It is currently Friday, December 29 which means in just 48 short hours it will be Sunday, December 31 also known as New Year’s Eve! Which means the next day will no longer be 2017, but rather 2018, because time marches on and that’s how our calendar system works or whatever. To be real, this year has been overall terrible, and it’s not like there’s a magic button that will suddenly right all the institutional wrongs when the clock strikes midnight on Sunday – AND YET. A lesson we learned this year is that even when the world is on fire, it is possible to find joy. On Christmas we published a round table of perfect moments we managed to experience in the midst of this depressing-as-all-fuck year, proving that even in dark times, small sparks of happiness are still real. We hope that you’ve been able to find pockets of happiness throughout the year, too.
With that attitude in mind, we’re over New Year’s Resolutions. Who cares about making lofty and/or empty promises to ourselves on January 1 that will inevitably make us feel bad throughout the year? No one has time for that bullshit in 2018 – there’s enough to feel bad about without adding resolutions into the mix! We wanna talk about stuff we’re looking forward to in the coming year, because against all odds, that stuff does exist.
So in lieu of a typical weekly Friday Open Thread, we put together a roundtable about what we’re looking forward to in 2018. You can use the comment section to tell us what you’re looking forward to in the new year, or tell us about your day, or just show us a photo of your cat. Which is to say, this post has all the same rules as a regular Friday Open Thread – we just wore sequins to the party and made a fancy cheese board, because it’s New Year’s Eve weekend, ya know? (If you need a reminder about how to post photos or videos in the comments, we’ve included it at the end of this post!)
Happy New Year, Autostraddle Family. We love you, and above all else, we’re looking forward to spending another year with you.
Vanessa, Community Editor
In 2018, I am either going to move somewhere new or I am going to keep living in Portland. I will either be accepted into an MFA Creative Writing program or I will not be. It might sound weird, but I am super looking forward to whatever happens in this scenario. If I’m accepted into school and I end up moving – that will be so exciting! If I’m accepted into school and I end up staying – that will be so wonderful! If I’m not accepted into school then I’ll start thinking about a different next step for my life, and wow, I bet that will be so interesting, whatever it is.
I’m a person who usually finds a lot of joy in schedules, plans, and obsessing over every single possible outcome. And yet – I just can’t bring myself to do that when it comes to this particular situation. I feel genuine excitement for whatever turn my life takes next. I think that might be called growing up, or perhaps it’s just learning to give fewer fucks about that which we cannot control, or maybe it’s a sweet reflection on how much I appreciate the constants in my life – my girlfriend, my family, my friends – and how I know no matter what happens re: where I live or if I do or do not go to school, I’ll still be able to find joy because I’m surrounded by people who are just so damn good.
I’m also looking forward to midterm elections.
Heather Hogan, Senior Editor
I am so excited to get out on my bike in 2018! I had some surgery this year that did wonders for my physical and mental health and also my energy levels! I’ve gotten to spend more time on my bike in the last few months than I have in the last few years. Biking has been my favorite thing since I was a wee tiny babe. It makes me feel so good in my body and so good in my brain and heart and I can’t wait to pedal all over these five boroughs here in NYC and up into the Hudson Valley and who knows maybe I’ll even take a trip somewhere just to ride my bike! I’m also looking forward to the huge offering of YA fantasy novels with female protagonists coming out in 2018 and, as always, snuggling my cats and my partner and drinking some new and delicious beers and whiskies and watching gay women kiss on TV. And also — get this — working with my therapist to set professional and personal boundaries and keep them.
Also what Vanessa said re: midterms.
Carrie, Staff Writer
I’m kicking off 2018 by relocating to Washington, DC to work in disability rights advocacy full-time and attempt to save the republic from itself. As of this writing, I’ve been approved for a fantastic apartment in a neighborhood that’s heavy on “Kindness Lives Here” lawn signs and bake sales benefitting the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, so feeling pretty solid on that. I’m thrilled to be moving somewhere that will teach me how to resist while looking the bad guys right in the face (but still making sure I feel safe at home). I am going to learn so much in this next year and look forward to my biggest opportunity yet to do good work.
And, keeping with our theme, I’m excited to drive people to the polls during the midterms.
