We're about nine months deep into 2019.

 

What have I learned this year, so far?

 

Here are a few things:

 

1. Even on your "worst day," your spirit is still shining bright beneath all the yuck and muck and sludge. 

 

2. This Beyoncé music video can shift your mood, clear your acne, water your crops, sort your recycling, improve your posture, align your chakras, file your taxes, jumpstart your dead car battery, and change your whole day.

 

3. When sad feelings arise in your heart, clench tightly, and won't let go, try this: Download a drawing app like this one. Doodle ridiculous pictures of yourself and your friends. Text these to your friends. Say, "Hey. Look. It's you." They will laugh. You will smile. Mama hotdog. It's gonna be okay. (Here's a doodle I made of myself. And here's a friend. And here's another silly drawing. More. Bahaha.)

 

4. Pouring dark, vengeful thoughts into fiction writing = very fun. Put all the things you would never actually say or do into an imaginary story. Cathartic.

 

5. Eliminating tech devices from the bedroom + refraining from alcohol + doing a calming meditation before bedtime = much better sleep. (Wow. Gasp. Shock. Who would have guessed?! Ha.)

 

6. Nathan Fielder is so, so, so funny.

 

7. Very kind, decent, wonderful people make mistakes. Small ones. Big ones. Being a “good person” doesn’t mean you are perfect. It means you recognize when you’ve messed up, you feel remorse, and you pledge to do better.

 

8. Every love story ultimately ends in some type of loss. Worst case scenario: they betray your trust, have a secret affair, contract an incurable sexually transmitted disease, infect you, and your marriage crumbles apart in a fiery blaze of agony. Best case scenario: you spend many happy decades together and then eventually you watch your sweetheart wither and die. Either way, loss. Either way, grief. Either way, some flavor of heartbreak. Every romantic relationship has an expiration date. It’s not "will it end?" but "how?" and "when?" Just like they say in the musical Hadestown: "It's a sad song. But we sing it anyway." Why do we keep singing? Why do we keep loving and loving, knowing that pain is inevitable? Because, despite everything, I guess, I think...it's still worth it. (At least, that's what my mom tells me. And she's very wise.)

9. Many popular chocolate/candy companies use cocoa beans picked by "forced laborers," aka slaves, and many of these workers are children who are trafficked into this industry. While candy companies acknowledge that, yes, this is a big problem, little is being done to stop this. Fortunately, this website has a helpful list of chocolate companies that are ethical and humane.

 

10. You're probably dehydrated. Drink some water. No, not iced coffee. Water.
 

11. 99% of emails don't matter that much.

 

12. Everyone is mostly just guessing. 

 

13. Nobody is judging you as harshly as you judge yourself.

 

14. Our culture loves instant fixes and quick results, but some things are just...not quick.

 

15. Breathe. There is no rush. 

 

What have you learned this year?

 

-Alex

 

PS. I am obsessed with this entire album. Omg-so-good-whoa. 

 

PPS. Eat a vegetable, please. 

 

PPPS. Throw it back!

 

PPPPS. Guesssss what's coming in January?