A shot by Mr. Ratatouille along Sydney’s Darling Harbour earlier this year. Coat by ASOS (check out their current sale HERE).
This year has been filled with ups and downs and I don’t really know where to start this reflective post. Perhaps it’s most apt to begin with my condolences for everyone involved in the unfortunate Air Asia incident; I wish things like this didn’t have to happen but the irony of life is that they do. There are many things in this world that we don’t know about, and will probably never do. Hopefully we can always come out stronger than we mean to be and live a life filled with purpose and grace.
Beauty
The end of 2014 marks the 4th year that Laced Ivory has been published and bared for all to see. I’m so thankful for all of you who have supported the blog in one way or another, either by reading my articles and reviews, leaving comments on my entries, taking part in my giveaways or engaging in my Facebook posts. As the year draws to an end, it also serves as a reminder to always uphold integrity in my beauty reviews. As a blogger, I don’t accept every request to review or feature every product that companies have. I’m very lucky to have the flexibility to choose the right products to be put up on the blog. By “right,” I mean products that I can personally use and honestly review. I never review anything that I know which will not be suitable for me, or which I have tried and it didn’t work out. In the coming year (and thereafter), this is not going to change. I hope to continue to bring all of you great, trustworthy content.
Style
2014 was a beginning for Laced Ivory in the fashion and style section. I chose to focus on style rather than fashion, because style is something that never fades, while fashion does. Hey, it worked! It seems that you guys do like my style posts – they are even getting more responses from you than my beauty posts – so I’ll definitely continue to bring them on in the coming year. Going into style has led me to meet more people, get featured (and going to be) in more international articles and even land collaborations with brands like Maku Store Singapore, Rosebullet Tokyo and Headline Seoul. In 2014, Laced Ivory went international! Hopefully 2015 will bring more of such opportunities.
Travel
Travelling this year was great! I visited places in Australia, Malaysia and South Korea, and would love to travel to more places again next year. I can never forget the stunning views sitting atop Ubirr, dipping in the the fresh water waterfall rock pools of Buley Rockhole and Tjaetaba Falls, snorkelling in the shores off Redang, and finally getting my nose done in Seoul. In a way, 2014 answered many of my questions and gave me respite when I needed it. Looking forward, 2015 might see places like New Zealand, the Philippines, Canada and France. This time, one of these moves might be for good.
Personal Growth
If there’s one quote that can sum up how I’ve grown this year, it would have to be this:
“Acting responsibly is not a matter of strengthening our reason but of deepening our feelings for the welfare of others.” – Jostein Gaarder, Sophie’s World
That’s not to say I haven’t been responsible prior to this. I’ve always been a stoic and impersonal person with pretty much no tolerance of dramatic or negative emotions of anybody else. All my life, I’ve seen how emotions can make even the most rational people do things they regret, hurt others and then forget about the hurt they’ve caused, and make stupid decisions. Emotions blind people and if being blind is a handicap, then these people need help. In all my iron unfeelingness towards emotional people, I’d forgotten about the positive emotions that I can bring about to the people who need it. Do I have to do it – make people feel better? Probably not. But the world has enough misery as it is and a little sunshine won’t hurt.
(Of course, I’m still staying away from crazy, dramatic, delusional ones.)
This year has been nothing short of crazy. After a year of countless badgering from the ones around me, some books from the library and faith in myself, I’m glad I’ve emerged changed for the better (not that I was bad to begin with, ahem).
Hopes for 2015
Oh, there are so many things I can hope and wish for and I don’t mean bags or shoes. Of course, I hope to bring Laced Ivory to the next level, whatever that may be. I hope to inspire more people and get them to take action to live the life they want, or to fight for their lifelong goals. I have a mantra I live by, and it’s that if I suddenly die one day, I’d have liked every minute of my life to have been lived with purpose. I wish that those of us born into undesirable circumstances in life can break out of it, by not blaming others for their suffering and instead, taking charge of the responsibility in their own hands. I wish that people could see that happiness is a state of mind and that if they just CHOOSE to be happy, they can. I hope that people can see that if they focus on the good things in life and be grateful for them, more of such positive vibes will follow. Finally, I hope that people will know how to take breaks from work to recharge. Exchanging your health (emotional and physical) for work is not worth it. For myself, I wish all of these things too.
I hope that whatever 2014 has brought you will be left in 2014, and that all of us will be filled with optimism for 2015.
Happy New Year,
Roxanne