Lost A

Author: lost A

  • The Best Way to Explore a New City: Share It with Someone You Love

    The Best Way to Explore a New City: Share It with Someone You Love

    What’s the best way to explore a new city?

    Exploring a new city is not really about ticking landmarks off a list or following a crowded itinerary. In my opinion, the best way to experience a place is by sharing it with someone you love. The memories you create together often become more meaningful than the destination itself. Whether you are wandering through quiet streets, discovering hidden cafés, sampling local dishes you’ve never tried before, or getting lost on purpose, the right travel companion can turn ordinary moments into unforgettable ones.

    Before setting off, a little research can make the trip even more enjoyable. Take time to learn what both of you love and look for experiences that match your shared interests. Maybe that means spending an afternoon in museums, hiking through nature trails, exploring historical sites, visiting theme parks, shopping in local markets, or joining guided tours. I also love looking into the foods a destination is known for and making a list of restaurants, bakeries, and cafés that showcase local flavors. Finding activities and experiences you both genuinely enjoy helps create a journey that feels personal rather than planned for the sake of sightseeing.

    Of course, every traveler has different preferences, and that is part of the adventure. One person may be drawn to culture and history while the other loves excitement and discovery. The best trips often combine both, allowing each person to experience something they enjoy while sharing it with someone who appreciates it just as much. One of my favorite ways to connect with a destination is by taking a class or workshop that reflects something the city is famous for, whether that is a cooking class, an art lesson, a pottery workshop, or learning a local craft. It is a wonderful way to bring a piece of the destination home with you.

    At the end of the day, the most important part of exploring a new city is not the attractions, the landmarks, or even the itinerary. It is being there with someone whose company makes every experience better. A beautiful destination can leave a lasting impression, but sharing local meals, learning something new together, and discovering the city’s unique character side by side creates memories that stay with you long after the trip is over.

  • If a Genie Granted Me One Wish

    If a Genie Granted Me One Wish

    The genie grants you a wish. What is it?

    If a Genie Granted Me One Wish

    When I was younger, I thought the answer would be easy.

    More money.

    More time.

    A beautiful house.

    A life without worries.

    The usual things people wish for when someone hands them unlimited possibilities.

    But the older I get, the harder this question becomes.

    Not because I don’t know what I want.

    Because I want too many things.

    I don’t mean possessions. I mean lives.

    If a genie appeared in front of me and offered a single wish, I don’t think I would ask for wealth, fame, or success.

    I think I would ask for the chance to live every life I’ve ever dreamed about.

    Not forever.

    Just long enough to know.

    Long enough to walk around inside those dreams and discover whether they felt the way I imagined.

    I would like to spend a season as a potter.

    I’d wake up every morning in a sunlit studio with clay under my fingernails and shelves lined with pieces drying quietly in the corner. I’d learn patience. I’d learn how many failures it takes to create something beautiful with my hands.

    Then I would live an entirely different life.

    I’d own a tiny bakery tucked into a quiet street. The kind with warm lights glowing through the windows before sunrise. I’d spend early mornings measuring flour, brewing coffee, and greeting the same familiar faces every day.

    After that, perhaps I’d disappear to a farm.

    Nothing grand.

    Just a simple life surrounded by open skies, flowers, and the rhythm of seasons. The kind of life where time is measured differently. Where mornings begin with birds instead of notifications.

    Then I’d step onto a beautiful train and travel slowly across countries I’ve always wanted to see.

    No rushing.

    No schedules.

    Just watching unfamiliar landscapes pass by the window while holding a cup of coffee and wondering what life looks like for the people in those distant towns.

    And after that?

    Who knows.

    There are so many versions of me I’ve wondered about over the years.

    The writer.

    The painter.

    The shop owner.

    The traveler.

    The dreamer who said yes instead of no.

    The brave version.

    The adventurous version.

    The version who never worried whether she was making the right choice.

    Sometimes I think what I envy most is not the lives themselves.

    It’s the certainty.

    The ability to know.

    To stand in the middle of a dream and finally discover if it was everything I imagined.

    But perhaps the real lesson is that we aren’t supposed to know.

    Maybe life was never designed for us to experience every possibility.

    Maybe it asks us to choose one road and accept that thousands of others will remain unexplored.

    There is something heartbreaking about that.

    But there is also something beautiful.

    Because every unlived life becomes a dream.

    And dreams have a way of staying perfect.

    A genie could give me wealth.

    A genie could give me success.

    A genie could even give me more years.

    But if I were granted one wish, I think I would ask for something far stranger.

