A New Year's Evening

January 1, 2019

Saana

On the first evening of 2019, I am in what is by all accounts a creator’s live-in studio, high up in Crystal City. There are three boisterous personalities in this 500 square feet, but right now the only sounds are the humming of the refrigerator five feet to my left, the heater emitting the odd gurgle ten feet ahead of me, lulling the two sleeping furry monsters into a deeper snooze. And this keyboard. I like the clickity-clack of the keys in a silent space. I am going to very quickly type this sentence just to work up to the crescendo, that glittery moment when I can hit the exclamation point and hit RETURN to start a new paragraph with gusto!

Ah, that was fun. :)

Now is a good time, amidst all the trappings of comfort and silence, to take stock of where I am, who I am, and what would make 2019 fun. The last year sped by, really, it was the Usain Bolt of years.

I want to be more present for this new trip around the sun.

I want to continue to prioritize my mental health above all else. I want to get back to yoga being a regular part of my day. I want to write with far more regularity than I have been (the last blog here was from March! Dang.) I want to take the first six months especially to make my mark with my new position. I want to weave complicated policy and social ideas folks mayn’t have connected together in my own voice and submit for publication. I want to get my designs into fashion boutiques and magazines. I want to see my friends more. I want to become a more informed and picky consumer of both market goods and the network news. I want to take more weekends away. Oh, I really need to get my driver’s license.

What will never change, no matter what year it is, is the way I love. I love fiercely and hard and forever and zealously. It doesn’t matter if I am talking about a person or an idea or an animal (on second thought, it would be strongest for animals). What I most want to do is to gift this same level of love to myself. Because if I can do that, the above para of admirable goals has a fighting chance at materializing.

Keep going, 2019. You’re doing great so far.