(24th December, 2024) Prologue: Tonight is Christmas eve, and here I am, sitted in my garden, surrounded by the muffled noise of churches around hosting a Christmas eve service. However, I am not going to church tonight, it’s not like I ever really attend one (christmas eve service), but tonight particularly, I’m trying to enjoy the beautiful view of the night sky, maybe I could also catch a glimpse of the star leading on the wise men to Bethlehem. In the midst of this, my memory is filled with my most consistent memory of Christmas eve growing up, fetching water from the well beside the house I used to live (because the next day is Christmas and fetching water from the well does not look anything like what is fitting for a day you should be chilling and enjoying). While I do not live there again, neither can I remember specifically the last time I had to draw from a well, I just but can’t imagine and ponder on how far I have come.

"Picture of Ajala Marvellous (25 M), wearing a black Yoruba native dress Bùbá and ṣòkòtò with a Yoruba traditional cap standing beside a painting of a black girl in a art gallery”

Present day: 2024 was a really good year for me but not in the way you think about it. If you’ve read any of my previous year in review, well, this is not like them, because sadly I did not get a job at Google, attend top conferences I would have loved to attend, razzle-dazzled you and stuff like that, nah, in comparison to those things, this year will look pale, but it was nonetheless a good.

From the first day of the year, you would however have known this year was going to be standing on business a lot, I mean who starts the year on a Monday and it wasn’t that I was just working that day, I was on call. In fact, they started calling me as early as 7am to remind me I had to be at work in the morning (well, a coincidence as they were trying to call my colleague). But that way, the theme of the year was alot centered on doing my compulsory 1 year internship. Well, compulsory only if you want to become a fully licensed pharmacist in Nigeria, not like I wanted to ( or didn’t want to), but it won’t hurt anyway and why don’t I.

I learnt a lot however during that one year, for some reason I always though I will be a terrible pharmacist, not because I really don’t care, but for the longest time, it just seemed like that one thing that has consistently been between me and what I really enjoy. So I started with the mind of let this phase just pass me by, I intentionally chose where I did it thinking I probably won’t do much work (or so I thought 😭😭😭). Anyway, I learnt I’m a really great one at that (you can ask my patients and they’ll give you testimonials), for some reason I enjoyed it and in some alternate universe, I’ll choose to be settle down as one (well, sadly not this though 😆)

But year had some really down lows, like really down. Like getting rejections emails so many programs I applied for that I almost passed out, twas tough man. I also broke up with my girlfriend (you need to read the previous year-in-review to get this complete gist 🤣 🤣 🤣), I couldn’t attend any of the top conferences I would have wanted, didn’t publish any paper I worked on during the year and many others I can’t even remember at the moment.

But the year wasn’t all bleak, I finished my internship and this was a very big deal for me. Finally, it seemed I can now do whatever it is that piques my fancy (looking at NYSC with the funny side eye). I also met new people, co-organised a workshop at a top conference, worked on many interesting projects (many that I look forward to publishing this year), invited for a guest lecture at a workshop for graduate and post graduate students, made some money (I mean when the iphone 6 I’ve been using for more than 2 years got tired on me and packed up, I was able just change it just like that)but most importantly, I LIVED.

The prologue wouldn’t make sense to you if you didn’t know how I have always lived my life till this point. The thing is I have lived all my life in eager anticipation, waiting for the time things will get better, when everything will align, when I will begin to live my dreams, the better tomorrow we have always dreamed off, and so for the longest time, I didn’t even see the life in front of me that was getting by, unnoticed, unremarkable, earnestly waiting for the next and better one, so 2024 was the year I lived, the year I lived in the moment, enjoyed the little moments, experienced joy in the mundane and just LIVED. Lived with the knowledge that this is a point of my life I will never recover anymore, with the knowledge that this is a point I won’t forever be, point I will look back at and craved once again, so why not just live?

“Seize life! Eat bread with gusto, Drink wine with a robust heart. Oh yes—God takes pleasure in your pleasure! Dress festively every morning. Don’t skimp on colors and scarves. Relish life with the spouse you love. Each and every day of your precarious life. Each day is God’s gift. It’s all you get in exchange For the hard work of staying alive. Make the most of each one! Whatever turns up, grab it and do it. And heartily! This is your last and only chance at it, For there’s neither work to do nor thoughts to think In the company of the dead, where you’re most certainly headed Ecclesiastes 9:7-10 MSG

"Picture of Ajala Marvellous (25 M), wearing a black Yoruba native dress Bùbá and ṣòkòtò with a Yoruba traditional cap sitting on a swing in a outdoor cafe”

As we look forward to the new year, I’m excited and ecstatic about what the new year brings, the potential it holds and the redemption it offers because like we always say “It’s tabula rasa baby. Cheers to all the good things the new year has in stock for me and for you, A votre sante 🥂🥂