Hello, 2017

 

It's here, finally. 2017. The year we've been waiting for since, oh, January 2016.

 

Or so it felt like. I thought about writing a 'farewell to 2016' post but ultimately I couldn't bear it. Not that I don't think it demands reflection and unpacking (emotionally, intellectually, artistically, etc)--it's just that I think understanding it will be a very long process.

 

And it's not that it was a horrible year, personally. It was challenging in many ways—professionally, mentally, physically, emotionally—but there were good things, too. I traveled, watched friends get married, spent time with loved ones and pushed myself in many ways.

 

But I want 2017 to be different. To be better, to be fully realized.

 

And given all the unknowns on the horizon it will have to be. It will be hard and it will be challenging and it might even be a little bit surreal. OK, probably very surreal. Sometimes it might feel as though 2016 never really went away—that the sentient raging dumpster fire of a calendar year that threatened to devour us all still rages beneath the surface of everything. And maybe that's a good thing (no, really), because I don't know about you but I need to keep a fire lit under my ass—not just in 2017, but for the next four years and probably (definitely) longer.

 

With that in mind I decided to break from my usual 'no resolutions' resolution and, well, write down some resolutions.

 

In 2017, I resolve to, in no particular order

 

1. Resist

2. Host more dinner parties

3. Finish my book

4. Go see more art, listen to more live shows and attend more readings

5. Smash the patriarchy

6. Practice self care (exercise, yoga, sleeping in)

7. Travel cross-country via Amtrak

8. Buy the good lipstick

9. Give fewer fucks (Goal: Zero)

10. Be kind