Casey, Contributing Writer
It will surprise no one when I say that I am excited about many bookish related things in 2018! I got my first real librarian job in late 2017, so I am pumped about getting to live my dream of working at a public library and working around stories and information and making an everyday difference in library patrons’ lives. Also, did you know the film version of The Miseducation of Cameron Post (one of my favourite queer books) is coming out in 2018? Also, also, also, did you know some books by my favorite writers are coming out next year? They include: Amber Dawn’s second novel Sodom Road Exit (“family melodrama and supernatural lesbian thriller”!!), Inkmistress by YA author Audrey Coulthurst (alternate title described as “of bisexuality and bloodshed” by the author), I’m Afraid of Men by Vivek Shraya (about toxic masculinity and homo/transphobia), and Little Fish by Casey Plett (the Lambda winner’s debut novel where a 30-year-old trans woman learns that her own grandfather might also have been trans). So many great books!
Tiara, Staff Writer
2017 was a weird year. It started off really really strong, with a ton of new opportunities and deeper friendships, and then in the last month or so a lot of that suddenly fell apart and I’m still blindsided by it all. At the same time, while all of that crumbled, I managed to make some good connections that have given me opportunities for 2018. The more specific examples are co-producing an all-disability super-queer cabaret for Midsumma (Melbourne’s version of Pride), being on the organizing team for an indie games festival, and taking the idea of being a Queer Lady Magician more seriously given that everyone I know is SUPER EXCITED about the prospect – but those are just early days and I’m sure there will be more. There have also been some new friendships that have come about partially because of things falling apart, which has been such a pleasant surprise.
And that’s what I have to look forward to in 2018: new connections and opportunities popping up amongst the rubble. I tend to not really like planning or looking forward to anything because of massive cherophobia (the idea that the moment you feel happy is when everything falls apart on you) and feeling like the walking manifestation of “if you want to make God laugh then all you have to do is tell him your plans.” But little concrete confirmed things are a start.
KaeLyn, Staff Writer
I’m looking forward to my first-ever book coming out. OMG I JUST TYPED THAT INTO THE INTERNET SO IT’S REAL I GUESS. Mark your calendars for June-ish to pick up your copy of Girls Resist!, a YA guidebook on how to do organizing and activism for girls who are mad as hell and ready to take action! Right now it still feels abstract, like how does this mess of word docs end up being a book with a cover and illustrations and stuff? I’m grappling with lots of internalized fears about messing it up and not living up to my own standards. When I’m not caught up in my own feelings and anxieties, I’m super proud to create a book that is for girls, not about girls, and that respects girls as the powerful activists they already are.
Girls Resist! feels like a big milestone for me and one I didn’t know was going to happen, ever, especially right now. Some of ya’ll may know I went to college for creative writing and then, like, stopped writing pretty much completely and went into a career as a community organizer. I hadn’t written for publication until I started writing for AS in 2014. It was because of a post about activism and organizing on AS that I was approached about writing this book. So, like, this all just feels full-circle and f*cking lucky and really neatly packaged with an angry feminist bow on top. Let’s do this, 2018!
Oh, also yes, I’m going to give all the money (OK, so not actually that much, but some money) and do all the phonebanking to win back our rightful seats in the midterm elections. Bye, GOP!
Kaylah, A-Camp Staff
In 2018 I will be ending my vow of celibacy and honestly I’ve never been more excited to BONE! Since 2015, I’ve been putting in the hard work to love and accept myself and to be the person I’ve always wanted to be. You’d be surprised (or maybe not) at how much time and mental and physical energy is spent flirting, swiping, and screwing. My life and my emotions were spiraling out of control and I just didn’t have the time or energy to spare. Since taking a break from sex and dating I’ve made KILLER progress. I went to therapy for the first time, started meds, quit my boring job, and made some of the biggest decisions of my life! When I look in the mirror I hardly recognize myself, and I fucking love it. Making time for my self-improvement is THE smartest thing I’ve ever done and now that I feel like an actual person, I’m ready to rumble. I’m pretty shitty at checking my notifications, but please know that my DM’s are wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide open!! wink
Nora, Fashion & Beauty Editor
Things I’m looking forward to in 2018 include the publication of my debut book, Material (out in March or so via Von Zos), about my attachment to objects and myriad surrounding thoughts/neuroses – as well as my planned move from NYC to Minneapolis, where I shall live like a queen on my freelance income, and hopefully in the not too far off future have a modest house with a giant dog. Happy new year to me!
