2017 was my year of ownership: of joy, pain, and learning to learn all over again. It was a great year for personal growth. I dislike the idea that people must struggle in order to rise to a higher plane, because most suffering is unnecessary. But in a world were we like abbreviations and shortcuts; perhaps the definition cut short for “rise from adversity” is the “ability to do deep inner processing without sinking to the pit of self-aggrandizing despair.” If that is what it is, then maybe there’s some value in having to go through that, like a routine wash cycle.

I achieved so much of my strategic plan for this year. I did not complete it all, but I made so much headway. Later in the year, I taught myself to care less about external criticism that I imagined in my head. I am getting better at dismissing that mean, defeatist menace from being the majority of my feedback. They are one opinion, one choice, one option, out of a dozen versions of myself. I am consulting with the other versions of myself more. I need them on my team.

I enjoyed dystopian/(post) apocalyptic fiction a lot. It reminded me of the immense resources I have: community, imagination, and resilience. No matter what happens, I will make a way out of something, God willing. Thank you to Liu Cixin, Octavia Butler, and Tomino Yoshiyuki for their contributions to the world. Shout out to femme tech and science, and the black girl podcastsphere.

Here’s to three additional years of taking care of myself, putting out my best work, and letting myself be a human being.

Things I ______________ :

albums: björk – utopia, bomba estéro – amanecer; tyler, the creator – flowerboy; gorillaz – humanz; soma – somablu; jay-z – 4:44; kendrick lamar – how to pimp a butterfly; jazmine sullivan – reality show.

podcasts: black girl in om; cerebronas; still processing; femme too deep; how to survive the end of the world; locatora radia, never before with janet mock; olhares; poc; phdivas; the call; the read; the funambulist podcast; woodland secrets; we want the airwaves

animation: ping pong the animation; big o; haven’t you heard? i’m sakamoto; acca; space patrol luluco; acca 13 territory inspection department; one punch man; mononoke; serial experiments lain; gundam unicorn; steven universe;

fiction: three-body trilogy; a variety of self-help books that are too long to list; the boss series.

song: kendrick lamar – you ain’t gotta lie (momma said)