I'm Just a Girl Saying Things

I have written about four different versions of this newsletter, but none of them have felt right. My drafts are begging me to release them from the shackles but I just keep adding more. Honestly, it’s not my fault. I made a promise to myself that I was not going to publish a newsletter on the 25th or on the 31st. However, I did want to publish one or two more before the year ended. My spirit refused to let the last newsletter I wrote be the last one you’d get from me in 2023. It wasn’t giving “End of Year”. The initial one I wanted to write, I couldn’t publish because I fell ill. Then, I told myself that I would combine that one plus a newer one and give you a newsletter extravaganza, but I was tired. I was so tired I could barely stand up in the morning. Physical illness keeps whacking me and my partner says it is because I never finish my medication, but honestly, that’s not what we came here for. I've decided that for this newsletter, I'm going to share a lot of things I’ve learnt and wanted to put in the newsletters before this one. I go just dey talk things, man. Shall we?

The first thing I learnt is that my body needs rest. A couple of weeks ago, I decided to have a mini staycation. I stayed indoors with my partner and all I did was eat, watch movies and sleep. I made a promise to myself that I'm going to rest more whether I “deserve'“ it or not. I didn't need to have accomplished any major thing or be knocking on death's door before I took care of myself. I missed my partner and I noticed I was having issues sleeping again, so I needed to remove myself from whatever situation wasn't allowing me to rest.

Unfortunately for me, I went from a week of intense peace and rest to multiple trips to the hospital. When I was unable to do stressful things like type long story, God decided to test me further by allowing me to stumble upon the list of things I hoped to have achieved in 2023 and my goodness, the way I didn't do anything on that list? I was tempted to feel bad and berate myself for not figuring things out and still living in my parents’ house even though I promised myself this was the year I moved out, but Tinubu also became my President this year. I also quit my job and got out of two relationships. I had an accident this year, was on admission and fell ill multiple times. It's not like I didn't try, but there are things in life I couldn't control. Some things held me back and although I tried my best, I couldn't get everything and that's okay.

Whenever we start approaching a new year, we feel this urge to dump things on our heads. We start setting all these foolish goals because the energy is contagious and you want to “finally fix your life”. Relax. Take it easy. 2024 is just another year. I’m not saying you shouldn't make your goals and set your plans, but these New Year resolutions and New Year New Me and all the other versions of these goals are tasking. They take and take and they leave you feeling hollow and unaccomplished, but you've done so much. There are so many things that happened to you in 2023 that made you say “I will never survive this”, but you did. You survived and some of the things now make for cool stories for tequila nights. There are very few things in life you have control over. I'd say that as human beings we just do the one we can and hope everything else aligns for us. So, hold that at the back of your mind when things don't work out.

The only thing I want you to put on your New Year's resolution and take with the ferocity and seriousness that you can muster is that you laugh more. T has made it their life's mission to make me laugh. They've told me to take my joy seriously and they've helped me reteach myself how to laugh. I avoid things that cause me stress and I laugh. It might be spending hours on TikTok or trying to bite my partner’s bum when they just come out of the shower, I sha dey do am. Now I'm telling you to teach yourself how to laugh. Laughter is what will hold you when you're unable to hold yourself. It fixed me, put me together and gave me hope. Love too, but I can’t tell you to add falling in love on your list.

Signing off with my “words of wisdom” that I wrote from different corners of my parents’ house in Arigbajo while my partner went “Na you talk say you wan write newsletter before the year end. Just give yourself work. Why?” (They still fed me dinner while I typed because they love supporting me and easing my stress). I’ll miss you and will spend the entire time thinking to myself “What will my first newsletter of 2024 look like?”

Legally Blonde 2

I can't believe a lot of people don't know Legally Blonde has a part 2. I also can't believe that it was rated much lower than the first Legally Blonde. It makes no sense to me because I loved part 2. I'm still waiting and hoping for a part 3 where she runs for President of the United States and changes it from the White House to the Pink House. Someone get Reese Witherspoon on the line. Tell her I have a movie pitch for her.

Anyways, Legally Blonde 2 follows Elle as she plans her wedding to Emmett. However, as she plans the guest list, she finds out that she doesn't know the location of someone she so desperately wants to invite. Her decision to send an invite and have this important guest at her wedding cost her to lose her job and to move from Boston to Washington where she decided to work for a Congresswoman so she could draft some laws that would allow for the guest to be at her wedding.

It is fabulous, it's pink and it's like so amazing. I did a rewatch last week and although I didn't finish because fell asleep after like an hour and twenty minutes into the movie, the movie still did what it needed to do and provided me with a large level of serotonin. If you've never watched it before, watch it now. If you've watched it before, rewatch it again.