January 1 is the World Day for Peace for the Catholic Church. I don't want to sound too religious. I just think that starting the year with peaceful thoughts can be more helpful than not.

I did spend the last day of 2019 alone and refused to go out, nor visit family because I wanted internal peace. I'm glad this year the Lebanese people did not resort to a lot of fireworks like in the previous years, as it is a beautiful nuisance to the environment and yet another way to pollute the air we breathe.

So cheers to a new year that we will hopefully make peaceful, with fewer wars and conflicts, and may the coming decade witness our efforts to promote peace through kindness to one another and other species, practicing self-love and tolerance towards ourselves first and others as well and reading more. That last one is more for me but it is also applicable to everyone. Because reading and culture can instill so many humanly elevated thoughts and feelings that it will absolutely advocate for peace :)