When you live alone, especially far from your usual home, sometimes it seems like the world is too big, and you are too small in it. An empty apartment in the evenings, a cup of tea in your hands and silence that at first oppresses. And then... then it becomes a friend. I learned to listen to myself. And this, it seems, is the most valuable thing I have acquired lately ✨.

I realized that loneliness is not a punishment, but a chance. A chance to figure out what I really like. I no longer run after other people's expectations, I do not try to seem right. I can put on the most ridiculous pajamas, cook dinner from what I found in the fridge, and laugh at myself 😂. And in these moments, I understand that happiness is in the simple.

I used to think that you can only be happy "together". And now I see that joy can be born inside when you allow yourself to live here and now. Yes, sometimes sadness rolls in. Sometimes I miss the past, remember mistakes, disappointments, meetings that led nowhere. But today I can already smile at my past 😊. It was necessary for me to become who I am now.

Sometimes it seems to me that happiness is not loud events, but small victories. Getting up in the morning in a good mood, learning to cook a new dish, walking down an unfamiliar street, feeling that you can breathe deeply. Such moments add up to a life where there is a place for joy, and slight sadness, and the expectation of something new 🌸.

I believe there is so much more to come. And even though I am alone for now, I love this feeling of freedom and anticipation. The world doesn't seem so cold anymore. It's just waiting for me to open the door and say, "Well, let's go?" 😉

Val