A blank canvas is always scary. Mine just happened to be neon orange and inviting, one fine day. 

While I was gearing for major shift in life, Vespa's Do You Vespa campaign caught my eye. Sharp, confident, and nonconformist, Vespa made a bold statement with its latest ad. Actually, calling it an ad would be not be right. It was more of a declaration. A new philosophy. And for the first time, Vespa connected with me on a personal level. It was no longer just a fashion statement in my eyes. It became a vision, a tool, even a medium that had the potential to be an extension of my persona. Clearly, that was an interesting change in my thought process, considering that being from the advertising industry, it takes a lot for ads to breach my thick elephant like skin. So when Blogadda and Vespa got together shift the focus on the nonconformists and let them take center stage, I couldn't resist the opportunity. 

They asked, "What would you do if you had Vespa for three days?" 

I said, "I want to make it an extension of my alter-ego - The Flirting Kaapi." 

Little did I know ...soon this would be at my door. *does her happy dance* 

It was a usual day till I glanced at the date. And then it became a nightmare. As if the date came with a license of opening floodgates for that which I thought was out of my system. From being just another Thursday, it became a date that I didn't want to remember. That which I wanted to flush out of my mind, forever. 

There is an interesting client meeting. Very confident of tiding over this realization, I go for it. And it worked. Work does that to me because thankfully I love my job. New city, new people, new work, new life; then why did the date come back again in my mind with my old baggage the moment I step out of the meeting? Moments pour in my head. Glimpses of past fly by my eyes and nothing I do wipes them away. My new life has no place for the old. It is a new slate. And I don't want scratches from the past. Furious with myself, I grab a large strong coffee thinking that maybe coffee rush will drive the thoughts away. But it reminds of another coffee that I had in some place in my past. 

A coffee and a sugar rush on an empty stomach later, I am still in the same place. Some edits take my mind off on another tangent. Thank God for it. But my playlist was not on my side. It throws songs at me that I have consciously stayed away for the last four months. No courage to delete. No courage to let them be. Why now? Why me? Why? 

When I drown myself in work, nothing touches my mind but the moment I take a break, it all comes pouring in. The excitement, joy, thrill, warmth, doubts, frustration, helplessness, hurt, shock, and break down. Everything floats back in the mind. A bad headache, a quesy stomach, and a mild fever later I am done with my work hours. Now, I have no escape. Nothing to drive these thoughts away.

Do I grab my bottle of Nutella and sappy movies to cry this disease out of my system or do I speak with them who I love and face this unease? I try to chose the former but I am too determined to do the latter. And I do the later.Thirty minutes of talking to them who love you the most can do wonders that no magic can. Tears that were shed got wiped. Smiles returned along with warmth and any thoughts about the date flew out of my mind. 

Like every day, today came with its share of  realizations. I am no longer that person who would cross oceans for someone who doesn't want to cross a puddle in return. Also, we are who we chose to be. And it is my choice to do that which will take me forward as my past has no place in my present. And this is my happy reality. So dear date, screw you. 

~ Sneha

Three days to go. 

Who do I meet, who do I not meet, what to keep, what to leave, what to remember, what to forget... everything is a question mark.

As we live everyday we create so many memories that get attached to each thing, cloth, person, and road. While we pass from one day to another we don't realize the amount of memories we are filling our minds and homes with. At least I never realized. And now, each of these are dancing in front of my eyes. Wrapping them all in a bag of thirty Kgs? You got to be kidding me. 

Eleven years ago, I did this for the first time. I wrapped my childhood in a bag and shifted my life in a new city. Hence this is not new to me. However, then I was sure I was going home soon. Then I knew that this is just a phase. And two years later I did return home. But by then I realized I had outgrew my home. The place was home only in my mind and it didn't match the reality. Home had shifted from being a place to people. My parents became my home. And when we shifted to a new city again, this time, I was not dreaming of my old home every night. 

So what is different this time? Uncertainty. This makes everything different. I don't know what is going to happen next, where is life going to take me, what is waiting for me, and how will things be. But that's the best as well as the worst part. Till then, I am trying to wrap my life in thirty kgs and waiting for tomorrow to be today with bated breath.

~Sneha

There are times when everyone around you questions your decision. Some support, some don't. How many times would you explain your need even when you are not liable to explain anyone anything? But you do because while you are reassuring them, you are reassuring yourself. Because we all love our comfort zone. The warm and cozy corner that provides the cover of security, even stability sometimes. Jumping out of it is a nightmare waiting to happen. Though that's where Carlos's words come in the picture. And right now, they are telling me that I will see this through as this is a risk I am willing to take.

As designers, illustrators, artists, graphic designers, and other professionals operating in the field of design, we are often asked to work our magic and make things look good. We are expected to spruce things up so that they appeal visually and thus become sell-able.