Feel Good Story Of The Year

I thought I’d have this done sooner, but life, then illness and moving, slowed me down. So! Here’s a little recap of 2023 through some superlatives, as I think about being worse in 2024. You read that correctly. At the end of last year, I read a meme that said, “I’m gonna be worse.” I read it as leaning into yourself, embracing your idiosyncrasies. Where I want to be.

I Will Endure Paperwork To Travel

I hate paperwork. I get anxiety any time I think about filing my taxes, which happens to be daily as TurboTax harasses my email account. Getting my passport updated was a comedy of errors as I got ready to visit friends in Estonia. I could not find a CVS nearby that had a working photo printer, I’d go to a Post Office and their internet would be down…finally, I had my updated passport in hand so I could leave the country for the first time. I faced the anxiety of traveling alone (with a connecting flight in Amsterdam!) head on. Or at least, I decided to just do it. I’m so glad my friends opened their place to me so I could explore such a unique place. Estonia has seen so much change, yet preserved its history.

Best Worst Race Description

Eagleton Trail Challenge was described as “runnable.” No. I would still recommend the race for the beauty of the terrain changes and fun aide stations. At almost 6,000 feet of vert, almost two miles crisscrossing mossy rocks over a stream, a final climb at mile 29 so steep that a rope was along the trail to assist your climb, I spent around half the race walking. Another Faster Bastard and I happened to be signed up for our first 50ks, so we spent the almost 9 hours together. I could not have done it without her.

Most Colorful Day: Flower Mart

Sure, the spring equinox is in March, but have you ever gone to the Flower Mart in Mount Vernon? Usually the first weekend in May, the sun emerges from gray April wind and rain. I had a lemon squeeze with a good friend and her family, we bought herbs for our gardens—a pastoral kind of day in the middle of Baltimore.

Favorite Song To Repeat Over And Over

According to Spotify, I listened to “Worms” by Ashnikko 218 times. That doesn’t include the countless hours I was on trails, headphone-less, chanting in my head play my life like a video game / I don’t mind I’m driving through flames. Find me a better song for trotting along that sees the humor in futility! Check out all of Ashnikko’s music for her humor, spite, but also, vulnerability. Her creative persona is not afraid to feel deeply.

Most Out-Of-Body While Performing Experience

In September, I read as part of a fundraiser for The Lights Went Out Because There Was a Problem. I read a selection of older work. My soul left my body as I read. The words did turn blue in my mouth—they didn’t feel like me. Writing this four months later, I have been exploring new ways to conceptualize older work. I still love the poems, but I am not the same artist. How good to grow!

Realization Of The Year

My health wasn’t the focus for others. I was able to be there for people I love who had their own health-scare moments. As I continue to sit in a liminal space between healthy and sick (I can run ultramarathons! I catch viruses at the drop of a hat! Why won’t my thyroid relax?!), I felt relief to not be the focus.

Favorite Decision Of The Year

Buying a house outside of Gettysburg with my love!! Some things I want to hold close to the chest. I am grateful for our life.

Books I’m thinking about / recently read:

• Places I’ve Taken My Body: Essays by Molly McCully Brown
• Nice Nose by Buck Downs
• Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl by Carrie Brownstein

Stay sweaty and glittery. Black Lives Matter.