    I would ask to spend a little time in every life I have ever imagined for myself.

    Not because I want to escape the life I have.

    But because I have always been curious about the lives waiting behind the doors I never opened.

    And perhaps that curiosity, more than any single dream, is who I really am.

  • Let it burn

    Let it burn

    The truth is, she didn’t start the fire.

    Some of the flames were born from other people’s expectations. Some from old disappointments. Some from wounds that were handed to her long before she knew their names.

    For years, she moved from blaze to blaze carrying buckets that were never hers to carry. She soothed. Explained. Fixed. Forgave. Absorbed.

    She believed that if she loved enough, gave enough, and sacrificed enough, she could keep everything from burning.

    Everyone.

    Including the people who kept striking matches.

    So she became the dependable one.

    The strong one.

    The one who stepped forward while everyone else stepped back.

    The one who stayed long after she should have left.

    The one who cleaned up messes she didn’t make.

    The one who carried consequences that belonged to someone else.

    At first, it felt noble.

    Then it became exhausting.

    Then it became her identity.

    Years passed before she noticed that the fires never really disappeared. Every flame she extinguished seemed to return somewhere else. Every crisis she solved created another responsibility. Every burden she picked up made people more comfortable handing her the next one.

    And slowly, quietly, she began to understand something she had spent her whole life avoiding.

    Not everything burning was hers to save.

    Some lessons belong to the people creating them.

    Some consequences belong to the people choosing them.

    Some endings arrive because they need to.

    And some fires must be allowed to burn.

    Not out of cruelty.

    Not out of revenge.

    But because saving everything is not the same thing as living.

    One day, she stopped running.

    She stopped explaining.

    She stopped rescuing.

    She stopped volunteering to hold together things that were already falling apart before she arrived.

    She set the bucket down.

    The world called it selfish.

    The world often mistakes boundaries for selfishness when it has grown accustomed to your sacrifice.

    But it wasn’t selfishness.

    It was surrender.

    It was wisdom.

    It was finally understanding that her worth was never measured by how much she could endure.

    The flames continued to rise around her.

    People expected panic.

    People expected guilt.

    People expected her to pick up the bucket one more time.

    Instead, she danced.

    Not because the fire was beautiful.

    Not because destruction was joyful.

    But because she was finally free from the impossible responsibility of saving everything.

    And for the first time in a very long time, she remembered what it felt like to save herself.

    “She didn’t start the fire. One day, she simply refused to keep putting it out.”

  • Someday

    Someday

    For years, I treated my heart like a trusted navigator.

    Every feeling was a sign. Every ache was a direction. Every hope was a reason to stay a little longer, wait a little longer, forgive a little longer.

    The heart is beautiful that way.

    It sees potential where there is evidence to walk away. It creates stories from fragments. It finds reasons to keep believing when reality has already spoken.

    And there is something admirable about that.

    But there comes a moment when loyalty to your feelings starts costing you your peace.

    That is what this image is about.

    At first glance, it looks harsh. A heart sits inside a cage while the mind is finally released. It can almost seem like a declaration that emotions are the enemy.

    It is not.

    The heart is not being punished.

    The heart is being rested.

    Sometimes the problem is not that the heart feels too much. The problem is that it has been carrying responsibilities it was never meant to carry.

    The heart was never designed to make decisions on its own.

    It was meant to feel.

    The mind was meant to guide.

    When those roles are reversed, life becomes exhausting. We stay where we should leave. We chase explanations that never come. We mistake longing for truth. We confuse attachment with destiny.

    The image captures the moment that changes everything.

    The cage door is open.

    The heart is left behind, not because it is unwanted, but because it can no longer be in charge.

    The woman reaches for the mind and walks toward the horizon.

    Not because logic is cold.

    Not because feelings are weak.

    But because wisdom finally has a voice.

    There is a quiet kind of freedom that comes from listening to reality instead of desire.

    Not every decision feels good.

    Not every truth feels comforting.

    Yet some of the healthiest choices we ever make begin as disappointments.

    She is not walking away broken.

    She is walking away wiser.

    And perhaps that is the real message.

    Maturity is not learning how to feel less.

    It is learning when your heart deserves to be protected from itself.

    It is knowing that you can love something and still leave it.

    Miss someone and still move on.

    Hope for something and still accept reality.

    The heart remains part of the journey.

    It just no longer holds the map.

    And sometimes, the most loving thing you can do for yourself is set your mind free and let it lead you home.

    I hope someday I will be strong enough to do it.

