2019 is over, and lo and behold, 2020 is upon us. I am not going to lie; it was a weird one for me. It was not a great year, and you won’t find those ridiculously long stories documenting every-goddamn-day of a FANTASTIC year on my Instagram (ahem, @gustavhagild). It wasn’t an annus horribilis either. I got a BA, started my MSc here at LSE, and escaped one horrible flatmate. I got a new tiny flat, which I only locked myself out of twice, and a big pepper mill for Christmas. I broke up with my boyfriend who I thought was the one, cut down smoking in July, only to increase it again in September. My dog died, RIP. Some will say I flew too much, I don’t think I flew enough. A secret admirer sent me flowers and champagne. I found out the secret admirer was a friend, who might like being turned down?! I cooked a whole chicken all by myself. The articles I wrote got a lot of reads. I began liking my aunt, and discovered a weird smell in my apartment that I still haven’t found the source of. Not correlated.
All in all, a mixed, regular year. Good grades, not amazing grades, and fun times, as well as sad times. My skin has been good and bad. But this year, I am not making unrealistic resolutions for 2020. I am not running more than I already I do. I am not quitting smoking and I am not planning on working any less. Some goals will be a given – as I am sure they will for you – like finding a job after graduating, or perhaps moving flat (seriously, what is that smell?). But let 2020 be the year where you cut yourself some slack. Stop the self-flagellation, and give yourself a chance to rest a bit, or go for a walk or don’t. So what you still haven’t picked up tennis, or learnt to play the guitar? If you really wanted to, you probably would have done it already. Something else was more important: like your studies, your friends, Netflix, whatever – and I say, put your energy there. Instead of looking for change, perhaps allow yourself to continue what you are doing, but focusing on doing that well. Rest in your routine. Then maybe, along the way, you will realise you have done more than you set out to do.
With the New Year comes a new term, new courses, exams, deadlines and so on. But with it also comes a new year of falling in love, dancing (maybe in Paris? Please, someone take me to Paris), studying, eating pasta over the sink, laughing, and going for a pre-library-on-a-Sunday walk. Instead of further burdening yourself with silly, and quite frankly, pretentious New Year’s resolutions – that we both know you won’t keep – I think you should take this time to reflect briefly on whether you are happy or not, then forget that nonsense, and do as you like. But do it well, and enjoy it. Happy New Year!
