Happy New Year, divas! No one was waiting for the end of 2022 like me.
Bro this year has been amazing and it has been the toughest at the same time. But how do you remember your year? Do you remember it by how many times you performed? The times you met up with your best friend? How many times you traveled? Probably none of those.
Human beings usually remember their year by thinking about the bad experiences over positive ones. I’m so deadass - this quote from a Columbia University study finna back me up, “... research shows that humans often remember negative or traumatic experiences over positive ones. This persistent recall of negative memories might be an evolutionary defense mechanism, but it can also lead to psychological impediments, like depression or anxiety.” Ain’t that some shit. That must be why so much of the comedy community is a bunch of anxiety driven baddies, no shade. But it’s always a good time to change things up, specifically the way that one remembers their experiences.
Even though I just explained how I feel with scientific evidence, I can still try and look beyond those negative moments to peep what 2022 taught me. Here are some things I had to learn, not exactly good or bad, just new lessons that will help me throughout this life thing:
Very much don’t let the internet dictate your real life vibes, energy, or relationships. As an artist, so much of my work must be shown online because that is simply where we are today as a society. But taking off notifications and overall limiting your time on social media is really the key to keeping my sanity, maybe it’ll work for you too.
I lost friendships and that was a lesson on keeping true to your own intuition and values. Biggest lesson here was that communication is key and if someone else doesn’t want to engage, then that friendship won’t be watered with real love.
Listen to your body. A moment of stillness and breathing or moving your body around will allow you to check in with your vessel. Sometimes we don’t want to hear what the body is saying because we are avoidant of what it's trying to communicate (aka stop vaping). These moments of checking in with your body will allow you to gain clarity, on life, relationships, and yourself.
Remind yourself to have fun. Bro, life is dummy short and streets is saying we only have one life. I like to ask myself “What Would Baby Michelladonna Do?” and honestly that makes things simpler. They would wanna spend time with friends, they would want to make silly goofy art that feels good, most importantly they would want to have fun.
There are 31536000 seconds in 2023. We do a lot in a year and the most important part is to appreciate the seconds that bring you the most joy. Even if it’s just 1 second, try to cherish it while you are in the present. Take time to smell the roses as you go, this is much harder said then done (my anxiety baddies know what's up). Something that I did in 2022 was write down when something exciting or cool happened and put it in a jar to be opened at the end of the year. This way I can affirm myself that I actually did positive things and wasn’t only in survival mode.
2023, I’m rooting for you mama.