  • A Guide to Being a Good Friend

    A Guide to Being a Good Friend

    Don’t only be there for your friends when you need something. Be there when they need something.

    If I had to summarize friendship in a single sentence, it would probably be that one.

    Friendship is one of the most valuable relationships we can have in life, yet it is often treated as an afterthought. We make time for work, family, obligations, and endless responsibilities, but friendship sometimes ends up squeezed into whatever free time remains.

    The problem is that friendships cannot survive on leftovers.

    A good friend is not someone who shows up only when they are lonely, need advice, need a favor, or have nobody else to spend time with. A good friend understands that friendship is a responsibility as much as it is a comfort. It requires effort, care, and a willingness to think about someone other than yourself.

    That doesn’t mean being available every second of every day. Life is busy for everyone. It simply means that your friends should know they matter to you even when life is pulling you in a hundred different directions.

    Friendship should never be based on convenience.

    One of the easiest ways to tell whether a friendship is genuine is to look at what happens during difficult times.

    It’s easy to be around people when everything is going well. It’s easy to celebrate promotions, weddings, achievements, and exciting news. Most people can show up for the sunshine.

    The real test comes when the skies are darker.

    When a friend is grieving, struggling, overwhelmed, or simply having a difficult season, that’s when friendship matters most. You don’t need perfect advice. You don’t need solutions. Sometimes all a person needs is a message that says, “I’m thinking of you,” or “I’m here if you need me.”

    The people who stay during the difficult chapters are often the people we remember forever.

    Another quality of a good friend is helping their friends grow.

    Some people think being supportive means agreeing with everything a friend does. I don’t think that’s true.

    A good friend will sometimes tell you things you need to hear.

    The difference is how they say it.

    There is a world of difference between criticism meant to make someone feel small and advice meant to help someone become better. Good friends don’t point out flaws to prove they’re right or smarter. They speak honestly because they care.

    Sometimes the kindest thing you can do is gently tell a friend that they’re making a mistake.

    Not to judge them.

    Not to shame them.

    But because you genuinely want the best for them.

    Real friendship helps people grow. It doesn’t keep them stuck.

    I also think one of the most underrated acts of friendship is remembering people after life has pulled you apart.

    Not every friendship is meant to stay exactly the same forever. People move, get married, change jobs, become parents, and take different paths. Sometimes a friendship that once filled your everyday life becomes an occasional message every few months.

    That doesn’t erase what it once was.

    If someone was important to you, and years later you hear they’re going through something difficult, there is nothing wrong with reaching out.

    You don’t need to pick up where you left off.

    You don’t need to rebuild the friendship overnight.

    Sometimes all you need to say is, “I heard you’re going through a hard time, and I wanted you to know that I’m thinking of you.”

    Small acts of kindness have a way of staying with people.

    I’ve always believed that life is a little like a boomerang.

    Not in a dramatic way.

    Not in a magical way.

    But in the sense that what we consistently put into the world has a way of finding its way back to us. Maybe not through the same people and maybe not in the same form, but eventually our actions shape the lives we live.

    Kindness has a way of creating more kindness.

    Generosity creates stronger connections.

    And selfishness creates distance.

    If you only call people when you need something, eventually people notice. If you only show up when it’s convenient, eventually friendships become one-sided. If every relationship revolves around your needs, your problems, and your schedule, people slowly stop feeling valued.

    Selfishness doesn’t usually destroy friendships overnight.

    It does it quietly.

    One cancelled effort at a time.

    One ignored message at a time.

    One absent moment at a time.

    Then one day people wonder why they don’t seem to have strong friendships in their lives.

    It’s tempting to think the answer is that loyal friends are rare or that everyone else is selfish. Sometimes that’s true. But sometimes the more uncomfortable question is worth asking.

    Have I been the kind of friend I hope to find?

    Because the people with the strongest friendships are usually not the people searching endlessly for better friends.

    They’re the people who have spent years becoming one.

    And perhaps the first step to finding a good friend is making sure you’re being one yourself.

