2022 ins and outs: A social Inside Column

New Year’s resolutions are out. Ins and outs are in. To elaborate, resolutions have never sat well with me. I don’t enjoy the idea of making goals simply because we all agreed one day resets our calendars. Additionally, in the past couple years of volatile change, many of my personal goals have been disrupted too many times in the long span of 365 days. Now, I enjoy the new trend of setting “ins” and “outs.” This method of self-definition and listing favorite things offers less commitment, openness to change and flexibility as time goes on. So, here is my silly little social column on ins and outs for 2022: 

Ins

1. Garlic. I am a garlic girl. The girls who get it, get it, and the girls who don’t, don’t. 
2. Spices in general. I need to strengthen my palate.
3. Zodiac signs. I’m ready to lean into this culture, but in an ironic way. I will identify as a Libra much like I identity with Team Gale and Team Jacob. I care about it, but not too much. Also, you can check your zodiac in each Print Edition of The Observer! 
4. The color light pink and all types of green. Check the links for the exact shades I’m thinking of. 
5. No explanations. This one’s for the girls. Don’t explain your decisions, processes and opinions. We do enough. For example, someone might ask me why I’m both Team Gale and Team Jacob. I will not explain. 
6. Irony. This “in” explains why I explained the last “in” which was “no explanation.” And this entire column.
7. Social columns. I expend a lot of energy and critical thought in my classes and free time on existential problems about the current state of the United States and the world. 
8. Anime. I have an extensive list I want to start. 
9. A larger vocabulary. It’s time to read more and develop a more expansive collection.
10. Whoever runs the official Twitter account of Ukraine.
11. “New Girl.” This mid-2010s sitcom was always in, but its renaissance continues. This time, it’s all about finding the reference to a bear in every single episode of its seven seasons. 
12. Finstas and private Snapchat stories.
13. Beautiful AI art of Taylor Swift lyrics.
14. Confidence in the weightlifting section of the gym. That’s my space too. Who cares if I am physically weak? I’m working on it. That’s why I’m there. No more being afraid of gym bros. 
15. Valentine’s Day gifts. Especially for friends — give them little things that remind you of them. It’s the season of love. I procrastinated some Christmas gifts also.  
16. Cross stitching. And any art that has historically been disregarded by art elitists.
17. Library cards.

Outs 

1. Buying new clothes. Reduce, reuse, recycle, borrow, exchange, thrift.
2. Harry Potter. I’ve been saying this one for years, but it’s time everyone else also realized that while this series is fun, it’s just not the literary or cinematic masterpiece you think it is. 
3. “Twilight” slander. I firmly believe “Breaking Dawn: Part 1” is unconditionally and irrevocably the best movie in existence. I also agree with the Twitter postulation that the first Twilight movie is the best sports movie of all time. In case you were wondering, the song featured in the baseball scene is “Supermassive Black Hole” by Muse. 
4. Opinions on coffee. Drink what you want; we don’t need to argue about it.
5. The adjective “ugly.” Nothing is ugly. Everything is either pretty and looks good or is camp, ironic or a work in progress. 
6. Silver jewelry.
7. English accents.
8. Misunderstanding the labor shortage. Please treat your employees better. 
9. Card-only retailers. Not cool. 
10. Chain restaurants. Support local businesses, support originality.  
11. Followers on Pinterest. Pinterest is my favorite social media platform. It’s like playing dress-up free of cost. It’s not meant for perception, judgment or social sharing. 
12. TikToks that are longer than 30 seconds. Get to the point. 
13. Tomato-based pasta sauce.
14. Rinsta and public Snapchat stories.
15. Hamilton. I can’t deny its musical finesse nor my own previous obsession with the soundtrack, but it’s time to recognize there is no way, besides a myriad of other problems with idolizing the “founding fathers,” that anyone could describe the historical Hamilton as making them feel “helpless.” In case my mom reads this: I still love and will always treasure the time we saw it.
16. Anyone who thinks the billionaire space race is cool. Please pay your taxes first. 
17. Nuance.

XOXO,

an inspiring social columnist