an end of a decade
I decided that I wasn't going to write an “end of the year” blog post or anything because I didn't really have anything to say... And then I realized that it's not just a year but a decade that also ends, and I like completeness and wholeness and it's a friggin' decade that I get to put to bed. Endings are great.
Anyway, part of why I didn't want to write an “end of year” thing is because it also broaches the “new year” thing where we write goals and resolutions we fail to keep and blame ourselves for a terrible year that isn't going according to plan. And look, I've done a lot of resolutions and shaming myself for not carrying out on things and it's exhausting.
So instead, I'm gonna recap the decade and do a little stream of consciousness writing until I can jump back into novel writing. A big procrastination, this post is.
2010 – I was in the middle of junior year of high school. Few friends, and pretty emo. My favorite drummer had just died (The Rev of Avenged Sevenfold), so I spent a lot of the year thinking about death. Taught myself how to play piano. Kickstarted a relationship with a metal bassist who really loved molly and pot and nothing or no one else and I decided that I was sick of musical theater. Oh, and cut off all my hair much to my mother's chagrin.
2011 – More of the on-and-off again metal bassist, graduating high school, studying Korean, and really into k-pop and dramas. Wasn't even on speaking terms with my mother, someone almost drowned me in a (former) friend's pool, and college was off to a rocky start.
2012 – Honestly, combined with 2011, I am not quite sure how I made it out of this year in one piece. Got to see Seattle, at least and pierced my lip and cut off all my hair again, still to my mother's chagrin.
2013 – Got my first and second tattoos. Terminated a very toxic relationship and moved to Tokyo. There's a 35% chance I might have a drinking problem.
2014 – Honey and I continue our slow-burn of a friendship-to-romance. I eventually went broke and abandoned my plan to finish undergrad in Tokyo and returned to the US.
2015 – I graduate college. I have no job prospects and have begun antidepressants. I get another tattoo to tell myself to hold on. Got to see Paris, at least.
2016 – I finally get my first full-time job and cut off another toxic friend. Went to Harry Potter World. Met a Russian vampire. Realized it's possible to fall in love with architecture (Prague) and also myself.
2017 – I cut all my hair off, took a trip to Hawaii, learned how to drive, and we got a car. Saw Avenged Sevenfold, The Used, and HIM. Also submitted my very first resignation letter.
2018 – Changed careers, went to Tokyo, and learned that it's possible to enjoy your work. Went ziplining, indoor skydiving, to Helsinki and Tallinn. Launched my very first website. Met my beautiful step-dog child.
2019 – Dove back into music lessons (flute and viola), played in a chamber ensemble, made friends not from school or work, nosebled all over Portland, got an amazing beautiful tattoo of the goddess Hela and another of a snapdragon, learned how to throw axes and skateboard. Then, then then then Stockholm, Copenhagen, Helsinki, and Amsterdam.