Fika: a moment to slow down and appreciate the good things in life

...even if that means exploring your own backyard.  My sophomore year of college I didn't want to go back, I wanted to transfer. Not because I disliked the school or the people, only because I felt I'd gotten to know all the corners of Bellingham and was too comfortable. I wanted to relive that feeling of everything being new, of finding your favorite coffee shop by trying them all. But I didn't leave. Instead, I made sure to keep trying new places. It was nice to have a favorite spot, but those places became my fall back. My favorite Sunday mornings consisted of taking a drive and getting lost. I loved that there were still unexplored areas, I just had to look harder for them. It's so easy to become comfortable with a place and decide we know all we need to about it. There's a beauty in having a favorite spot. But cities are always changing, there's always more to see.

Instead of watching 2015 end (which we still did, unintentionally) we woke up early to see the start of 2016, with a beautiful view and coffee in hand. It's so interesting that this happens everyday, and yet we pick one day and mark it as more significant.  Today at 8:04am we didn't only begin a new day, but an entire new year. I'm really looking forward to 2016. Up until recently, life - at least for me - has been measured by school. We spend our lives focused on the future, on goals that someday we will reach. Achieving good grades in high school recommends you to a good college so that you can get a degree and enter the job field you're interested in. But we haven't been coached in what to do once we reach our goals. Since graduating college, it's been difficult to slow down. While I will always have goals, my current goal is to become comfortable living in the moment. I can't believe I'm finally reaching my goals I've had for years,...