Around this time last year, there was a festering blackness building up in my soul. A congestive, edematous mass of frustration, guilt, and bitterness in a candy-coated shell. And looking through posts from a year ago, despite the harmlessness of these posts, I am reminded of how much of a desert I was in, desperately trying to find water amidst the desiccation to quench my spiritual thirst. But naturally, there was nothing that could satisfy. Emptiness, or at best, muddy and murky water. Only when the vultures had begun circling, when there was nothing left, did the heavenly oasis appear, replete with cool, restoring living water. Funny thing is, it was always right there next to me, hidden by my own mirage of selfishness and doubt.