It’s the Year of the Dragon again! The last one does not feel 12 years ago to me. It feels like it literally just happened. To celebrate in 2012, I made a version of congee (too dry) and bubble tea and had a handful of friends to my empty New York apartment (zero decor, was on a budge in a major way). In 2024, I still feel like I am in that same place, even though… I am not. Because like Mariah Carey, I struggle to acknowledge the passage of time, it might be better to just list the things I've learned since the last Year of the Dragon:
Not all beans cause gas that keeps you up all night, feeling like your butthole could keep a small fire going for 3-5 hours and wondering how anyone could ever love you. Just some beans do.
Self-awareness is a blessing and a curse. Nothing hurts more than seeing the qualities that other people hate about you, but also, nothing is better than accepting and moving on.
Licorice ain’t ever going to taste good and that’s that!
People-pleasing is necessary to be successful in the type of career you have chosen, but outside of the office, people-pleasing will kill your soul.
On that same note, loving your family and trying to make them happy are two completely different things and do not have to go hand in hand.
There’s no such thing as a bikini waxer who will make you feel good about yourself, so stop going in there thinking this time will be different. It won’t!
There will be men in your life who try their best to make you feel small, less, ugly, dumb. Unfortunately, it will take your dad’s death to make you not care anymore.
Last time it was the Year of the Dragon, you were surrounded by people who were 5-10 years older than you and they all complained about their youth being over, being annoyed by people your age and hating their 30s because life was over for them. You were right to not want to be like them and you are not, because as mentioned earlier, you do not believe in the passage of time and are still an infant.
You have to stop thinking of things in life as “deserve” and “do not deserve.” People who don’t deserve things still get them and people who do deserve things don’t. Stop using the word “deserve.” It serves no one and is a myth.
It’s okay (and even important) to be soft… but sometimes bridges have to be burned. Wait, am I Taylor Swift?
You will turn into your parents. Case in point: You love soap operas (Housewives), Costco and your crockpot.
Life isn’t a to-do list that will finally be done. For better or for worse, you will never be done making mistakes, learning or being shocked by things that others have been aware of for years. It doesn’t mean you’re an asshole or an idiot. It just means your eyes are not always all the way open and besides, no one can know everything there is to know!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!