I don't think I have ever been so happy to see one year end and another begin. 2016 wasn't particularly horrible, don't get me wrong. In fact, your sister was probably one of my better years. She was sly and clever and brought about many happy changes and surprises that I look forward to developing throughout this next year, but I have never felt more ready to move forward than I do right now. You hold so many unknowns, 2017; so many
what ifs, and scary-crazy-wonderful possibilities. Most of the time, I crumble and break whenever a change occurs, but these new beginnings are happy/the good kind of sad, and for the first time in my life, I am ready to embrace them.
Embrace. That is the word I plan to shape my life around this year. For so long, I have skirted the corners of who I am, what I love, and what I want to do that I find myself a poorly crafted shadow of what I could really be. My personality has become a quieter, more childish copy of what it usually is — so much so that both myself and the people I surround myself with are surprised whenever my loud, brutally honest, cynically optimistic, sarcastic, old-soul-young-heart self shines through. This year, I want to embrace that side because, honestly, what is the use in hiding? Everything suffers when I do — my relationships, my life, my sanity, my writing. I also plan to be kinder to myself this year. So often, I put myself down without ever really giving myself a chance to do the things I am more than capable of and end up missing out because of it. This year, I will embrace the opportunities. And, branching off of that, take better care of myself in general, mentally and physically.
From graduating college to moving out on my own, I have big plans for you 2017, all in an attempt to mold my life into what I would like it to be. I want to grow and live and love and embrace life like I have never done before, and though you are only a day old and quite possibly overwhelmed by these unexpected and large expectations, I do hope we can grow together. So here is to you, 2017. I look forward to riding life's unpredictable roller coaster with you. Together, let's embrace the new, the old, the wonderful, the beautiful, the scary, life, love, adulthood, and constant documentation through picture-taking, no matter how disgusting I feel I look that day. Let's embrace it all.