Laura M, Staff Writer
In 2018, I’m excited for my wedding! We booked a brewery! There’s gonna be food trucks! I’m wearing a gold gown! And at the end, I’ll be married to the handsomest, funniest, smartest, most caring and wonderful person! PUMPED.
I’m also thrilled to be part of Katie West’s anthology, Becoming Dangerous: Witchy Femmes, Queer Conjurers, and Magical Rebels on Summoning the Power to Resist, coming out in February. Mey’s in it too, guys, and it’s gonna be incredible.
Mey, Trans Editor
I’m looking forward to more Steven Universe and One Day at a Time and Hayley Kiyoko’s debut album and resistance to Trump and the Republicans growing and turning into more real-life changes and Black Panther and the new Purge movie and all the projects and comics and books and shows made by my friends. I’m looking forward to getting more tattoos (be on the lookout for a Pitbull one and a furry cowgirl soon). I’m also looking forward to continuing therapy and growing and healing and learning by doing so. But mostly I’m looking forward to spending more time with my friends and chosen family and girlfriends. I’m looking forward to seeing so many other of my friends who constantly make my life better and make me a better person. I’m looking forward to visiting my girlfriends more and for them to visit me. I’m looking forward to family.
Valerie Anne, TV Writer & Social Media Co-Editor
I’m going to take a scriptwriting class next year or so help me! I want 2018 to be the year I really ramp up my writing and actively seek out ways to keep my creative energy high. These past two years have been hard, and there are hard things looming in the future, so I am looking forward to mining for joy in the places I’ve found comfort this year, like Buffering the Vampire Slayer and Wynonna Earp and all my badass friends who have been getting shit done and doing cool things, but also finding new and exciting things to keep my little hope flame alive. I’m going to like eight million cons with my friends from all over the country and I’m really excited to see them again. I have a lot of cool projects in the works right now that I really hope come to fruition in the new year, but overall I just look forward to spending time (even virtually) with my friends, and maybe making some new friends, too.
Lucy Hallowell, Writer
I’ve been wracking my brain for something to look forward to in the coming year, and it’s hard, people. Sure, the midterms are a tiny ray of hope, but November feels eons away the way time passes since last November. But one thing I’m looking forward to is seeing old friends. This summer, a college buddy got married and a gaggle of college friends descended on Portland, Oregon to celebrate. We had so much fun together, we decided to plan a vacation this summer all together. So, come the end of June we’ll all be in a house in Maine together, laughing, giving each other shit, and enjoying being outdoors with our kids. There’s nothing like friends who’ve known you since you were a teenager. So, yeah, I’ll look forward to that.
Molly Priddy, Staff Writer
I look forward to seeing potential in 2018. This year has been one of backsliding and seeing how much bullshit I and many others could handle while still being able to live our lives. Next year is about using the strength I’ve built up by muscling myself afloat this year in a more proactive way. I look forward to seeing how I fare as a single person post-divorce, seeing where I land, and seeing how I rise to the challenges of both. Basically, what I’ve learned in 2017 is that my life may try to kill me, but I’m emerging stronger, like steel tempered with flame. So look out, 2018 – I give fewer fucks and have much more confidence. Shit’s going to get AWESOME.
Riese, Editor-in-Chief
I am so excited to live in a city where I have friends! I’m excited that when I’m invited to things like the GLAAD Awards or a screening, I can just drive there instead of flying. I’m excited to make new connections and to harass the writers of The L Word reboot until they let me write an episode. Also to hopefully at some point acquire health insurance…
Crystal, HR Director
Okay this is very boring but what I’m most looking forward to in 2018 is fingers crossed having a year of positive and uninterrupted employment! I haven’t had that since moving to the U.S. in 2015 and as a person who requires a solid foundation / environment for a variety of reasons, this life has been extra stressful lately. So I’ll be very happy to work. I’ll also hopefully be taking a family vacation to Alaska and meeting my nephew in Australia, pretty stoked for those things.
Rachel, Managing Editor
So much of 2017 was so directionless and confusing and more about just getting through things than going anywhere in particular with my life! I am tempted to decide that what I am looking forward to is Making Moves and aggressively Building the Life I Want, but you know what? That sounds like an intense expectation to set for myself! Instead I am actively looking forward to pursuing pure and authentic pleasures in 2018, no matter how small they are: a space of my own that I love living in, keeping my plants alive, having good coffee in the mornings, making brunch for someone I love, the noise my cat makes when she takes off running after the laser pointer. Can’t wait!
