Rachel's Blog

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@lalaforte @rootgirl @eringgreen @wakemaggieup @laurennichole0053 @inflationary @jwiklund @blackseablogging @etwritehome @abfark @bananabellina 

This is navel gazing but it’s also my blog, so I don’t care. 

2016 taught me that when people show you who they are, you have to believe them. I learned that people I love very much are blatantly racist and deeply misogynist, and in 2017 I will act towards them accordingly. 

2016 reminded me nearly every day that neither grief nor joy are zero-sum games, and that I deeply loathe how publicly performative each can be. 

I recognized for the first time how true some broad generalizations are, and started to watch how people my age are bowing to those stereotypes, growing into them without questioning what they mean. We can all be better, but I think 2016 showed that many don’t want to be. 

Code-switching applies to class, too. 

All of that being said, my personal score sheet for 2016 reads well enough: promotion, check; half marathon, check; grad school “success”, check; new hobbies, check; travel, check; strong friendships, check; a long-term relationship with a true partner, check. 

I turn 27 today, and I spent the morning with my family and I had ice cream cake for breakfast and I played with my cat who is fourteen and who I really, really hope is immortal. 

I spent the afternoon driving to the Minneapolis airport with my sister; we were both home for our cousin’s wedding last night, and she needed to catch her flight to Dallas and I mine back to DC.