Everybody seems to be writing their 2021 recap posts this week: The good and the bad, the goals achieved and the goals abandoned, the lessons learned, the hopes for the new year.
I’ve spent a lot of time grumbling about it. What’s the point?
That question has actually been on the forefront of my mind since at least October: What’s the freaking point?
I’ve been burnt out from work, overwhelmed with the sheer hopelessness of the situation we find ourselves in. I’ve been frustrated with friends and family members who dismiss it all. I’ve typed more death reports since October than I have in the past 14 years combined. I’m tired of arguing, I’m tired of keyboard warriors who believe everything they read on social media, and I’m tired of people who used to be my friends telling me it’s time to “move on”.
I’m a writer, people. The things I’ve been through since March 2020 will not be forgotten.
So no , the end of 2021 was not the best for me. I’m usually ready to decorate for Christmas well before Halloween, but this year it was the middle of December before we put the tree up. I think we turned the outside lights on three times all season. New Year’s came and went with absolutely no fanfare, because I just didn’t have the capacity for anything extra.
I still don’t, if I’m being honest.
But 2021 wasn’t all bad …
We added a new furry family member in June.
Topher’s back at hockey and he has a great team. They travelled to a tournament in BC a couple of weeks ago which they won! They’re a really gritty bunch of kids - they can be down 4-1 in a game and then pull out a 7-5 win out of nowhere in the third period. They’re a lot of fun to watch!
Ellie self-published two books in a series about dragons: Purple Dragons and Killer Dragons. She always has at least half a dozen books in the works - she has such a great imagination! She gave a copy of each to her teachers and they’ve put them in her class library - she feels like a superstar!
I read 64 books. I’ve always loved reading but this year it really became an escape for me! I spent so many evenings under my fuzzy blanket with my dogs snuggled up next to me, with my nose in a book. It was absolutely fantastic! Nathan’s never been much of a reader but this year I got him into audio books - he has Audible on his phone and he listens to books as he drives. We’re both reading the Thrawn Ascendancy trilogy right now - even if you’re not a Star Wars fan, Timothy Zahn is such an amazing writer, I’m sure you’ll get hooked! (But start with the original “The Thrawn Trilogy”, then the “Thrawn” trilogy, and then the “Thrawn Ascendancy” trilogy. It’s confusing, I know, but trust me. It has to be read that way.)
I didn’t write much online, but I did write a lot. I finished the most S of SFDs of my book, and then decided to switch the whole thing from a memoir to a fiction novel so that’s my project for the new year. I also found my inner activist in 2021 and wrote SO MANY LETTERS to MLAs, MPs, Ministers of this and that, the Premier. I’m pretty sure nobody read a single one (because that’s how government works in Alberta) but I sent so many, I almost had to start a new line in our budget for postage!
I haven’t set any goals for 2022 yet. “Survival” will be a big one, I’m sure. I’ve started a gratitude journal, which will hopefully help pull me out of the funk I’ve been in for what feels like forever. I’ve got a lot of writing projects to resurrect, and if COVID cases ever slow down I’m hoping to be able to visit my family in New Brunswick for a couple of weeks this summer. Topher and Ellie haven’t seen their cousins in years, and the last time they saw their grandpa in person was 2013, when Ellie was only 5 months old, so a trip is long overdue!
Happy New Year, friends!
I hope 2022 brings you good things, but most of all, I hope it brings hope and joy. For all of us.