I found myself exhausted for a good part of 2020, yes it was the damn pandemic. But it was also a result of my belief that to succeed, overextending myself was necessary. I wanted to fit everything in the crook of my arm and as the year passed, so much fell to the wayside.
Yesterday morning, I found the notebook where I wrote what I wanted my 2020 to look like. I listed publications I wanted my work to appear in, places I wanted to travel to, and goals I wanted to achieve. I did a little more than 50% of those things, and the others simply fell away, for various reasons.
As I write this, I don’t have any resolutions...yet. But what I do have is the advice I’ve given myself and I’m extending it to all of you via this newsletter: travel light, and take only what you need into this new year. I’m letting go of the belief that doing more is always better, that accumulating accolades, money, things (professionally) etc, is the only signifier of success.
I’m doing a little less this year, but I’m expecting a lot more in return.
Happy New Year!
other women (w)rote.
Have you ever used those apps like Klarna and Affirm that allow you to pay off big (or even relatively small) expenses in chunks? Amanda Mull writes about them for The Atlantic. “While many of the services offer loans for four- or five-figure purchases, with interest rates similar to those of credit cards, their bread and butter is the mundane commerce of everyday life for the young—people buying a last-minute suit for a job interview or stocking up during a sale at Sephora before their next paycheck clears.”
For The Wall Street Journal, Janet Adamy wrote about how one church in suburban Michigan tried to navigate their political divides and a fraught 2020 Presidential election. “We need to become the kinds of people who talk about this in ways that look like Jesus,” Rev. Gulker said.
For ProPublica, Lizzie Presser wrote about JeMarcus Crews, a father, husband and son who was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes in the ninth grade and spent almost a decade on dialysis and just as much time trying to get a kidney transplant. “The doctors scared JaMarcus when they talked about his prognosis. One Saturday night, while watching “The Golden Girls,” JaMarcus told Jamuel that he worried he might not survive until prom. He began injecting himself with insulin. He started swapping in celery and apples for junk food, salads slathered in ranch for lunch, flavored water for soda. In the afternoons, he walked the slow roads by Hospital Drive for hours. He lost more than 100 pounds but couldn’t shake his diagnosis.”
For Maisonneuve, Fatima Syed writes about 2020, the year that was. “If 2020 was the world at its lowest point in recent memory, perhaps every day, month, year that follows will see us trying very hard to not repeat it. It may be wishful thinking, but maybe we’ve learned to look beyond the noise—beyond the endless stream of headlines and distractions—to what matters.”
(w)rite back.
What are you taking with you into 2021? I really want to know. Write back via email or leave a comment below.
This is simple but so poignant. Like you, I also didn’t make any resolutions, was too tired from the ways I tried to “make the most” of the pandemic. Now I’m committed to taking as much guilt-less breaks as possible and finding other ways to define myself beyond word counts and deadlines. Happy Nee Year! ❤️