“Surreal, unsettling, confusing” — these are a few of the PG-rated words which pop into my mind when I reflect upon 2017.
I think we can all collectively agree that 2017 was one of the most bizarre trips around the sun to date. I know that I for one spent many mornings asking myself, “Did that really happen?”
From President Trump‘s kooky tweets (remember “covfefe?”) to the tragic mass shootings to the devastating wrath of several hurricanes to the raging wildfires in California to the #MeToo movement to Amazon.com invariably killing the retail and real estate game to the confounding crypto currency Bitcoin phenomenon… I could go on and on… 2017 WAS A LOT.
I think it’s safe to say that the year 2017 was an exercise in awfulness. Scrolling through any given Twitter feed could send anyone reeling into a wormhole of doom and gloom.
But I’m a glass-half-full-kinda-gal and always find the silver lining in the day’s horrible headlines. 2017 and her curveballs forced me to rely heavily on humor and making margaritas (because lemonade simply wouldn’t cut it) out of God’s lemons.
So here’s what I pray for 2018: Let’s get it together, people.
2017 was a hot mess. But she opened the conversation for a myriad of touchy topics such as sexual harassment in the workplace to the country’s message that the political status quo was not okay. Sure, we all hate a negative narrative, but the occurences of 2017 happened for a reason.
The biggest takeaway from 2017? Aside from being an empathetic citizen (rule Number One, in my book), try not to worry about yesterday or tomorrow. It’s futile. I know that I’m trying my best to be present — even if it feels bleak at times. It’s still a massive daily struggle between work deadlines, social media distractions, my low-grade OCD, raising kids, maintaining an orderly home and keeping the husband happy (because he’s needy AF).
But I’ll leave you with my favorite Bible verse which resonates now more than ever: “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Happy New Year, all.
Johanna Ortiz outfit c/o Neiman Marcus Bal Harbour Shops
