How was 2022 for you?

[Orchid]

Since we had the "how was 2021 for you?" thread last year, I thought it'd be nice to look back again as we exit 2022.

How has this year treated you? Any final thoughts or feelings before it comes to an end?

 

[InfiniteBakuphoon]

All in all, 2022 was a whole lot better for me than 2021. Even as certain things didn’t go exactly the way I wanted them to go, a lot of things went wonderfully. And when it comes to my “stuff”, I’ve progressed a lot in the right direction, with me being able to do things that I would’ve never been able to do this time last year.

Meanwhile, other great things happened. I had my “anime awakening”, haha, back in the spring and I’m now deep into several great series, I’ve upgraded my PC like I’ve been itching to do for years, and I’ve continued to find some wonderful video game music. I also managed to complete another chapter of my fanfic Mirror Adventures, with other projects now deep in the brainstorming phase as well! Which is all great because, at one point, I was afraid that I would never be able to do any of these things again. The fact that I‘ve found a way to make it all happen in spite of everything makes me so happy!

And finally, I also think that this has been the best year I’ve spent so far at Bulbagarden! I’ve met a whole bunch of lovely people here and I’ve been more involved in things than ever, to the point where I’m beginning to feel like a real member of the community now, haha. I hope to keep things going with that, along with everything else, in 2023!

 

[DawningWinds]

It was better than the last year, I think. My migraines have been getting a bit better so after like two years of hardly being able to do anything between them and COVID, it's been really nice to get out and do stuff again, like acting in a few plays, which I've missed doing so much. I've also spent a fair bit of time working on drawing, and I definitely feel like I can see the improvements this year, and I've recently gotten back into writing so that's really nice as well.

 

[lisianthus]

I'm planning on talking about this at length in my blog, but, well... 2022 has changed my life in a bunch of ways. The biggest year I've had, basically?
But well, most of the things that have happened, if not all, have been amazing!
I hope I'll be able to continue on with an even better 2023, because, I'm hoping that my future is looking bright. Basically!!

 

[indigohex3]

It was a big year in news around the world, no doubt some related to coronavirus, but the biggest one would have to be the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September which dominated the media and saw the biggest funeral this side of Winston Churchill's funeral. Speaking of Winston Churchill, Liz Truss became the first British Prime Minister to serve two monarchs since the man himself, even though he did last longer during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II than Liz Truss did during the reign of Charles III (and was beaten by a lettuce when it came to longetivity). Here, we have a new Prime Minister in Anthony Albanese (who himself became the first Australian Prime Minister since Sir Robert Menzies to serve two monarchs) and the whole brew-ha-ha about that jackass Scott Morrison's secret appointments during the COVID-19 pandemic. And here in Victoria, we saw Daniel Andrews returned and Matthew Guy (the lobster with the mobster legend himself) resign following another election loss.

In world news, we saw an invasion of Ukraine by Russia and I am currently fearing for a complete free-for-all in Northeast Asia with North Korea testing ballistic missiles and a potential nuclear test and China could target Taiwan, as well as South Korea and Japan getting weapons. In Japan, we saw the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as well as Presidential Elections and local elections in South Korea (events I did follow this year as I am interested in this region and hope to work in in 2024).

Old Mr Grim himself had a bit of a fetish for Australian cricketers this year with Rod Marsh dying, followed in quick succession (within twenty-four hours) by Shane Warne and then a few months later by Andrew Symonds; and just a couple of weeks ago, former cricketer and Seven Network cricket commentator Ricky Ponting had a health scare while commentating the First Test against the West Indies at Optus Stadium in Perth). Australia barely qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup and despite very low expectations for the team in 2022, did better than the 2006 team.

And despite the unity brought about by our soccer team in Qatar, tonight was a dark day for Australian soccer when the Melbourne City versus Melbourne Victory game was abandoned in the 21st Minute (you may have heard about the protests against Sydney hosting the next three Grand Finals in which fans walk out at the 20th minute...well it was worse than that with flares injuring a player and a cameraman, a referee was attacked and a pitch invasion. It was disgusting, but fortunately the commentators at 10 BOLD were professional in the whole chaos providing updates during the chaos, and broke the news about the abandonment of the game before switching to some fishing show. Just hope tomorrow's game between Western United and Western Sydney Wanderers is more controlled than tonight's game).

And what about Yours Truly? I worked at the Federal Election and State Election this year, which was exciting, and learned how the figures you get on the television on election night is determined. I am looking at more permanent work in 2023 to earn money to teach English in South Korea, as well as populate my LinkedIn profile with articles reflecting my intellectual interests in North East Asia as well as Asia-literacy in Australia.

