Did anybody make a new year’s resolution this year? I didn’t–nearly forgot to even consider it. By some happy miracle I floated along so absently unaware, then suddenly it was February and the day of my birth. Between realizing I had landed safely on the other side of 2014 and editing the words to express these thoughts, nearly three months had passed–I had avoided the season’s cheery nuisances with the side-effect being a loss of time. In talking with friends, we believe that the lowered volume on holiday-crazy may have been a result of New Yorkers’ general weariness towards forced-consumerism peaking in recent years. But I am grateful to have missed out. Life is not a countdown, and the expectation to feel that way imposed by my daily life is impolite.*

I am less grateful–or rather, disturbed–to discover that the preceding time lost was the price I paid for blissful unawareness. At least I have the memories captured on film to remind me. As for resolutions, they can be made regardless of the time of year, which is why I had already reaped the benefits of a vow I made to my future self last November–to make a a conscious effort in knowing when I needed to ask for help.** The burden to do it all should never fall on a single individual’s shoulders. No one is alone.

*Never ask your father to help you edit your writing, even casually.
**Start asking for help, starting now.

— words & photos: Jessica Straw