Goodbye, 22. I can't say I'm sad to see you go. Because I'm not. I've actually been waiting in anticipation for you to be over for some time now. I'm sorry. Yeah, I said it. You were a year of seconds. My second love. My second heartbreak. Neither anything like the firsts of last year. Easy and beautiful love compared to toxic and infatuated love. A one time shattering compared to a constant, painful cracking. You were a year of adventures. (I hope these are what I remember most down the line.) Many adventures. Three different far away places. One, brand new. Terrifying. Exciting. One, a revisit to a familiar place, though new in its own way. Amazing. Life-changing. One...well, it sparked the best and worst things to happen this year. How do you describe that? You brought many more people in than you took away. (Sometimes I'm unsure whether I am grateful for that or not.) I am definitely not who I was a year ago today. I hope to not be who I am today one year from now. I wonder who I will be. I wonder if the same things I want for myself at this moment are what I will want then. I wonder if I will remember feeling the way I do at this moment. I wonder what beliefs I will have. I wonder what my ideal of this or that will be. I wonder what life will throw my way. I wonder how much will change. When writing the version of this last year, I was hopeful. I had an open heart and an innocence of being able to believe the best in everything without reserve. I no longer possess that quality, at least not without the reservations. This year, I am determined. I will become the person I want to be. I will stop apologizing for everything. I will learn to love myself again. Hello, 23.
















