Today.

This year I hope you travel to countries you don't need a visa to enter.

Familiar places inside those you've loved. Stumble onto warmth in old, browned faces. Take a vacation to freckles you've overseen so many times, that you missed welcoming new ones that came up. 

Go surfing inside eyes of new friends when they've got excitement or hurt to share. Make a trip back to hand holding. Heck, make hand holding cool again. Hold your own, each time you need to. 

This year, travel inside out and outside in.

I hope life smacks you in the face with beauty, every day this year. Know now, that this will not happen if you're staring down into an app. Look up, and you'll find that even in squalor and grime grows all kinds of ridiculous joy too stubborn to be sad. Run into one such thing of beauty everyday. If your day is too busy just look into the mirror at night, and smile.

This year I hope you let go:

of the ball of anger curled up inside your stomach, of the weight of your sadness, of days that didn't treat you right, of the burden of old mistakes, of missed flights, of lost opportunities, of people who weren't meant to stay, of stories unfinished, of excess that consumed you, of lack that subsumed, of everything you were prejudiced against, of all the times you tried too hard and of anchors you put down when you were too young. This year, let it all go.

Build yourself in the new year, into a real person. One that lives and exists outside of selfies, Instagram updates, clever Facebook check-ins and funny texts. Build yourself and your celebrity outside it all. And in that, I wish you great fame and fortune.

In a world filled with bombings, murders, rapes and hatred, find one thing to be passionate about. It could be origami or saving the dolphin. Find it, and chase that passion down the street, like you would a hot lover trying to get away. Tell everyone you meet about it. And maybe if we all do it together, we would've saved the world. 

Speaking of, you can also do that with one kind act everyday. Especially on days you feel enraged, entitled, let down, devastated and vicious.

This year, I hope a great dream you've held close, nurtured, dreamt and prayed for comes true. So that when it does, you learn like we all must:

a) that there is more magic and miracle in this universe than bombs.

b) And that sometimes dreams not coming true is a blessing we never truly understand, until they do.

In that I hope you place your trust, faith and love for the next 364 days to come.

(Picture Credit: Me but Thailand's stunning beauty is easy to work with)