  • The Space Between Knowing and Believing

    The Space Between Knowing and Believing

    There is a moment after someone dies that nobody prepares you for.
    Not the hospital room.
    Not the funeral.
    Not the condolences.
    Not even the silence that follows.
    The moment nobody talks about is the disbelief.
    You stand beside their hospital bed after they have taken their final breath. You look at them. You know what everyone is saying is true. The doctors have confirmed it. Family members are crying. The room feels heavy with sorrow.
    Yet somewhere inside you, a voice quietly whispers:
    No.
    Not denial in the dramatic sense. Just refusal. A part of your mind simply cannot process what it is seeing.
    You attend the funeral dressed in black. You watch people embrace each other through tears. You hear prayers. You see grief etched into every face around you.
    And still, it doesn’t sink in.
    You wait for the moment when reality will finally crash into your chest.
    But it never comes.
    At least not then.
    So you begin to wonder if something is wrong with you.
    Why am I not crying?
    Why does everyone else seem broken while I feel frozen?
    Why can’t I understand what everyone else already knows?
    Maybe I’m heartless.
    Maybe I’m numb.
    Maybe I’m dead inside.
    The guilt arrives before the grief does.
    You question your love for them because your sadness doesn’t look the way you imagined it would. You think mourning should be loud. It should be obvious. It should leave you unable to stand.
    Instead, you feel suspended between two realities.
    One where they are gone.
    And another where your mind continues to expect them to walk through the door.
    You still think about calling them.
    You still catch yourself wanting to tell them something.
    You still expect their name to appear on your phone.
    Because deep down, your heart has not received the message your eyes already have.
    The truth is, grief is not always immediate.
    Sometimes the mind protects itself from pain by slowing reality down into pieces small enough to survive.
    Sometimes acceptance arrives months later while reaching for the phone.
    Sometimes it comes when you see a photo and suddenly realize there will never be another one.
    And sometimes it comes for no reason at all, on an ordinary Tuesday afternoon, when the world keeps moving as if nothing happened.
    That is when the truth finally lands.
    They are gone.
    Not away.
    Not busy.
    Not coming back tomorrow.
    Gone.
    And when that realization finally arrives, it can hurt far more than the funeral ever did.
    If you have not cried yet, it does not mean you did not love them.
    If it has not sunk in yet, it does not mean you are cold.
    If your grief looks different from everyone else’s, it does not mean something is wrong with you.
    Sometimes goodbye is too large for the human mind to understand all at once.
    Sometimes the heart needs time to catch up with reality.
    And sometimes the deepest grief begins with a simple, disbelieving thought:
    “This can’t be real.”
    Until one day, long after everyone else has gone home, you finally understand that it is.
    And that is when you say goodbye.

  • Dear diary

    Dear diary

    I spent the evening thinking about what it would feel like to see you again. Not the first meeting. Not the beginning. Something quieter. Something heavier. A return.

    I tried to imagine the moment our eyes meet again. I wondered if I would still feel that familiar pull. The one that used to make me forget everything around me. I think it would come back instantly. Some feelings do not fade. They only wait.

    I pictured myself standing close to you. Close enough to touch your face the way I used to. Close enough to study your eyes without rushing. I wonder if I would manage to stay steady or if the old nervousness would rise again. The kind that comes when something matters more than it should.

    There is a softness in the idea of returning to you. A quiet takeover that once settled in my heart and never really left. It was never loud. It was never dramatic. It simply filled every space and stayed there.

    Your eyes are the first thing I think of. I imagine them in front of me again. Familiar yet overwhelming. I remember how much I loved looking into them long before distance separated us. That memory still carries a sweetness that hurts a little. A longing that survived the silence.

    Sometimes I imagine kissing your eyes again. Not out of romance. Out of gratitude. As if thanking them for the way they once made me feel alive. As if thanking them for the way they still return to me in thought even after all this time.

    I think I am still marked by you. As if something in me was shaped by your presence and never reshaped after you left. There is no cure for it and I do not want one. The longing always knew where it belonged. It knew its way back to you even after the distance.

    Writing this feels like opening a door I’m trying to keep closed. Maybe seeing you again would not be dramatic. Maybe it would be a small miracle. A quiet moment where everything I once felt stands in front of me again, familiar and close enough to touch.

  • I’ve Lied

    I’ve Lied

    Some days ago, someone asked me what songs I’ve been listening to lately.
    I don’t know why I didn’t tell the truth.
    Maybe I wanted to seem like I’d moved on.
    Maybe I wanted to look stronger than I felt.
    Maybe I didn’t want anyone to hear the softness I still carry.

    So I said something casual, something light, something that didn’t matter.
    But the truth stayed quiet inside me.

    Because the songs I’ve actually been listening to aren’t the kind you share when you’re trying to look healed. They’re the kind you keep to yourself, the ones that touch the parts of you you pretend are gone.

    Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls.
    I guess i’m in love by Clinton Kane.
    Please notice by Christian Leave.
    A Drop in the Ocean by Ron Pope.
    Follow Me by Uncle Kracker.
    Someone to You by BANNERS.

