2021: A Recap
“New year, new me.” She says with a sarcastic chortle.
If I am going to be honest, going into a new year brings forth a lot of weighty reflection as time arbitrarily makes its 365 day loop. I don’t know what causes it. Maybe it’s the fact that everyone else is doing it (read: peer pressure). Maybe it’s the desire for an occasion to start over. Whatever it is, it is an opportunity to look back and see the things that we have and haven’t done and who we have become in the past celestial rotation.
As for me, I took this past year to grow into who I am. Amidst a pandemic and dissociating for what felt like 75% of the year, I actually achieved a lot more than I expected.
With that being said, I am genuinely proud of my progress and even more proud to look back and say that I have been given the grace to enter into 2022.
We can break some of the big wins down into categories.
Coffee
Community
Creation
But first, Coffee…
Coffee is a vice for some, a ritual for others, but for me, I am lucky enough to call it my career and one of my greatest passions. In some ways, I trivialize and make my accomplishments in this field small and menial, but this past year, I realized that these accomplishments are just as valid as anyone else’s. First, I want to take this time to say, I SURVIVED AND AM CONTINUING TO SURVIVE A PANDEMIC WORKING IN THE SERVICE INDUSTRY. That’s in all caps, because, hunny, it’s a FEAT.
Other than that, I have been growing both personally and professionally within coffee and I have seen it influence many spheres of my life.
Starting in January of 2021, I was asked to design the Roaster’s Spotlight Box for Glitter Cat Barista. It was a huge win for me because it allowed me to showcase my design skills and my love for coffee in one place. Over the course of 2021, I had the privilege of designing three more labels and having the chance to put my very first roaster box of my own out into the world! If someone asked me in 2020 if I ever thought that would be possible, I would have looked at them and laughed in their face. This is all to say, anything can happen in one year. Throughout the year, I competed in a few virtual competitions, including Battle of the Beans from the Barista League which consisted of 12 different coffee challenges and aired bi-weekly on YouTube throughout the whole year. It was a HUGE project and I am proud to say I learned a lot from the folks with whom I had the pleasure of working. Over the course of the year, I also took the plunge in palate development and learning more about how I experience and study coffee. I had the opportunity of taking a class from Boot coffee as well as took part of a sensory workshop hosted by the Crown. I really believe virtual application for classes really helped me dive deeper into my coffee studies. Through this type of development, I had the chance to be a judge for the Good Food Awards (which I totally thought was a spam message at first). I really lived a lot of my wildest coffee dreams and have grown in ways I never knew were possible. OH YEAH! The end of 2021 also brought forth the idea for a business with my dear friend Ethan. We started to dream of building a coffee roasting business together, received a gear grant, and are starting full force into 2022. So, keep a look out for Tanbrown Coffee.
Community
When you think of a pandemic, gathering of people is not the first thing that comes to mind. Through the use of zoom, discord, what-have you, I was able to connect to countless people this past year. Even amidst the positives, at times, waves are what bring people together. In March of 2021, there was a tragic life-taking event that impacted the Asian community far and wide. We were reminded that we are not seen as equal to our white counterparts and femme members of our community are at risk of harmful stereotypes and expectations placed on us day in and day out. Due to this event, the need for community sprung up. Together, we gathered on zoom to talk about what we have been going through, whether alone, or together and it was a time of healing as it was grief. I gained friendships I would not have had prior however bittersweet the reason. I realized how much we need community and other people who know us to our core. How, we are not meant to be alone, whether physically or virtually.
Creation
I made so many things this year. I wrote more. I danced more. I lived more. It was a year where I made things for me and didn’t want anything in return for it. I have a bad habit of monetizing my hobbies and giving up once I don’t see myself as “good enough” but this year, I found a lot of freedom in letting myself create, because at the end of the day, I am a heavily creative person and I was meant to bring more into the world.
In Conclusion
I am ready for 2022. I am ready for newness and new areas to reflect and grow. More spaces to commune with others, and new adventures. I hope for more from our world and the people in it. Here’s to more, here’s to better, and as corny as it may sound, here’s to this year.
Thank you for being a part of it.