2017

This post originally appeared in January 2017 on envirofemme.tumblr.com

2017 is for movement. 2017 is for empowerment. 2017 is for naming our existences in our bodies. 2017 is for shedding the rough edges last year burdened us with and easing back into our comfort zones, our side hustles that bring us joy, our passions that have us feeling bathed in life-giving energies.

On New Year's Eve I wrote a series of goals for this New Year, and just under spend more time nurturing this blog I wrote:

moisturize everything to soften all wounds.

+ I mean that in every manifestation for 2017. My intention with this goal is to be soft with myself this year, to let myself heal from the raw 2016 brought out. To be gentle and affirming with my friends, my communities, the people I organize with. There is enough harshness coming at us from all sides right now that my body and soul just need to step back and soak in some goodness. I want to feed myself and others the nourishing love and care we need to get through.

This is not to say there is not a time and place for toughness. Nor is it shame to those who are hard on all sides for good reason and need to/want to stay that way. That's all fine and dandy too because in my mind it's not a mutually exclusive dichotomy. We can be our bad bitch selves cussing out fools who try to holler on the sidewalk like I just did the other day, and still come home to our caves of dollar store fairy lights and Christmas-gifted lotion and moments of quiet and stillness with ourselves.

I want to give this coming year my all, to give this blog more than I have been, and in order to do so I just need my corner of the world to be gentler with me for now--holding me and my work and my passions like petals, nurturing what I hold near and dear. I'm not listening to people complaining about ~millennial fragility~ and I'm really here for admitting that the world is cruel to our dreams and that going after what you believe in is actually really, really hard. So ask for what you need to help sustain you.

And what I need to do is moisturize to soften all wounds. I need to recuperate--after six months of tumultuous housing, losing friendships, exiting (another) harmful relationship, getting unexpectedly dumped, I've just graduated from college, moved across the country to be with my chosen family, and am actively trying to become gainfully employed. So I will be doing a lot for just me in the next year. My skin is going to be glowing in 2017. My anxiety and depression are going to be held with compassion and care for my well-being and my limits. My soul is going to be comforted with the good, the soft, the powerful, and the liberatory happenings of the world. And with my heart tucked, I'm going to keep on pursuing my ambitions and hopes for the future.