This Year, I’m Leaving Negativity Behind
(So Please Never Mention that Drifter I Killed Out in Landers)
Well, it’s that time of year again. Time for gym resolutions, shopping carts full of vegetables, calls to your bank regarding the enormous sum of money that’s suddenly missing.
You know, a time to improve ourselves.
Last year was a rough one for me. I realized that I had let a lot of people into my life that I shouldn’t have. People that said they were my friends and supported me but only ever tried to bring me down. People who said stuff like, “We love you, but you can’t just call us up and ask us to provide you with an alibi for the weekend of the 22nd.” Or, “Your new boyfriend seems nice, but isn’t that the guy you said steals Sudafed from his CVS pharmacy job to cook meth out in Landers?”
See, I learned something this year: not everyone around you is rooting for you. Some people just want to bring you down to their level because they can’t bear to see you happy and in a positive mindset. They will couch their attempts to knock you down a peg and say they’re just trying to “hold you accountable” for “stealing $15,000 from your senile Great Aunt under the guise of going back to school to become a dental hygienist then disappearing to the desert for 3 weeks then calling us in the middle of the night frantic and crying, ‘Oh God, what have I done?’”
These people are toxic, full stop. No exceptions.
And this isn’t to say that this year was all bad. I met an amazing partner, learned basic chemistry, lost 30lbs in three weeks, learned how to defend myself, lifted 150lbs of dead weight out of my boyfriend’s car and into a shallow hole on the outskirts of Slab City and adopted a dog. I’m in a really good place right now and if someone can’t learn to love the new me then they can get out of the car and walk the rest of the way back to Landers because I’m not letting anyone keep me down any longer.
I need real friends; Friends that would help me bury a body- metaphorically, of course.
I’ve finally cut the toxic people out my life this year and I feel so free. I feel as relieved as the day I found out that more than half of the bodies buried out in the Mojave desert are ever found or identified. I can already tell that this is going to be my year.
And what are my resolutions, you ask? I only have one:
Good vibes ONLY.