Alexis, Staff Writer
I just saw Tiffany Haddish explain how she spoke everything she wanted into existence so I’m speaking several things into 2018. One, I am finally going to A-Camp. I’ve tried to go like three times in the past but it’s happening this year. It’s gotta. Also, I’m gonna graduate from my coding bootcamp and get a better job (not necessarily in that order) and get the hell out of spaces that re-traumatize me and feel like I wanna not exist, less! I’ll drive so I can get myself where I need to go and feel less stuck! I’m going to write more! I’m going to read more! I’m going to love theatre and basketball and all my old loves more and give myself room to grow! I’m gonna cry cause I really need to! I’m going to forgive myself the most because after all this time, I think I need to start! I’m gonna keep using exclamation points in writing and life without apology! More gayness (in movies, in books, in personal life) all around! Literally all of these are attainable because I’m already in the process of doing them, so really I’m looking forward to moving forward!
Carolyn, NSFW Editor & Literary Editor
I’m looking forward to taking all the broken pieces of my life from 2017 and jumping on them, burning them, and sweeping them away. And then I’m looking forward to only having people in my life who deserve to be there, to seeing things I’ve been building come together, to prioritizing what’s important and to getting rid of what isn’t, to being myself for myself just as hard as I can, and to putting as much good energy into the world as possible.
Natalie, Staff Writer
On January 15th, I’m going to sign up to join MoviePass, the new movie ticketing subscription service…and then, a month later, I’ll use it to see the movie I’ve been looking forward to for the better part of a year, Black Panther.
And then, I’ll go back the next day and see it again.
And then again on the next day and the day after that and the day after that.
And I’ll probably keep seeing it until Ava DuVernay’s A Wrinkle in Time comes out… and then I’ll just see that about a dozen times…
My pop culture life is gonna be Issa Rae at the Emmys, basically.
Beyond that, I’m looking forward to the midterm election while being mindful not to exhaust myself with the daily outrage that this administration merits. I’m anxious to see if Arizona can deliver a bisexual atheist to the US Senate or if Georgia can elect its first black woman governor or if my home state of North Carolina can put an end to the Republican supermajority in the legislature and I’ll be doing everything within my power to bring those things to fruition.
Neesha, Staff Writer
I’m looking forward to centering my pleasure in 2018. For the past 30 years, I’ve made sure that everyone else was okay. I’ve missed out on fun because I had to work harder than everybody else as a Black queer non-binary woman. A longtime community organizer, I always put collective needs before my own.
My Saturn return taught me I need to be selfish sometimes. I endured unprecedented pain and trauma this year and deserve ample time to heal, process, and prioritize my joy. I spent 2017 feeling bad about nearly everything in my life, so 2018 will be dedicated to pleasure activism and doing what makes me feel my best.
Heather Davidson, Contributing Writer
Wow, everyone else seems to be looking forward to elections and major life events and self-actualising, but I’m mainly excited about the trip to Disney World my girlfriend and I have planned for the spring. My parents never took me as a kid, despite the many hours I spent obsessively poring over the parks’ Wikipedia pages when I should have been playing outside. Now I’m an adult and I’m taking myself, and we’re going to have the best time.
Raquel, Staff Writer
It’s been a hard couple years, we can all acknowledge. But I’m looking forward with hope: hope that we’ll see more ground shifting towards people like Danica Roem and Ilhan Omar and Kamala Harris coming into office.
I just left a very comfortable job at a major corporation and moved across the company to work at an agency that works for the government, because I feel hope that a little grunt worker and design thinker can help shape, maybe slowly, maybe in just minute ways, but bit by bit we can shape how the government builds for and works for its citizenry.
On a personal note, my very favorite person is also leavin’ Texas for the District, to come move in with me, and while I expect some challenges I absolutely cannot wait to build a life and a space with this phenomenal and handsome human being. It’s the first time I’ve ever truly lived with a partner, and I’m excited to learn what it looks like to co-create an environment that nurtures the relationship that creates it. I can’t wait to get to know the neighborhood, to choose my nooks and my dive bars and the spot where I’ll read and the spot where I’ll write. I can’t wait to see my little monsterface kitten grow into a fat, happy cat. I will continue to treasure these moments of joy and goodness when the rest of the world looks horrendous. That’s the spark that I need to keep alive, to rekindle the hearth of a world that looks like we want it to.
