Hey Party-Makers,

Hey dream chasers, art makers, movers and shakers.

Hey single mamas and daddies. Hey deployment families. Hey working parents. Hey stay-at-home parents. Hey newly-parents, school-aged parents, and empty-nesters.

Hey people recently out of a relationship, heartbroken, and/or currently single folks.

Hey lovebird daters, newly engaged, over-engaged, newlyweds, middle-weds, long-time weds. Sweethearts, frenemies, co-everythings.

Hey to all my care-givers, hey to that beautiful, special breed of people who consistently spend their lives pouring out buckets of love.

Hey career chasers, ladder climbers, and glass-ceiling shatterers.

Hey world travelers, peacemakers, self-discoverers.

Hey to all my people battling depression, anxiety, and pursuing mental health.

Hey high school students, hey college students, hey grad students (because you are a very different, very dedicated, very exhausted breed of student), hey newly grads; overwhelmed with “what nows” and the gross reality of accruing interest.

Hey to all my early-career folks working not-your-dream jobs because that’s how life works.

Hey mid-lifers. Hey I-was-just-22-two-seconds-ago-ers. Hey this-is-forty (or fifty, or sixty is the new 30, right?) ers.

Hey politically exhausted folks. Hey POC, hey LGBTQIA, hey immigrants, hey refugees, hey Native Americans, hey people with disabilities, hey Muslims, hey to all the beautiful Black Lives that Matter. Hey to all my huddled masses yearning to be free (that includes everyone in these groups, and whatever group you identify with).

Hey Leftists, Socialists, Borderline-Marxists. Hey Conservatives, hey Republicans, hey Trump Enthusiasts. Hey Progressives, Democrats, Liberals.

Hey pro-life, hey pro-choice, hey pro-woman, hey in-betweens. Hey people who are just starting to think and process through all these things.

Hey activists, campaigners, marchers, congress and senate callers.

Hey conflict-exhausted folks, hey anti-political social media people, hey heart-broken and overwhelmed souls.

Now that I have you all in the room, I have a secret.

You are more than what you believe in. And I don’t mean that in a way that minimizes what you believe, I mean that in the way that your specific and unique existence is beautiful and meaningful.

You are more than where you’re at. Whether you’re on you’re on track with your five-year plan, or you scrapped the plan ten years ago, or you’re reading this like “what is this plan you speak of?”

You are more than the jobs you work to be where you want to be. You are more than your degrees. You are even more than your student loans. 

You are more than your tired self, and more than your house filled with messes. You are more than your restlessness. More than your grief. More than your eye-roll when you look in the mirror.

You are more, more, infinitely more than the lies you tell yourself.

You are more than the pretend (or not pretend) voices that say you aren’t where you’re supposed to be.

And if no one else tells you this today, read it here and insert your name, your belief, and your unique existence into it:

You are enough, and you are worthy, and you are celebrated.

If romantic love isn’t your thing or your reality: Sink into other kinds of love. Silly love, quiet love, the love that happens in grief. Self love, others-love, active love.

We realize that today can be hard. Because when you’re exhausted, or lonely, or stuck in cynicism (y’all that’s me), today can feel like a facade. It can feel forced. It can feel like you’re falling into all the Mad Men Marketing traps.

You don’t have to endorse today as a favorite holiday. You don’t have to extravagantly display your love. You can wait until tomorrow to raid stores for candy. You can scroll past sappy posts, post your own sappy post. You can treat yourself to a very late celebration of National Pizza Day instead.

(if you’re a big time celebrator, all this is true for you too. We do love you, we really do. We’re cheering you on in your creative plans and your love sprees. Pinky promise).

We just didn’t want to let the opportunity slip to remind you, that whatever you’re celebrating or refusing to celebrate today: we celebrate you.

We’re grateful to have your time, thoughts, and presence. And we really, truly believe (hand. to. heart, y’all), that you are a work of art. Not in a everyone-gets-a-participation-trophy way. But in a your-specific-existence-has-changed-the-world-and-relationships-you-navigate-and-whether-you-know-it-or-not-you-are-wildly-beloved kind of way.

Celebrating you,

Mary-Beth Johnson

Mary-Beth is a creative, food-obsessed, Georgia transplant living Chicago. She is proudly and fiercely Latina, and more specifically Chapina. In her day to day she is a food educator to students around Chicagoland aged 3 to 80+, both virtually and in-person. She is passionate about cultivating the truth that every person has an understanding of food that deserves being brought to the table, and that time in the kitchen can be sacred, passionate, and an act of love for self and others. Outside the kitchen you can find her at the intersections of infertility, chronic illness, and a deep love for the dignity of all humans. She hopes to create a space that is holistic about the role of food in the social, political, relational, and physiological dynamics of our world.