a letter to all for new year’s! (12/31/20)
dear all going into 2021: this year went about as well as my cousin’s birthday party, which is to say, most things were on fire, and we all collectively got steamrolled by a very large truck.
dear 2020: wow. not to juice the joke, but i think it goes without saying that none of us expected how much of a dumpster fire this year could be. i could list everything that happened here, but we’re all tired of it. so i’ll go into the real contents of this letter.
dear you: you made it. whether you were “”productive”” or not, i don’t care. despite everything, you survived. and that’s a feat in itself. it’d be a lie to say i think everything will change when we go into 2021, but—let’s cut ourselves some slack, yeah? you made it past this year. i am so, so proud of you.
this year, i made new friends, i joined new places, i did x and y and got my heart broken by x and y and learned how to x and y and x and y. i learned to keep friendships that were an equal amount of give and take, and distance myself from ones that were more take than give. i learned to not let myself be a doormat, and that i really like cheese covered tater tots.
but i learned something else.
this year, for 2021: learn how to forgive yourself. please. forgive yourself for not doing the thing you said you would over quarantine. forgive yourself for not keeping in touch with friends as much. forgive yourself for not finishing nanowrimo, or winning that contest, or getting published by that place. forgive yourself for not walking the moon and being as extraordinary as you said you would. and forgive others, maybe, when it’s deserved.
forgive. despite all else, i think we deserve this.
it’s the new year’s soon. so with that: i wish us all luck. and a little bit of forgiveness.
hopefully, your love,
sunny v.