    They’re not all masterpieces.
    They’re not all impressive.
    But each one has a line, a moment, a feeling that reached me in a way I didn’t want to admit.

    Maybe that’s why I didn’t say them out loud.
    Because these songs reveal a version of me I’ve been trying to tuck away, the girl who still feels deeply, who still remembers, who still hopes, who still aches a little. The girl who isn’t as “strong” as she pretends to be.

    But strength isn’t always loud.
    Sometimes it’s just honesty.
    And tonight, this is mine.

    These are the songs.
    This is the truth.
    And maybe that’s enough.

  • A Heart That Counts the Days

    A Heart That Counts the Days

    Some distances are measured in kilometers, but others are measured in longing. There are seasons in life when waiting becomes its own quiet ritual, a calendar marked not by events but by the hope of seeing someone whose presence feels like a small miracle.

    There is a particular kind of ache that comes from loving someone you rarely see. You start counting days the way children count down to holidays, except your celebration might last only a few minutes. You rehearse the moment in your mind, imagining the warmth of their voice and the way the world softens when they are near. When the moment finally arrives, it slips through your fingers too quickly, leaving you with a memory you hold onto like a lifeline.

    What makes it harder is knowing that somewhere out there, people cross paths with them every day. They see them in ordinary moments, morning routines, casual conversations, passing glances. They grow accustomed to what you consider extraordinary. They forget the privilege of being close. You, on the other hand, never do.

    If you had the chance to see them daily, you know you would not grow used to them. Their presence would never become background noise. Your heart would still react as if it were the first time, a quiet flutter, a gentle rush, a reminder that some people enter your life not to blend in but to illuminate it.

    So you keep waiting. You hold onto the memory of your last meeting, and you dream of the next. You whisper small prayers into the spaces between your days, asking life to be kind enough to bring them closer. Not someday, but soon.

    Some hearts do not simply miss.
    They hope.
    They endure.
    They believe.

  • The Place I Still Carry With Me

    The Place I Still Carry With Me

    There was a time when work felt like a small dream I was quietly living. I was moved to a new job with the promise of a better position, and the place I arrived to looked forgotten by the world. Dust on every surface, furniture left in strange corners, bugs claiming the silence. Somehow, I didn’t mind. I cleaned everything, brought in new supplies, arranged the space until it felt alive again. It became a real workplace because I made it one. It was peaceful. It was mine. I used to walk in every morning with a soft kind of hope, the kind that makes you feel like you are building something good.

    For a while, I worked alone, and it was a comforting kind of solitude. My tiny office had a view of a small garden, and the quiet felt like a friend. I believed I was finally stepping into a gentle chapter of my life. Then everything shifted. My boss moved on to a higher position, and the new one who replaced him didn’t see me the same way. The promise I had been holding onto disappeared. My work was brushed aside. The effort I had poured into that place suddenly meant nothing.

    New colleagues arrived, and for a while, it felt like stepping into a dream. I wasn’t alone anymore. The days were lighter, filled with laughter and shared coffee breaks. I saw the world through soft pink lenses and believed people were kind. One of them became my closest friend, someone I trusted, someone who made the long hours feel shorter. But time has a way of showing what words can hide. Slowly, reality unfolded. One by one, their masks slipped. Some turned out to be unkind. Some turned out to be cruel. Some simply didn’t care. And that friend who once felt like family drifted away too, leaving behind a silence heavier than anger. The hardest part wasn’t their behavior. It was realizing that what I had built, the warmth and the belonging, no longer belonged to me.

    Leaving broke my heart. Staying broke it too. Every time I pass by that building now, something tightens in my chest. It feels like someone is pressing the air out of my lungs. I loved that place. I loved the quiet. I loved the hope that lived inside me back then. I loved the feeling that I was creating something bright.

    But I had to walk away.

    Now I am in a new job with another promise of another position, and I no longer believe promises. The days are hectic. The work never stops. I drink too much coffee just to keep up, and my hands shake more than they should. Sometimes I get dizzy. Sometimes I wonder how long a person can run before they fall. But this is the life I have now.

    Still, a small part of me wonders. What if the old boss never left. What if the colleagues never came. What if the quiet stayed quiet. I think I would have been happy. I think that little office with its tiny garden would have kept me safe.

    I miss that place. I miss the calm. I miss the short drive from home. I miss the version of myself who believed she was building something beautiful. Some places stay with us even after we leave them. They sit quietly inside us, like a soft ache that never fully fades.