my 2022 in review

that rhymes!

a meme sent to me by my friend rasheeqa last year, edited by soha for the new year

I wasn’t gonna do this kind of thing, but when talking with my friend Josh about our respective new years plans, he let me in on a ritual he has going with his boyfriend Ricardo (hi Josh and Ricardo!). At the end of each year they sit down and reminisce about what happened during each month, entirely from memory, and call it The Year in Review. That’s lovely, I said. I’m stealing that, I thought. 

And I know smart people on the internet say that this, the end of the Gregorian calendar year, is not really the ideal time for deep reflection, excavation and forceful implementation of habitual shifts because it’s clearly cozy bozy time. But I am not one to pass up an opportunity for a fresh start. Oh yes daddy, SCRUB ME RAW AT THE RIVER OF SECOND CHANCES!!!

It doesn’t end there. Simply put, I am an honorary Iranian through blood (11%!) and marriage (Soha) and I’ll relish this exact opportunity once again in SPRING during Persian new year, Nowruz, and again at the Muslim new year if I have to! And while I happily abandoned religion many years ago, I do still live in a muddled fear of a life without the warmth, depth and playfulness of ritual or tradition. People say it’s ok, we’ll make up our own! But will the emails actually stop long enough for us to do that?? So while The Year in Review sounds like something you’re more likely to find in a boardroom than an elder’s embrace, it will totally do. 

Here’s a completely non-dramatic retelling of some of my memories of a chaotic year during which I went on t and off t and off meds and then back on meds, just to give you a taste of my internal world.