{"id":449,"date":"2019-12-31T12:15:32","date_gmt":"2019-12-31T12:15:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicalmemories.whereishome.info\/?p=449"},"modified":"2019-12-31T12:15:32","modified_gmt":"2019-12-31T12:15:32","slug":"shiki-no-uta-another-year-ends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicalmemories.whereishome.info\/?p=449","title":{"rendered":"Shiki No Uta: Another year ends"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The sun\u2019s retired for the evening, put an end to heat and perspiration,<br>In the midst of all the smoke another year drawing to a close,<br>Another decade, too, color me mind-blown,<br>Standing outside, lapping up the cool breeze like an explorer awaiting daylight,<br>Deep in thought underneath the moonlight,<br>Seemed like only yesterday that it was January, <br>The past ten years still fresh as a daisy in this treasure trove of memories,<br>Time moves at warp speed, faster than Justin Gatlin when he was juicing,<br>If life\u2019s a speeding car then Schumacher\u2019s the one driving,<br>Took a seat under the verandah, like Marcus Aurelius I\u2019m meditating,<br>On what\u2019s changed and what\u2019s remained constant since twenty-eleven,<br>Began aged mid-twenties, leaving it on the cusp of mid-thirties, <br>Metamorphosed from angst-ridden insecurities to wisdom and maturity,<br>Heavy duty thoughts swirlin\u2019, thank goodness for these soothing beats,<br>Got <em>Shiki No Uta <\/em>pumpin\u2019 as the reflection goes deep,<br>The clock ticks on, got me musing on the concept of time,<br>Can\u2019t reclaim it when it\u2019s gone, there\u2019s no reset or rewind,<br>Finally opened the gates to this citadel, they&#8217;ve been closed for a good while,<br>Welcomed some new peeps into this life, others were sadly left behind,<br>Ain\u2019t nobody\u2019s fault, everyone got their own road, not all will stay for the long haul,<br>Can\u2019t place expectations on anything or anyone, enjoy \u2018em as long as they\u2019re around,<br>Can\u2019t cry over what\u2019s been had and lost, life only moves forward,<br>Change is inevitable, some less comfortable than others,<br>This ten-year gauntlet brought about a variety of experiences,<br>Took up wing chun, mind and body scrambled at first,<br>Eight years on I\u2019m still lovin\u2019 it, while forming special bonds with fellow teachers and students,<br>Saw parts of the world, from the US to Japan and NZ, also reacquainted with my homeland,<br>Re-learned my mother language, perfection can wait but continuing to make improvements,<br>Even the working out\u2019s changed, I ain\u2019t immune to the ravages of time,<br>This vessel carries the scars from countless voyages in the high tide,<br>Gotta tone down the bluster and flash, that\u2019s a young man\u2019s game,<br>All about maintenance and strength, keep the body tight well into old age,<br>A long-time gig in Penrith came to a halt, ten years was long enough,<br>Had to leave the shores of familiarity, I guess, can\u2019t grow without a little adversity,<br>Can\u2019t forget the horrors of twenty-eighteen, mind, body and soul were tested,<br>First-time experiences of the hospital kind, guess I couldn\u2019t duck and dodge \u2018em,<br>Can\u2019t say that I enjoyed it, but I can smile at the memory,<br>Proved that I had it in me, to go to war and come out with the victory,<br>Won\u2019t always be a smooth ride, mishaps are part of the journey,<br>Some of my own making, we humans are extremely flawed beings,<br>Can knock you down or be your best teacher, gotta treat it like the latter,<br>The great ones always learned from mistakes and failures,<br>Time remains undefeated, can\u2019t out-swim a white pointer,<br>Gotta ask myself what I want \u2018fore facing off with the reaper,<br>\u2018What will be your legacy? Hate it or love it that shit matters,\u2019<br>\u2018You can be defiant but can\u2019t live life as an island,\u2019<br>\u2018Someone\u2019s bound to remember you as long as you\u2019d existed,\u2019<br>\u2018Find your purpose and pursue it, fuck the haters and doubters,<br>\u2018Forget about opinions, everybody\u2019s got \u2018em,<br>It\u2019s your life, Bruh, chase the dream as long as you ain\u2019t violatin\u2019 or killin\u2019,<br>Small steps every day, no matter how long it takes,<br>Walk alone if need be, if it matters you\u2019ll always find a way,<br>This inner voice reverberates, the moon\u2019s bloomin\u2019 unabated,<br>Tomorrow\u2019s a new day, year and decade, a hat trick of clean slates, <br>Drawing up a list of goals for the following year,<br>Make the most of it, got nothing to lose or fear,<br>No temporary fix, gotta contribute to the future and test the character,<br>Something to take along the journey \u2018til the casket\u2019s six-feet under,<br>Headed back indoors, the wind&#8217;s getting chilly,<br>Not long now before we ring in 2020,<br>Bring on the new chapter, time to spread these wings, <br>Fly high, Soldier, a new dawn begins!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The sun\u2019s retired for the evening, put an end to heat and perspiration,In the midst of all the smoke another year drawing to a close,Another decade, too, color me mind-blown,Standing outside, lapping up the cool breeze like an explorer awaiting daylight,Deep in thought underneath the moonlight,Seemed like only yesterday that it was January, The past &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/musicalmemories.whereishome.info\/?p=449\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Shiki No Uta: Another year ends&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicalmemories.whereishome.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicalmemories.whereishome.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicalmemories.whereishome.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicalmemories.whereishome.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicalmemories.whereishome.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musicalmemories.whereishome.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicalmemories.whereishome.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicalmemories.whereishome.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicalmemories.whereishome.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}