Happy 2018

Reflection on 2017 2017 was a year so full of events and adventures that it is hard to truly sum it up and follow the plot. My sister just counted for me that I visited 14 countries including a few huge ones from my bucket list: Morocco, Turkey and Ireland. And some very pleasant surprises: Hungary and Romania for example. I actually lived in three different places: London, Turin and The Hague holding several positions. Career-wisely the year was brilliant, I found myself, fought for what I wanted and landed a position far beyond my expectations. I met so many like-minded people who supported me and inspired me throughout this year.

I believe that one of the biggest lessons for me in 2017 was the old cliché ‘friends in need are friends indeed’. Of course, we are all familiar with this one and believe that we have found our people but we know nothing until it gets tested. Along with a sad diagnosis of my own health, I lost my father this fall. Although foreseeable, it crushed me. Some things are just beyond any preparation or mental strength. I received a lot of messages of support and experienced many encouraging acts. I truly believe that I survived, because that’s what my dad wanted, but also because my friends ran an intervention on me a few years ago and forced their way into my heart and secrets. They taught me that no one needs to stand alone and that wounds won’t heal unless you talk about them. This prepared me for the fact that once the sad news reached me, I wasn’t scared to tell my friends and to ask for help. For the most part, my friends responded perfectly and I genuinely don’t know where I would have landed without them.

2017 was a year full of self inspection. I was searching for a direction in my career but also in my personal life: once I survive this, what kind of person do I want to be? I read this very interesting article on LinkedIn this morning which really put my own thoughts well into words: things you have to give up if you want to be successful in life. A lot of this dealt with being positive: cutting out negativity in your life but also to be physically and mentally healthy. I have started this quite well in January focusing on cooking healthy and tasty food and I am back in my lovely Netherlands where I can cycle 7 km to work and back every day. . For a long time, I have felt stuck in my life. I kind of gave up believing in developing myself outside my studies and work. I have not felt motivated enough to develop myself and to keep on learning new. This is one of my main new year’s resolutions: I want to learn something completely new in 2018 merely for the sake of entertainment and creativity. I will also give up on my excuses and stop wasting my time on things and people who will not help me move forward. Big words and big resolutions but at least now that I have written them down; you can hold me accountable for them.

I don’t normally do these ‘new year, new me’ miracles however, it feels necessary this year as I already knew long since that I don’t want to be the person I was in 2017. Not to make this post so morbid, let’s highlight some absolute successes of 2017.

1. My friends. Now proven to be the best in the world. Along with so many solo trips, this year we conquered a lot of the world together and they were with me every step of the way.

2. My job. I have entered the UN with a bang and have enjoyed every moment. I reached outside my original job description at the Tribunal and got to witness first-hand how international justice really works. Not only that: I got to partake.

3. The world. I witnessed many miracles and breath-taking places last year. One of the most mesmerising one was my road trip through Switzerland. If you ever get a chance, do it.

4. The unity. Even though the world seems like a darker place when you read the news, I felt a lot of will to pull together and to make the world a better place last year. Humanity will win.

5. And last but certainly not least, my family. No words needed.

I am hyped for 2018. So here are a few things you can expect from me this year: after finishing my contract in The Hague, I will move back to South Africa to study my LLM and to work in the humanitarian legal field. I have huge plans to travel around the southern Africa and hopefully volunteer with the wildlife protection over my university holidays.

Do you think I can top my 2017 14 visited countries this year?

Happy New Year,

Mira

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