Year of Blogs

Chances are if you've spent time with me (or my twitter) around the 1st of the new year, you know I absolutely loathe seeing all of the "It's page 1 of 365" tweets that seem to surface this time of year. It's not that I'm against people setting new year's resolutions. I genuinely try to be an optimistic person (even if it doesn't always end up that way...) and I like to believe that any time a person is trying to better themselves it is a good thing. Which is why, for the first time in as long as I can remember, I decided to set one: I am going to write one blog every day for the next year.

When I was in high school, I used to read for fun. A lot. Friends-telling-me-I-couldn't-read-a-500-page-book-in-a-single-night-so-I-did-it-just-to-prove-them-wrong a lot. I love to read. But, alas, once college started the novels I read for fun became few and far between.

Few.

And.

Far. Between.

One year between, to be exact. For the last four years, as soon as I am done with my fall semester finals I find a book to read for fun. This year, it was Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun, and Be Your Own Person by my Queen Shonda Rhimes.

(if you thought I was going to get through a blog centered around Shonda Rhimes without including a dance it out gif you are sadly mistaken)

In the novel, she documents 2014: a year during which Rhimes, who, to be called an introvert would be an extreme understatement, committed to saying "yes." And, while I'm not being asked to deliver a commencement speech at Dartmouth or go on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Rhimes' determination--in addition to her wit and sass--inspired me. So, I made the decision to commit to something the same way she did.

One part of Year of Yes that really stuck out to me was when Rhimes wrote, "This Yes is about giving yourself the permission to shift the focus of what is a priority from what's good for you over what makes you feel good. (Wait. Not heroin. Heroin is not your happy place. Just cross all drugs off the list. Are we clear? Okay. Find a good happy place. A positive one.)"

Just as I used to read for fun, I used to write for fun, too. And while, as nerdy as it sounds, I generally have fun writing papers and stories for school or blogs for my internship, it's not quite the same as writing about things you love. Writing is my good place. My happy place.

I believe I am a better person when I am writing. It gives me an outlet to explore my thoughts in a way that almost nothing else can. I can not promise that every blog will be interesting. I can not promise that every blog will be funny or well-written (college is hard and sometimes it takes every ounce of my effort). But I am going to write. Or at least try.

I'll write about shows I like and songs I like. I'll write about really, really stupid people and I'll write about really, really smart people. I'll write all sorts of things that you might sometimes like and I'll probably write some things that you hate. Welcome to the year of blogs.

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