2021 is Going to be My Year!

My Latin teacher taught me the phrase "Carpe Diem!," which means to seize the day. This expression has led and guided me through some ups and downs as I navigated my 20s and 30s and is especially relevant now in the time of this epidemic.

With only 15-some more days left in 2020, I think about and ponder what 2021 is going to bring as I reflect on this past year. In January 2020, as I embarked on my freshly-drafted New Year's Resolutions, I never could have even imagined that an epidemic would ravage this land and be the new nemesis. And experts say that this epidemic will continue until the end of next year, which conjures up all kinds of worst-case scenarios and unhappy "what-if's" in my head. But the truth is, I have also seen the silver lining and have had some revelatory epiphanies and joyful self-discoveries along the way this past year and am excited for the new year ahead.

As usual, my New Year's Resolution consists of a lot of aspirations and wistful-hopefuls such as reading the plethora of books on my reading list, travelling to all the exotic locations I always wanted to venture to (solo or avec a companion-anyone want to come with?), or even traipse around the U.S. with a friend on a prolonged road trip, taking advantage of all the alluring Air BNB places for cabins and houses along the way. But I would also like to explore all the aspects of my Life that I have put on the back burner, thinking "I will get to it someday."

Here goes:

1) To be a kinder person

Somewhere along the way, I have let all the "should's" eclipse who I really am deep down - an introspective Korean-American/Asian-American woman who once had aspirations for changing the world and making the world a better place. I have let the vicious news cycle and the grim state of things around the world and bad dates invite a kind of cynicism that I would often justify as "me getting older and wiser." But I hope I never lose the kid in me because that is the part of me I have discovered I love the most!

2) To not let go of my freedom and dignity that my predecessors have fought so hard to attain

Just think about the suffrage movement or the centuries-old fight for reproductive justice and equality that my feminist predecessors have fought so hard to obtain - some have even sacrificed their lives for it. I hope I don't take these rights for granted and can actually exercise these rights in my own Life and encourage others to do the same so that we can combat the racist, classicist and gender-based structural injustices that are endemic to the U.S.

3) To be more neighborly

It's easy to just be engrossed in our own lives, our heads buried in our technological devices or i-phones or smartphones. But I hope that I can be engaged in forming relationships and noticing the environs and people around me so that I don't pass over a felt-need or a glaring issue or gap that is NOT flashing across my technological device of the moment.

4) To love myself more

Audre Lorde said that "self-care is a form of social justice." I hope to nurture this adage more by nourishing the soil of my Life and caring for it and loving and growing a healthier soil.

5) To envision a better future

I believe that the next 10 years will bring technological advances that will usher in progress and milestones in all sectors of our society. AI advancement, new medical technology, robots, transportation devices and equipment will surely make the world a better place and into a habitat unrecognizable by even our forefathers. But I hope that we will pause to consider the implications of these advances on our world, health, climate change, development, infrastructure, the divide between haves and have-nots and on gender equality and thoughtfully debate about the positive and negative effects of these milestones so that there is greater transparency, accountability, health and social good in the end (think about the origination of internet 20 years ago and the proliferation of social media).

None of this is rocket science and perhaps even a bit cliché-ish, but I write this in the hopes of having a brighter, more revolutionary and fulfilling 2021 and so that I can live with myself at the end of the day =) If you liked what you read, please feel free to leave a tip so I can continue writing and ruminating!