outside my office, but that’s okay because I’ve learnt and grown so much in so little time. I worked at a Marketing agency so I directed photoshoots, covered live events, organized live competitions and interviewed strangers for #FacesOfDowntown. I lost 3 months of my summer vacation to it but weirdly I didn’t mind. It was exhausting but very exciting; I enjoyed every bit of it.

In the last days of summer, I went on holiday twice. I went to Dahab which is a beautiful holiday spot in Egypt. If you’ve read my holiday posts, you’d know that going to Dahab wasn’t planned but I’m thankful we ended up there. I’ve completely fallen in love with Dahab and fallen out of love with any other place. I love its people, its sea, its mountains and its starry sky. It’s where I overcame my fear of the sea and snorkeled for the first time, and it’s where I experienced life without internet for a good 4 hours. It drained the negativity out of me and recharged me with positivity enough for at least a month time. Dahab was all about connecting with Mother Nature.

My second holiday was in Ain Sukhna during the Eid vacation. I didn’t want to do much except blog work and watch Friends. It was more of a relaxing holiday where I literally spent a whole day in the chalet while my family complained… So for the remaining days, I wrote a post on my laptop while on the beach, and sometimes I took a night stroll in the hotel. One thing I enjoyed the most was eating ice-cream on the beach; it’s definitely way better than eating it at any other place that isn’t the beach. Am I the only one who thinks so?

My summer vacation was all about hanging out with loved ones, visiting new places and experiencing new things. It was about challenging myself and spreading my wings. Whether it was on the personal or social level, I did it, I spread my wings! And that’s why this summer was the best ever yet, because I flew so high I came closer to the sky. But now it’s time to kiss summer goodbye and say hello to autumn.

I wonder what autumn holds for me… I know I have big plans for it but does it have big plans for me too? I’ve a couple of exciting autumny blog ideas in mind and I cannot wait to share them with you all! What about you? Do you have any autumny plans planned? Let me know in the comments below.