There are many things I learned in 2020, but this has to be the most hard-hitting: I should take it easy on myself.

The closing of last year’s hell hole (well, not yet really) made me realize that dreaming of something better might not be bad after all. A little optimism here and there (shoutout to books and movies that kept me sane) could actually get me going. However, it’s equally good to not expect either.

On my radar, peers are cramming to fill up their journals, manifesting good fortune on Twitter, and promising to “start the year right.” While I know these work for others, here’s what I’d like to say to folks like me who are still reeling from a tiring past: It’s okay not to claim this year as our year.

Whatever changes we need to make in our lives, we don’t necessarily have to do it like some airtight task or keeping up with a deadline.

All the talk about 2020 as draining AF had us put in memory all periods of constant fluctuating emotions, the unsettling experiences and chances blown off by real-life pressures (whether from the lockdown or the daily news). These things surely left an impressionable mark on us, but there’s always a way to deal with things without having to constantly worry about missing the chance to do what others might have already been busy with. So relax *deep breaths* because TBH, it’s just another year.

Whatever changes we need to make in our lives, we don’t necessarily have to do it like some airtight task or keeping up with a deadline. It seems already out there, but if you need to hear it again: life shouldn’t be a competition.

On a more personal note, I’d like to stay in the comfort that this year is like any other year: open to smooth and coarse tracks along the way. That every stride I do is not always in the right direction but there’s value in trying and not expecting regardless of what other people expect of me. At the end of the day, I am more than the goals I completed.

Sometimes, I think there’s strength in cluelessness (regarding life) and something fragile about having straight-out-of-the-jukebox plans about everything. This goes without saying that every option we take has its flaws. Rather than think in opposites, we might take the time to observe what’s in between, and how these nuances keep us going until now. So if claiming ownership of this year will only make everything tougher, it’s okay to let it be.

Why 2021 is the perfect year to go back to Tumblr