Hi all! So it seems it’s that time of year again! Time for us to reflect on our year past and on the ups and downs and everything inbetween. I’ve decided to make this a mandatory post every year on the last day of the year in Aotearoa (due to time zones, this post may come to you a day earlier than intended).
I’m going to be using my journal to revisit things that happened this year. I never thought I’d get to use my journal for such a thing but it turns out it’s just perfect for remembering things.
COVID ruled 2021 again. I guess a lot of people will be writing about that. It touches everyone everywhere and some so much worse than others. This makes me thankful for the fact that I live where I do and we haven’t experienced anything even close to some countries. This makes me feel very blessed.
I can see entries about work focusing on being made redundant way back in April! It was there all along but I guess most of the people in my team chose to ignore the signs until it was too late. As it turns out, most of us got relocated this year, some had to leave. I guess the question to ask is are any of us any happier than we were?
I wrote a lot about writing for other websites and how exciting it was at the time. After getting turned down for accreditation for Sundance this year, I’ve reached a huge block in the road in terms of my writing.
I want to believe in positivity but failure is always so close. When some people strive to do better, somewhere deep inside, imposter’s syndrome is just waiting to get the jump on them. My problem is I always give up and end up failing the goals I’ve set myself.
Will I be goal setting for next year? Yes! I didn’t expect to fail when I did. I really wanted to make it to Sundance this year. I was hoping to use that as a foundation to grow my freelance business again. But I didn’t. Now I don’t know where to start again or even if I want to.
Star Wars continued to be a constant light in my life this year but I did get distracted with many other things and kinda stopped collecting and buying. I do have one amazing Star Wars figure coming next year (assuming they don’t push the date back). It will be a thing to celebrate.
What was your 2021 like? What were your highlights or your lows? What did you overcome? Where did you fail? Life is a mixed bag of all of these things, but it’s important to do your best and be your best for the people that matter.
My final thoughts for 2021 – I survived some difficult situations. I feel good about that. Let me know what you’re hoping for in the year to come. I’ll be writing a new year post as well!
darksiderconfessions.blog 
Hi Julie, Happy New Year! Hopefully we all have a better year in 2022. 2021 was challenging for many of us, to say the least. I didn’t really meet any writing goals this past year, and now I’m between jobs and am not sure what’s next, lol. Feeling a little lost, but hopefully I can get clearer on what direction I’d like to go. The nice thing about a new year is that we feel like we can start over with a blank slate and begin anew.
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Hey Tina 🙂 I feel you completely. It’s so hard not to sound negative in a post about a year in your life but if we’re being honest, there is more “negative” than positive – at least for me. Everyone has ups and downs but I think it’s perfectly fine to talk about the negatives. Without those challenging moments in life, we would never truly appreciate the good things. I mean I have a lot to be thankful for – I have my family, my partner and my health (mostly lol). But last year wasn’t all roses for me. On that note, did you lose your job too? I wasn’t aware – or is it a move you’re making to change things up? Feel free to rant to me even via email if that’s easier. I am a GREAT listener 😀 I am going to talk more about my actual goals (mostly writing ones that never happened lol) in my next post. Feel free to email me any time and I’m sorry to hear about the job situation 😦 You don’t strike me as the type to stay down for long though 😊😄
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Thanks, Julie! No, I quit my job because, even though I liked it, there were issues there I couldn’t stand anymore. I went to a new job, but kind of hated it, lol, and quit that, too. I decided to take a break over the holidays and decide what’s next. At the moment I feel like I don’t belong anywhere, but I’ll figure it out. 🙂 In the meantime, back to my writing goals: more blogging, and getting back to the fan fic I started. It’s a good place to start, anyway, lol.
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Ohhhh wow. Why do I feel like I’ve missed you talking about these things or maybe you didn’t and I’m just forgetful lol Well, I totally get that. I actually am in a similar situation, I don’t like the job that I’m doing right now. If I’m brutally honest, I took it out of desperation because it was so close to Xmas and I didn’t want to be unemployed. Sometimes we have to make those hard choices and find out afterwards – all part of life’s grand design lol at least that’s how I try to look at it. I’m also NEVER going back into an office situation. I made that one pact with myself I wouldn’t do that and if the business I work for decides to push us back into the office again, I’m going to quit. So I totally understand your situation too. I hope you do find something you want to do though because it can be tough wanting to be true to yourself but also needing to contribute financially. If your husband is working, will that make it easier to find something you want to do? I hope so 🙂
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Yeah, we’re okay for now, but I do need to eventually get back to work, if only because I like my things (Star Wars books mostly, lol). And no, I don’t usually post about this stuff, except in comments like now. Something will come along eventually, something usually does. The Force will provide, lol.
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Yeah me too. I removed all my personal posts from my blog some time back. I prefer to rant in my journal lol it’s really good for getting things off your chest with nobody to judge 😊😁 I just logged onto work email to check for any important updates about COVID and there was a new email in there from the CEO of our company confirming a merger with another business LOL so I’ll be going back to a new year to a business that might end up restructuring us all again… gahhhhh lol
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Yeah, I’d like to get back into writing in my journal again, I’ve been neglecting it for awhile. Hopefully your company will settle down soon. That would drive me a little crazy, I think, lol.
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I’ve been there for 7 years and we’ve had a lot of turmoil and lots of things have changed. I guess it’s just how it is in some industries but I’m getting on in age now lol I’m not as adaptable as I used to be lol Now the only thing that matters to me is stability which I’m not really getting there. I dunno I’ll have to do some hard thinking about it 🙂
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Happy New year. 2022 just has to be better xx
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Hey there Neil 🙂 I agree lol I have good intentions for this year but I am not going to set goals for myself the same way I did last year. I’ll be talking more about this later on. How are things going at home? I don’t think I’ve read a post about that in a while (I think I read a post of yours mentioning you’re not talking about personal things any more online? If so, that’s all good, I support you either way 😀
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Hello Julie and Happy New Year (officially now we’ve celebrated in the UK!). In my 2021 review post I kinda left out details of the negative things that happened during the year and concentrated on the achievements. It did make mine seem all “wine and roses” happy but it also struck me how much I managed to do despite restrictions, vaccinations, complications etc. I can say I had more than my usual share of good fortune.
But back to you and your readers (Tina being one) maybe 2022 will be a “Build Back Better” kind of year after all….you both have a lot of opportunities to choose from as you have relatively “blank slates” to begin your journeys from.
Whatever happens in 2022 I hope it’s really positive for all of you And before I forget, thanks for all your support and friendship!
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It’s perfectly fine to talk about whatever you want on your own blog 🙂 But yes, I get what you mean. I think I’ve had an equal amount of highs with the lows last year and I’ve blogged about some of the lows but not all of them. I guess blogs can be whatever you need them to be and mine was always meant to be a Star Wars blog first and foremost so I try to tie everything I blog about into it somehow. And then there are other times when Star Wars simply can’t lift my mood (thankfully, those moments are few and far between!). At the end of the day, I am just grateful for the people that matter. I’ve found an amazing group of people on WordPress such as yourself, Tina, Neil and a few others and it all makes it so worthwhile because of that 🙂 I hope you and your family have a better year this year. With gratitude and thanks, talk to you soon (ish) 😀
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Great review, happy New year.
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