be kind to yourself, like really. interrogate the insatiable need for praise. push deeper than the palatable. ask plainly for what you want, recognizing that “what you want” must itself take great effort to unearth, that it is not an endless vapor stream of validation and acclaim, but that there must be a definition, clarity and heft to it that only you can design for it to be not only genuine but truly possible to hold. trust in your creativity, pour into it, let it seep past the bounds of tidy narratives, let it scare you so that it may delight you - reveal you to you - in ways you could never imagine. today I uplift the ways I made myself uncomfortable in 2022, the examination that went beyond despondency and inadequacy, growth not motivated by a lack or an escape from self but by care, possibility and belief that all is within. today I honor the help I called in, what I risked, what I relinquished, naming my instinct for self-criticism, the times I was still and “lazy” in order to make space for repair. how much further I must go to truly understand my power. tomorrow is an artificial marker of newness in many ways, and also I hope it finds you proud of yourself in how you managed and hopeful about what’s to come. no matter who you are you have the ability to create something new, however small, for yourself, your loved ones, the world. creativity begets change and scale matters far less than depth. offer yourself sweetness and the space to push forward, inward, beyond. you deserve it.