Best of 2015 – [ Part 1 of my year in review ]

Because I’m kind of just waking up and blinking into the new year. Because I’ve had my head down, so intent on sowing seeds for 2016 that I hardly heard it enter the room. And because, like every writer, I don’t feel that my work gets enough credit…from its author. I want to take a look at 2015 with the knowledge that even greater is coming. So here we go: Best of 2015!

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1.My favorite post was: 24 Karats: 24 Knowledge Nuggets I’ve Acquired By My 24th Birthday.

I am officially 24 years gold today. The last time I cared this much about my birthday, I was holding two palms up to my dad, showing him that I was in the big leagues, the double digits! […] 23 was a year of stretching, preparation, and being pushed to the limits of BS and beyond. But I’m here, and I am happy. I feel a certain way going into 24 that I’ve never felt before. This. Is. My. Year.

2.  My most popular post was: Dear Creative Girl in the Corporate World.

Have a seat, girl. I have some news. Corporate World called. He knows about you and your Dream. He doesn’t think it’s going to work out. You used to be his everything. You were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. You were all bullet-points and expense reports. Then the Dream came along and swept you off your feet, and now you know what the color red feels like.

3. My most helpful post was: She Who Believes.

…Whether you believe in God, Ra, Buddha, the Universe, Allah, Baal, your plastic watering can, whatever– the fact of the matter, and the basis of the practice, is that you believe. […] I speak whatever I want over my life then I believe it with every cheesy, cliche, fairy-tale fiber of my being. […]Because the world’s wonders aren’t granted to she who wants. Miracles don’t gravitate toward she who waits. But the world and everything ever dreamed and imagined comes to she who believes.

4. A post whose success surprised me: Not a Suicide Note.

If I die young, remind my mother that I did things on my own time. Remind her that I was born two weeks late and learned to read two years early. Remind her that I got my license when I was 19 and my Bachelor’s when I was 21 and that nothing in the world could ever rush me or slow me down.

5. A post I feel didn’t get the attention it deserved: These Things Take Therapy.

So, if you’re reading this, I’ve already gone. I’ve scheduled this to post to publish at the very moment I’m supposed to walk out the door. More than likely though, I took a long shower then sat in my towel and stared at the wall afterwards. More than likely, I’m hopping on one foot, struggling with my sandal strap, keys in one hand, post office packages in the other. More than likely, I’m just a smidge behind schedule. But at any rate, I can’t back out now (the no-show fee is ridiculous!) Whether I’m late or not. Im well on my way.

6. My most beautiful post: I Don’t Know What to Call This.

It’s not even your birthday. I make that reference to Rihanna knowing you would cackle at its impropriety and revel in my ability to insert such crudeness into something as solemn as this, a letter to my dead aunt. You would have loved that. Crude was your thing. But, really, today is not your birthday. Nor is it the anniversary of your death. It’s not a special holiday. It’s just another Thursday spent missing you.

7. The post I was most scared to push publish on: This Will Upset You.

I can’t spell my life without his fingers in my story. For years this thought left me trembling, nails embedded in my palms. I was no more than the residual indignity of him beckoning to me, and me conceding like a child. I was a child.

8. The post I am most proud of was: all of them. I’m proud of every single time I had the audacity to acknowledge my truths and the persistence to pen them. Here’s to more of that in 2016!