HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, CIRCLERS! Is that what we decided to call you? We don’t remember. It’s been a long year.
Originally, we wanted to write something to our listeners at the end of the year. 2019 was a big year for us! We left the job where we met and we both started graduate school, which was of course a trap. We started this beautiful podcast, we pursued our goals, we thrived in building relationships. It was a tough year, but a good year.
Because we procrastinate, we decided to post our reflection at the one-year mark of starting the podcast. We started reading in January, but we first posted in February, so we’re counting this as our anniversary! So here is a (not so) little blurb from both of us to each of you.
From Jacquie
GUYS
A whole year!
Honestly, when Chrissy and I had the idea to start Read Between the Vines, I thought we would have some fun for a few months and it would eventually fizzle out because this is crazy! But one year later, I cannot imagine not doing this podcast! This podcast has made me read things I would never have read on my own, like Veronica Henry’s How to Find Love in a Bookshop and Martha Hall Kelly’s Lost Roses, and I write poetry now? It’s actually insane. I still don’t consider myself a writer or lover of poetry, but I am surely on the way.
A lot has changed over these past 365 days. I lost my dark haired beau, Milo, started a graduate program that makes me want to tear my hair out, began dating my roommate, Solomon (GASP, living in sin!), wrote the first poem I was ever proud of, and gained a hot group of ladies I have the privilege of calling my friends. Importantly, and somewhat surprisingly, 2019 became the year that showed me the most personal growth. After loss in all of its forms stained 2019, I saw flowers grow in the cracks that loss and a few steps backwards created in my life. Now I am taking large strides toward a career I am passionate about, I make time for the people and the hobbies I love, and I am more completely myself than ever.
When Chrissy accepted the incredible opportunity to move to Orlando and start a graduate program closer to her boyfriend and family, I thought I was going to lose this podcast; more importantly, I thought I would lose my counterpart. After a few months of her gone and recording on the days we see each other, I see how idiotic it was of me to think something like 88.5 miles between us can stop the force that is our friendship. Read Between the Vines is our baby and I am excited to watch it grow.
Heading into the new year, we are excited to share more stories and laughter and write some kick ass poetry. This podcast has become nothing short of unremarkable in my life. I am ecstatic that Read Between the Vines was a highlight of my 2019, and I am looking forward to its growth– and my growth– in 2020.
From Chrissy
Jacquie and I watched a movie this year that introduced us to the phrase “You like because; you love despite.” Watch: I like Jacquie because she is funny, strong, intelligent, and in many ways, the woman I aspire to be. I love Jacquie despite her hate of Thanksgiving, her weird thing about texture in food, and her… well there’s not much else that bothers me. She does these things, and yet I love her.
I have been thinking about how beautiful that phrase is. And yet. It’s like a literary representation of the duality and ridiculousness that is humanity. And yet shows that you can love and hate something at once. It shows the silver lining in each trial. It is the simple act of picking oneself up again after falling, and falling hard. It has permeated my year.
I’ve been reflecting for two months straight on 2019, and I’m still not sure I comprehend all of the blessings and lessons there were. I won’t lie, the first six months were very hard to get through. I felt aimless, like I was stuck and could not see a way out. And yet, this podcast, Jacquie, Adam, and our close friends were my solace.
Any time I find myself in a new situation, I struggle to find my place. At my first full-time job, that struggle felt everlasting. I was constantly redefining myself and my responsibilities, and that got exhausting. And yet, it taught me to find joy in the little things, to make an effort to follow my dreams and passions, and to spend time with people who genuinely make me happy. Tampa was my home, a cocoon of friendship and love. It was a home I nurtured and steadily grew – my dorm family, sorority family, blood family, chosen family.
And yet. I left.
That was such a defining part of the year for me. Leaving Tampa was devastatingly hard. Leaving Jacquie was even more so. I remember in my first few weeks, crying to Adam and saying “What if I can’t make new friends? What if I don’t want to make new friends? I just want my friends.” I was so scared to try something new, and I was so scared to fail. And yet, I took that chance and I am so stunningly happy that I did.
I live with an amazing man who loves me for all of me, who loves on the fur baby he never wanted, and who encourages me to try new things and pursue new challenges. I got involved on campus and in my community, joining two non-profit boards and taking on the role of CEO at a local moving company. I started playing guitar again, I write a lot, and I spend a lot of time with my parents (because I love them).
Things have changed so much, and yet Read Between the Vines and Jacquie are still here. I have never had a best friend who made such an effort to stay in touch after we stopped seeing each other every day. It’s vomit inducing, and yet I LOVE it. RBTV gives me an excuse to read new books and write new poetry, and most importantly, see my person twice a month. I am endlessly grateful.
So thank you to all of our listeners for helping us make it to one year. This podcast challenges me to read things I never would have otherwise, like The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, or Gods of Jade and Shadow by Sylvia Moreno-Garcia. It makes me write when I don’t feel like writing. It can be overwhelming and hard to maintain and extremely infuriating. And yet.
(Read) Between the Vines 