2021 WRAPPED
Something must have changed along the way, and it always does, because the year ended nothing like the year I entered. Of course, COVID-19 took most of the limelight once again, manifesting itself in different ways as if to show off its creativity. I bet a few of us envy its mobility, sleeping in Frankfurt one night and waking up in eastern Asia or southern Africa the next day. But the best part? Travelling for free! If I could be in all those places in that short period of time, and simultaneously to say the least, I too would want to be COVID-19.
Apart from the part that it takes lives away, people and not just numbers that we check once a week to see what the trend is. My heart breaks because this virus took up another year, and just like that, we adapt and become stronger. Also divide and fight one another. In that light, I'd like to wrap up 2021 and give the new year ahead a chance to show itself. I haven't given up hope that somethings can be different and good, or just different and you be the judge of its outcome.
2021 was a reflective year on a personal level. I spent so much time on my own, music and writing being my true friends. I spent so much time having endless conversations with myself and wishing and unwishing all my wishes. First few months was rough, I remember. I didn't think I was mentally strong enough to deal with some of the stuff I was going through, I thought time was not moving at all and I refused to look to the future because I had been so hooked on the past. I had been so hooked on making something out of nothing, knowing right from the start that it was nothing. I had been disappointed, but the worst disappointment came from myself. I knew it, I still felt it and that's why I despised myself.
I'm grateful for my friends and my sisters who always get me in a good mood, even if they do so by saying the most inappropriate things. That's our love language. I'm grateful for my dear friend Simo who came out to Bjørnevatn and went skiing with me just when the sun returned with the hope of cheering me up and bringing me back to life. It worked! Those Sundays and skiing in Sandnes really did me wonders, not to mention the treats afterwards. We all need and deserve a good friend, one who understands and will go the extra mile to make sure that you're okay.
My 21st birthday didn't happen like I wanted it to, like I had dreamed about since I was a child and I've understood that so many things happen just the way they are supposed to, even when they don't go the way we had planned. I had one of the best days of my life with a small group of people I'd want to call family. Who knows? I might turn 21 again and celebrate it in Namibia just the way I wanted to, but things are different now and different like I mentioned previously, doesn't have to be good or bad.
Things went as they should regarding my school year, something that I would not like to discuss at all. I've had a wonderful year learning, getting crazy ideas and using smart words once in a while... something I'm really going to miss, but learning never stops right? I got to know and unknow a lot of people too, once again, something I really don't want to share because its petty and a waste of my time.
Most of all, I'm proud of handing in assignments when I was supposed to and being satisfied with my work even when I knew that I could have done better. It's been exhausting and just thinking back to sleeping at four in the morning or buying Red Bull to be able to work the whole night tires me out. I'll leave that there. I've got a couple more months before I walk into something new and so until then, I will hold on with all the strength I got.
The year also gave me a chance to visit my friends down south and get to know people again, something that keeps happening because I've learned that people change and grow all the time. I'm not even surprised that the person I met yesterday can be a whole new person tomorrow because life has a way of happening.
That's why I put so much respect on time and have been teaching myself to understand and get used to the idea that people change constantly, even if not visibly, but there will always be something different about someone when you haven't seen them for a long time. Yes, even those unchangeable ones too. Even if their attitude is the same, the clothes and shoes might be different. You see, nothing remains the same.
I've spend another year missing home and wanting to be with my family but I've been holding on. The family's had their ups and downs, so have I. I've missed home a lot and in the mean time, I took up some stuff to keep myself busy. The first one must be starting the podcast in early January and then kicking off with it for real in later August. It took much longer than expected, but I did! Its slowly coming together with almost ten episodes. I'm also working on anothere exciting project so watch this space!
Have you seen that movie where the main character sends an email to a local newspaper asking to write for them in their native language somewhere in Scandinavia after being there for a little over two years? And actually becomes part of a group of writers who writes once a month? Well, I haven't see that movie either but I'm definitely that main character and that's how I scored a writing section in one of the local newspapers. The scariest thing was writing in Norwegian but I love me a good challenge and overtime it has of course gotten better!
The greatest thing this year must have been having my sister finally join me in the high north. Insane! After months of planning and discussing with Aunt Iselin, it finally happened. It still feels unrealistic and it feels crazy that I have Janet here with me. It's something completely different to have almost a replication of you in the same space. If anything, we can both agree that her being here has made it even more clear that even siblings from the same household can be completely different people. That must be one of the reasons Janet and I get along and fight at the same time. We've outgrown physical fighting, but arguing will always be there.
It's weird how we grow and sometimes we don't even feel it. Especially when no major event has happend that makes it clear. I feel like things changed on my birthday last year because I'd placed so much emphasis on being 21 and thats what it was. The whole experience.
The year came with so many empty promises, especially towards the end when Norway opened up again hoping to get things back to normal. If anything, during the weeks after the opening, I realised that almost everyone had lost touch with 'normal' and were having a weird time adjusting to being normal again when they'd adapted to the new normal almost two years ago. Normal would never be the same and normal has always been relative, we just got to understand it clearer.
Getting a job at the hotel was also one of the highlights of the year, something I enjoyed even more than school. It's all about the vibe, all about the people and I love that I can do so well in a space around people that just seem to match my energy. Those are the times live for!
I hope your year was productive, not necessarily by doing material productive stuff, but other stuff too. Like taking care of yourself, reaching personal goals and achieving your dreams. Maybe a lot of stuff didn't work out too, but every day is a chance to try again right? Even if that falls on dead eyes (deaf ears).
Above everything, I hope even the strongest of you had time to get to relax, be with loved ones and appreciate the little things in life.
Wishing you great success this year, whether you manage to invest in buying some land on the moon, wake up on time everyday or get the tender care you deserve. I wish you all the best!
Much, much love
Queen
#newyear #writer #blogger #norway #2021 #2022