 

[colours]

5/10

got a job that kept me afloat somewhat throughout the whole year, but the rest of it was meh. nothing really happened much. it was a repeated process of going to work, go home, sleep, repeat the next day.

i'm hoping next year i'll be able to go outside and do stuff more. .-.

 

[skynerel]

Better than 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 at least…

 

[Insanish Danish]

Better than 2021 for sure. Definitely not perfect - there were some...not great things - but I have a fair bit of trauma from multiple events in 2021 which thankfully wasn't recreated to quite the same extent in 2022.

 

[Sheep]

Average. Developed some new health issues and my mental health wasn’t the best at points, but it could have been a lot worse and good things did happen too. Would give it a 6/10 probably. /sweat

 

[wanderist]

Better than the past two years, but that was a low bar. 2020 was just a universally awful year in every way, and 2021 was just a blank void.

I started up some stuff at the end of 2021 after deciding "screw normal stuff, it's not working. I'll write for a living" and started some cute little blogs for practice. I decided to renew those even though they don't get a lot of reads, so I enjoy it enough to spend more money on it at least. I did manage to make some money writing. I'm not making nearly enough right now considering all the crap that's going to happen next year, but considering where I was it's definitely a start and shows I can do it... hopefully. I could probably be doing better if I knew what I was doing and didn't get so confused to the point of giving up so many days.

Health is still problematic. Not AS many headaches, but just looking in the venting thread is a nice reminder that I still lose plenty of days to them. Just had a scare the other day with a migraine. So that's not over. I'm also having constant stomach issues on top of that now. Mom thinks it's connected to stress. Wouldn't surprise me even though I kinda feel I have no right to be that stressed lol.

No drama of any sort, but I only have a few friends these days. I realized it's been two years since the end of the last major friend drama with my old friend group and that I just haven't managed to interact enough to make new friends since. My long time friendships are going more or less well though. Though I sadly don't interact with my college friends much anymore.

On the bright side I feel like this has been a year of branching out and trying new things. Mainly in the video game department, but I feel like that's helped me branch out a little more as a person in general. A little.

All in all just an improvement on some crappy years, but 2023 is seeming like it's either gonna be a breakthrough or just infinitely worse. A lot of bad things are happening at the beginning of that year for me. :/

 

[Gengarzilla]

The year 2022 decided, for no clear reason whatsoever, that it should be a total unapologetic bastard to me and my family in its last month by throttling most of us with a cold that made my one round of Covid feel merciful. So, yeah, definitely happy to see this year end after  that wonderful parting shot to the balls.

 

[Orchid]

oh I forgot to actually make a post here
I think I said something to a similar effect at the end of last year as well, but... I don't really know how I feel about this year. When I look back on them both, 2021 was actually a lot more exciting and memorable for me than most of 2022 was. While last year had some very high highs (which I'm feeling a bit nostalgic for already), it seems like this one just kinda... didn't. If anything it just feels like it had even lower lows.

Looking at the positives, I moved to a new place over the spring, which was absolutely a good decision. Since doing that I started getting outside and getting exercise a lot more often, which has been great! Walking alone has always been a relaxing escape for me. I lost count of how many sunsets I ended up watching over the course of this summer. ...And yet, at the same time, I also forfeited many more weeks than usual this year to just kinda sitting around at metaphorical rock bottom, not doing much of anything. Which has been... not the least bit great. Overall it's just been a "one step forward, ten to twelve steps back" kind of year for my life in every possible way lol.

I'm not sure, honestly. Despite how I make it sound, it really wasn't all bad — a bit hazy, yes — uneventful, maybe, but being the person I am there was some beauty to be found in the boredom sometimes. Maybe I'm just feeling negative right now since things have taken a huge nosedive for me right at the end, but while my expectations are low, I really just hope things manage to improve in 2023.

TL;DR: 3.7/10

 

[Aulos]

It was quite a roller coaster, that's one thing for sure. I know I tend to overdramaticize everything LOL, but this year was very significant.

Spoiler: Spoiler because I'm longwinded

I began the year with my family and I getting COVID. Thankfully, we were all vaccinated and we all made it through fine. Right after recovering from COVID, I finally had a job interview and got my job that I have had ever since! This was my largest goal going into 2022, and it came pretty quickly, thankfully! It's the first time I have had a stable, full time job since like 2016 between my health, college, and the pandemic. Best part of it is that it is a desk job, and that's why it's able to be so stable for me, because I'm not fighting pain to do it.

