Failing My 2021 Goal: On Becoming Soft
Unbeknownst to most of you, each year (read: the last two) instead of setting New Year's goals, I choose a yearly theme; something to guide me, to remind me of the ways I want to grow. In 2020, my theme was “Be intentional.” And despite many unintentional things about that year, I actually kept pretty well on theme. I took a few writing classes, allowing me to intentionally carve out space for creative writing even with the demands of grad school. It helped me remember who I am and want to be, showed me I can always have writing as a part of my life, and gave me a group of lovely new friends (hi ladies!). And after many months of debating, I finally made the decision to switch doctoral advisors, a terrifying but deliberate choice, setting my feet on a new path that I have been grateful for ever since. But in the last few months of 2020, I noticed that, though my life was better, I was still carrying the hard shell I developed to survive those first three years of grad school (and