Selah // Something Witty

All bitter and clean, I'm gonna make it through this year...

Date: 12.30.17 -- Day 71
Music: "This Year" / The Mountain Goats

2017 has gone both inexplicably fast and exceeding slow. I have never been more thrilled for a year to be over.

I had these exact sentiments in 2016, not knowing that 2017 was going to give it a run for its money. There has been a lot of pain, a lot of fear and bewilderment. There are many scars and a boatload of grief. It's hard not to dwell in those things. This winter has seemed harsher than before. And while technically tomorrow is a new beginning, it doesn't seem like anything will change. Tomorrow is Monday. Tomorrow is 2018. Tomorrow is...tomorrow.

The one thing I can take away from this year is that I know how to survive even in the bleakest of hours. In my 30th year, I think that's what I'm grounding myself in. Maybe that survival has been by the skin of my teeth. Maybe it has made me a harder, colder person than I was before. But I survived. It wasn't always pretty, but I put one foot in front of the other. Lord willing, and the creeks don't rise, I'll do that again come the morning. If I'm to take away anything from this year, it's that.

2018 is not a year of high expectations. If anything, the path for the coming year looks steeper than before. I've set the bar of passing on the ground. All 2018 needs to do is tiptoe over that bar to make it "successful". I'm laughing right now because it really is such a low margin for success. It's funny how much I'm not even asking for it to be a year of thriving or peace. Just a little smidgen of a bit better than before. Just a little.

Tonight's grand festivities include bagels for dinner, whisky for midnight, and taking out the recycling before I go to bed. So here's to everyone who has made it through another year. May your night go smoothly, and if partying is involved, hopefully it goes safely as well. Look out for one another if you can. May your Monday not be too cold, and whatever your hopes are for the new year, may they come true - soft and sweet.

Happy New Year.