Now that we're a month deep into 2017 and we've almost gotten used to writing "2017" instead of "2016" in our notebooks and papers, I want to share a few words of encouragement with you.
2016. Fucking. Sucked.
That's not up for discussion, it's a fact. It's not just the amount of deaths, catastrophes, and injustices that happened. Overall, the year just seemed bleaker than the one it followed. I mean, it wasn't all bad. Some good came out of the year, like Hamilton winning eleven Tonys, right? Right...
It was a hard year for everyone. Some of us had to face some ugly truths about our friends and relatives, and emotions and faiths were tested. So, my advice for everyone in this new year is:
Be unapologetic.
I'm not asking you to be brave. I'm not telling you to be honest. I'm telling you to be unapologetic about whatever you do.
Being unapologetic means not caring what anyone thinks, and not giving importance to other people's opinions of you. Because, honestly? What your roommate thinks about you spending the entire day in pajamas doesn't matter.
There's no need to be sorry for being who you are.
I feel like people don't hear this enough. It's okay to not be okay. It's okay to feel like shit sometimes. It's okay to not want to get out of bed on important days. It's okay to not leave your room for the weekend. Don't apologize for being yourself, or be sorry for taking care of yourself like you need to.
It doesn't mean, "Be a dick." There are boundaries. There are things to abide by.
But everything would be so much easier if everyone decided they would be unapologetically themselves.
If you want to dye your hair purple, do it. Don't be sorry about it. Accept it wholeheartedly.
If you want to be homophobic, do it. Don't hide behind a "gay friend" or something. Accept it.
The idea behind living unapologetically came to me from the passing of Carrie Fisher. She was someone who survived being one of the most objectified women in Hollywood for forty years, along with addiction and bipolar disorder. And she didn't care about conventions. She had recognition and she used the platform she had to unapologetically advocate for survivors to be destigmatized. She was crass, loud and hilarious, and she was unapologetic about it. She knew who she was and she shared that with us.
And Carrie Fisher inspired me to be loud, proud and unapologetically me. It sounds corny and strange, but my resolution for 2017, and how I'm going to take the year in stride, is to be unapologetic in how I am the way I am.
That's not to say I'm just going to be a raging asshole and not be sorry about it. I'm just going to be myself, do what I think is right, and not apologize for it.
