It’s been a tumultuous year. In a good way and in a bad way. Good in the sense that I was always busy, meaning that I was never bored. Bad in the sense that I rode many emotional highs and lows, and I was often too busy to blog.

But not too busy to sample bottled Palmwine... *smdh*

But I’m here now at 19.52. Typing this on my phone, hoping it looks just as good on a PC.

I want to talk about two things.

First is what I call the “obligation of good manners” to one’s family. I was sounding off with one of my friends the other day and he said something along the lines of “If I can’t be comfortable and be myself at home with my family, then where can I be?” It was a pertinent question.

Home is where we relax, we chill, we let our hair down. It’s where we’re accepted for who we are. But too many times, it’s where many of us display behavior we wouldn’t be caught in in public.

We’re brought up to not disgrace our parents in public. But I think disgrace in private carries even more weight. I know people who are kind and solicitous in public to their friends and acquaintances and even strangers! But they are brash with their siblings. They are polite in public but at home, they are demanding.

We all do it to some extent. And the question is why? Why do we think the people who love us deserve to see our baser self while outsiders enjoy our better side? Who exactly should we be working harder to impress? I’m not saying that we should go home and be pretentious. But if we would be courteous enough to not dominate a conversation in public, for instance, we should definitely be able to lend an ear to a younger sibling’s opinion, no matter how nonsensical it might sound!

Moving on. How was 2012? Did you achieve everything you wanted to? I didn’t. Achieved some, yes. Fell woefully short on others, yes. If you’re feeling brave enough, you could share in the comments’ section, one of each. One thing you’re glad you achieved in 2012, and one thing you didn’t achieve that you’d hoped to. I’ll go first.
I’m glad I finally learnt to drive on the highway! Yay!
I’m sad I didn’t stick to my resolution to read one book a week. And I’m crushed I didn’t finish writing my book. No yay. (Yes, that’s 2 but it’s my blog ;-))

Et tu?