As I sit here, watching the clock slowly tick toward midnight and thereby toward 2022, I am trying to reflect on 2021 and find some way to wrap it up in a neat little bow of words, but I am not sure that’s possible.
2021 was a weird year and honestly, it’s hard to say much more than that about it. Every ‘up’ seemed to have a corresponding ‘down.’ COVID-19 vaccines had a fairly successful rollout in Canada. But we are now facing yet another lockdown and term of online classes. In the United States, Donald Trump left the White House. Trump’s insurrection makes me feel as though the United States is entering 2022 in considerable political turmoil. Climate justice seemed to take more of a centre stage in a lot of conversations with events like Fairy Creek. BC was on fire in summer 2021 and has been experiencing mass flooding and other climate events.
But somehow, despite all the wildness, 2021 still managed to feel stagnant and almost impossible to separate from 2020. Looking back, it does feel as though nothing has changed.
But, as I sit here staring at the empty bottle of champagne that, much like Betty White, didn’t quite make it to 2022, I can’t help but reflect on the fact that there are differences not only in the atmosphere but in my personal life as well.
Things did change. I am probably not the same girl who stumbled brokenly into 2021.
Going into 2022, I feel chipped instead of broken, like a piece of porcelain that has been glued together so you can still see the cracks.
And good things did happen in 2021. I made good friends that I don’t know how I would have gotten through the year without. I spent some much-needed time alone and learned a lot about myself.
I got the job I wanted.
But even still, it is hard to feel as though much has changed because so much of this year was spent in isolation.
New Year’s Eves are meant to be full of hope and excitement for the upcoming year, but I am just having a hard time mustering up much of anything. For the past two years, I have gone into the new year with so much hope, but I was let down by both 2020 and 2021, so I don’t want to make any false promises — to myself or to you — for the year ahead.
So while 2021 sucked, it didn’t suck as hard as it could have. So cheers, and here’s to 2022 hopefully sucking less than 2021!