Also, I look forward to reading even more great books and great pieces by women, people of color, and queer people!
Cameron, Saturday Morning Cartoonist
I have broken my left foot/ankle every year since 2015. Maybe in 2018 I will Not.
Stef Schwartz, Vapid Fluff Editor
I look forward to breaking Cameron’s ankle.
Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya, Staff Writer
I am looking forward to the release of the feature film Ocean’s 8. I feel like I have been waiting my entire life for it. But if Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett do not kiss on the lips in it, then I’m suing for emotional damages! I can’t wait to see it 8 times in theaters! I love cinema!
A.E. Osworth, Staff Writer
My wife and I are both doing the Many Moons Workbook. We each have our own workbook but we’re doing them together. So there’s that! Hopefully the world doesn’t end before we get through them! On a more serious note, I’m looking forward to working on my novel with feedback from a brilliant agent that I didn’t have for the previous four drafts of it AND ALSO looking forward to deepening my ties with my queer and trans community. It feels too much like a resolution, but maybe I will be a braver person who loathes myself less in 2018. Maybe.
And after Roy Moore was rightly and soundly trounced in Alabama, I am also looking forward to midterms.
Audrey, Contributing Writer
I’m looking forward to looking forward! 2018 will be a year of many big decisions and concrete steps toward things I’ve known were part of my path for a long time, and in 2017 I gathered so many emotional and logistical tools that I feel like will equip me for this coming year. I know that all sounds vague as heck but like, after spending December 2016 in a state of absolute dread, it’s wonderful to be excited about the new year at all.
Reneice, Staff Writer
In 2018 I am looking forward to having some semblance of stability and peace. The last three years of my life, and ESPECIALLY 2017 have been incredibly hard. They’ve been every tarot reading I get involves the death and/or tower and/or moon card hard. Nothing has felt consistent or safe. I haven’t been able to meet the usual standards I have for myself and I don’t think there’s a single person I know that I haven’t let down in some way. I’ve just generally been lost, and hurt, and struggling to hold it all together. I don’t know if its optimism born from sheer lack of ability to see things getting worse, but I finally feel like this chapter of suffering is in the final editing process with a publishing date of December 31, 2017. I’m starting 2017 in my favorite city in the world with my best friends and the person I love. Afterward I’ll be heading back to my apartment that finally feels like home in LA due to some new furniture and rugs I bought, and getting started on plans that I’ve already laid to make 2018 my most creative year to date. I’m looking forward to growth nurtured by light rather than forced in darkness. Bring on the sun.
Alaina, Staff Writer
While I’ve been working towards it since last September, in 2018 I will officially be a real life Master and become a PhD candidate officially. School is weird and hard, but also the only thing I’ve ever felt good at and like I could commit to for more than 6 months without getting depressed. It feels so good to know that after 21 years of being in school (holy shit), next year I will be at the real, true, beginning of the end of my career as a student. It’s scary and exciting and also hugely important to me. I’m very proud.
Laneia, Executive Editor
I just adopted the kitten I’ve been needing since 2011 — Winona Forever — and I’m really looking forward to our first full year together, especially all the Saturday afternoons we’ll spend on the sofa watching British real estate shows! I’m also making everyone in my house choose an instrument and take lessons (except for Megan, who has already taken lessons), so probably by August 2018 we’ll be a Partridge Family-esque situation, traveling the countryside, playing Dolly Parton covers and good naturedly complaining about ‘the bus.’ I’ll need significantly more flowy skirts for this.
Yvonne, Senior Editor
This year was the first year I felt like I made real money moves, ala Cardi B, in my writing. I mean, for the first time I feel I was successful in achieving my writing goals. I always thought about these goals but never really did anything about them, so this year I changed that! I took a local personal essay writing class and it forced me to just freaking write and then I published a personal essay here! I wanted to do more original reporting and I did the damn thing!
2018 is all about continuing what I started at the tail end of 2017 and writing ferociously. I can’t wait to talk to more queer people and tell their stories and write about things that matter most to me.
Also, I can’t wait to get married to the love of my life! It’s going to be an exciting year!
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