I have found and realized (and rejoiced) that we CAN and we should define our happiness. That I can define the existence of ‘happiness’ in my life the way I program them to be.

I have decided that freshly brewed coffee is one of the many of life’s greatest moment. Writing with my pen companion which is Platinum Century 3776 — Laurel Green, Extra Fine, makes the activity of writing bring immense joy. I bought this during my visit to Nagasaki in 2023 — Christmas Day.

I found myself touching the deeper inner gratitude reservoir within when I am driving around the town. And… I don’t even have my own car anymore by the time I am writing this story. I borrow. When I put my orange winter boots on, I feel like I am ready to weather any situation. Though I live in tropical country.

Your happiness is Natural.

Photo by Valeriia Miller on Unsplash

I remember that one of my hobby during childhood days was to buy watercolour pencils and crayons. Every week when I tag along with my parents, almost always, I came back home with the new set of it. Fast forward 10 years later, I took Interior Design as my major.

Now, more than 14 years later after I graduated, I have realized and accepted that DESIGN has always been a part in my life. Currently, I stand my ground strong enough to have a very different opinion from my peers when it comes to design. Just the other day I met one of an esteemed lady whom I worked for in 2014. I shared my opinion about some F&B stores in our neighbourhood and she is kind of fascinated by our conversation. I explained to her furthermore that I know which direction that I want to go with design.

By being surrounded and constantly using these things, I could feel the sudden surge of courage, joyfulness, protection and ‘coolness’ from it. I believe I looked normal outside, but inside I can guarantee you, I feel like I can fly, which the last time I checked, I haven’t sprout any wings on my back.

The POINT is… just like me, you can find your happiness by defining your ‘happiness’. Stop follow other’s definition of happiness and starts defining.

“I might not having a career as Interior Design, but I choose to live with design. Everything that we have bought, wore and collected are design. From the moment we wake up in the morning until we go to bed at night. It is ALL design.”

For me, design is my life. To put it more extreme, I can no longer separate my life as ‘The me who likes coffee and chinese metaphysics’ and my life as ‘The me who designs’.

So, I share this to let people know that,

Yes, you can define your happiness. You can define it the way you want it to be. And, this {True Happiness}, once you’ve found it, it is something that is natural to you. Believe it if you will, the source of your {True Happiness} has always been with you all along. More often than not, the key is smartly hiding during childhood.

A moment of joy in Nagasaki, Japan. 28 July 2025

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