In the woods, your only source of guidance would be the sunlight beaming through the leaves, and at night, when you’re lucky, you have the moon and the stars. If you think about it, when you throw yourself into a forest, you only get to rely on two things: the nature, and yourself. Do note that by nature I mean the literal sense of the word, and the same time circumstances.

Without a clear sense of purpose of going into the unknown, and without being prepared to face whatever hazards, the chances of coming out of the woods triumphant, would be very slim. And honestly, that’s how I very much felt this whole year.

Entering 2015, I admit I had the vaguest of goals set, and the lack of clarity on what I wanted to accomplish in the year that was, all just contributed to the Universe setting me to fail. It’s not something I am proud of. It’s not something people would genuinely, openly share without the slightest of intentions of wanting their friends to console them, and tell them otherwise.

When I closed 2014, the only thing I knew was that I would most likely be traversing through the following year (2015) alone. Not in a sense that I’d be lonely, but from the onset, I knew I’d be independent, that I’d be braving the year with just myself. And, while in many ways, it was true, I was fortunate enough to have learned that I wasn’t alone. Not alone in a sense that I belonged to this Millennial phenomenon of craving for something more in life–for wanting to venture into the proverbial unknown.

With the different shifts, and grey areas, and the dotted lines, 2015 was out to test me. To shake me, to wreck me, to disrupt whatever harmony I thought I had put in place in the year before. And while looking at all the difficulties, the seemingly impossible challenges, the plans that had to be thrown out of the window, and the heartaches and disappointments, seem to rather put this year into the dark, I actually found hope.

Perhaps it was a clearing in the woods, perhaps it was amidst the feeling of being lost and of utter despair that I was able to find some sense of meaning into everything. When everything was seemingly in an eternal state of chaos, that order revealed itself, and how fortunate I am to have found some clarity and peace as I close this year.

Onward I go, as I leave this forest; onward I go into the light.