2017, Your Consciousness is Cliche

Oh 2017. We will always look back on you with fond memories. You were the reason everyone became “woke.”

We woke up with tears in our eyes on the day that Donald Trump became our leader for what seemed to be the darkest four years we have ever envisioned.

We learned that men and women in the media who we have idolized for so long are not perfect, and have a thing or two to learn themselves when it comes to reading the sexual harassment section of the work handbook. Or the life handbook. The pussy grabbed back, in 2017.

We even started going to protests, and showing the world how we felt with clever handwritten messages and chants that would have made Vietnam war protestors proud.

We became spiritually enlightened. We fled to Oregon to witness the eclipse. We learned about crystals, yoga, and how to meditate. Shout out to Headspace for that free trial.

We started eating differently, realized that our upbringing was nice and all but dairy is pretty bad for us. Oh, and the environment is kind of a thing?

We found new ways to take care of ourselves. Oil pulling, dry brushing, breathing exercises, taking our cell phones out of the bedroom. That was nice while it lasted.

We lost some good ones in 2017. Tom Petty, Joni Sledge, Dick Gregory, Chester Bennington. You reminded us of our mortality, and touched the heart of the world with your passing.

Unfortunately, there is one big lesson that we did not pick up on in 2017: our society’s consciousness is cliche.

Wellness, whether it be social, political, spiritual, or physical, is not a trend. It may have become a buzzword in 2017, but the true definition of wellness is actively pursuing good health. Diets, meditation trials, and equality marches are all important and help us get closer to the wellness path, but they are isolated experiences at the end of the day. If an Instagram post with one hundred likes is the most we are getting out of our wellness fling, we have more work to do.

This is not to say that those of us who got off their butts and marched in Washington, or went raw vegan for a week are not incredible individuals that deserve all the kudos. We are all busy, we are all trying, and life is f**cking hard.

Our wish for 2018 is to tie it all together. Let’s do our self care routine for ourselves, not our social media followers. Let’s eat for our bodies, not to please someone else. Let’s vote in local elections, smile at each other on the street, hold that chair pose for two seconds longer, and understand that these actions are all related to one another.

In 2018, let us put forth that positive energy and love to serve the self in a way that ultimately serves the world.