Goodbye, 2021. Hello, 2022.

 

(I refused to try to fit my favorite pictures into just 9)

Well, 2021, what can I say? Started off weird, turned more normal-ish, Summertime made us feel invincible, ended with a major landslide (and not the good kind).

This year I learned:

* I Can Do Hard Things, and my favorite hard thing to do is hiking with my family.

* I am only responsible for how I respond. Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys.

* My greatest responsibility/joy is continuing to make this home, this family my children's safe place - not just physically but also as far as the memories they will use as they get older to help ground and calm them. There is no greater honor or weight.

* We are all connected.

* I am more than the sum of my bad or good days.

* 10 minutes alone in the morning with coffee and a candle help my family survive until sundown.

* I don't know how the hell I managed to *know* already at 23, but I married the right guy.

* The laughing reaction on social media is everything that is wrong with our world today.

* Traveling was even more important to me than I'd realized.

 * I will never stop trying to be forthright and honest with people, even if it means I will lose on average 1-2 friends per year.

* The friends/family who do stay - the ones who appreciate the forthright, imperfect me? They are everything.

There are so many more lessons this year has put forward, and I will forever be grateful for both the struggle and the beauty I managed to dig up amidst the absolute turmoil.

 May our 2022 be peaceful, healthy and filled with countless joyful surprises.