After that, I worked out going to this conference for the instruments I play with a friend and family. This would require plane flights which I have been scared of forever. Now, having money I went in to get my ears checked (because I was scared of getting on a plane with my ears being weird with pressure and stuff, but I also wanted to play music again) and got amazing news that there is no real damage in my ears and that I am free to fly and play music again! It's impossible to put into context how HUGE this was for me. I had stopped playing music in 2018 because of my ears and had been worried about them for a whole decade before that.

So, I went to the conference. Flew on a plane for the first time in nearly two decades, and it went fine. I was so relieved. At the conference I got to meet the individual who inspired me to play the oboe. I had been wanting to meet her for so long and it was such an honor!! However, also on this trip, I got my heart broken big time. But I feel like that was inevitable, and I am glad it finally happened, so I can move on! ...I haven't completely moved on yet, though. face desk I mean, I have, but also I haven't. Very hard to describe. I know nothing can come of it, and I expect nothing to ever come of it, but that doesn't mean the feelings can just go away entirely that quickly.

Otherwise, the location of the conference was in a much better state in the US than where I live and that filled me with much envy, and much, much depression getting on that plane to return to my miserable state. It just can't NOT be mentioned the anxiety that the Supreme Court has caused me for the past several years that unfortunately became very justified this year. As fed up as I am living in my current state as I was before this year (and that was at a very high amount), it multiplied by a hundred times this year. The trip and conference was after the Supreme Court struck down Roe vs Wade. Crossing the borders meant having freedom or not having freedom.

There was so much great about that conference and traveling to that state as well as the time I spent with my friend and family. But sadly the summer is mostly colored dark by the heartbreak and Roe vs Wade being overturned.

A large portion of the year I have been researching different states and the practicality of where to move. This has amplified, and the stress of the election going into fall only brought it up even more. As did the election results. When I mean the election results, I'm talking about in my state. My state failed miserably in the election. So miserably I even saw some of my friends who had been saying "we need to stay and fight" say "Screw this".

Moving on from all of that, because, no, that's not where this year ended for me. The fall and the rest of the year has not been so peaceful in my personal life for other reasons as well. All of these happenings fall more on the personal side than I really want to go into. But I'll just say that one was - and is continued - drama at home. It was completely unforeseen for me. It's not involving me, but, I'm here regardless, and will be effected by whichever way this drama resolves. It has thrown me into quite a disarray.

The second issue was more involving me. Another health issue. One that thankfully resolved fairly simply, but still gave me quite a scare. Despite how minor my case of it was, it was a very serious thing nevertheless and haunts me to this day.

I suppose I can end this on a more positive note with me getting to play the saxophone, even if it was a one time event. It was my first pep band performance in over a decade and it was a lot of fun!

Also... I see some agreement in my family on considering moving to another state that is much better than mine, but is more in our const of living range versus where we'd been looking before. My family would not even consider this state before now for various reasons, but they've set them aside. So maybe we might finally have a feasible place to move and can actually do it. Hopefully!

 

[Dreary_Rowlet]

It was as dull as the other years. At least I got to stay home most of the time

 

[Aozora]

Not bad, I suppose, but i can't really think of anything memorable about this past year. It kind of felt like another year of just coasting through life. Lots of me getting excited about things, then having that excitement quickly crushed by reality if that makes sense.

 

[airmail]

For starters, happy new year! I hope everyone can go into 2023 with hope, good luck, and good health.
As for how I feel about 2022, I'm not so sure either. I think some part of me wants to tell the entire year thank you, and then another part wants to wind back and punch it square in the nose ^^;

A lot's changed. In the spring there was this massive upheaval in my life; change so unexpected and staggering that I'm still trying to piece myself back together. It was terrible, and I know that for a very long time, I was in a place this year that I never expected to come back from. And yet - I did! I am here, and there are birds in the yard, and I know this spring will be full of flowers, and I got to experience the coldest night of my life! There are little good things scattered all throughout 2022, and I like to think of those as I tentatively approach the new year.

The change wasn't bad, and I'm grateful for it now. I'm grateful to be here - just to be writing this post now and thinking about what might be ahead! I suppose I can say that I learned a lot, and that whatever happens now is a road I never thought I'd have the option to take. While I'm very scared, I am also excited to get to see what 2023 has in store for me now!
hopefully it's, uhm, good things though.. please!

Good luck to everyone, and I hope genuinely that this year is one everyone will get to look back on and say, "It was the best year of my life!"

 

[toastghost]

2022 was... a bizarre year for me. there were a lot of highs, but even lower lows. hoping that 2023 is gonna be better