Yes, this year has been a catastrophic nightmare, but good things have also happened. I want to finish the year with some gratitude and not be so grim and fatalistic all the time.
Good things:
I figured out what skin care stuff works for me. My skin is the nicest it’s been in years.
Many of my online friendships and one IRL friendship have grown beautifully.
My kids have matured a lot
was born (also many other excellent humans, but he is the only one I’ve spent time with)
Therapy and a lot of contemplation have paid off, and I am a lot more accepting of some brutal but unchangeable shit in my life. I felt like I was coming apart before, and I’m better now.
I will think of other things and post more. What good things have come your way this year?
Quit drinking 5 months ago and feel much better/healthier. My youngest son moved home because of Covid and losing his job. We have had so much fun the past 9 months and without this set of circumstances we wouldn’t have gotten to spend so much time together.
-I got a great job with great benefits
-I’ve paid off almost $12,000 in credit card debt this year so far
-I’ve dramatically improved my physical fitness - went from barely able to walk up a hill without huffing to hiking and biking for miles
-Related to the above, I finally feel like I’m starting to take advantage of all the amazing scenery and outdoors opportunities where I am
-I still don’t really have friends here, but I’ve acquired some secondhand friends lol (my boyfriend’s hiking buddies). I did finally Skype with a bunch of remote friends too, which I had been meaning to do for ages
I have a baby lion and an adult person in my bed basically every night and it is very good. Feb 10-march 20 were dope as shit tbh. In the beginning the whole is it a pandemic for realsies thing was actually super fun!
Apologies for things you can buy in a store
But I got an amazing off road tough stroller. And a really cool used folding stroller
2 pink sweatershirts that are ethical
Yesterday I unpacked kitty, bootsie and monkey,y childhood stuffed animals and that is good. I don’t like them living in boxes
I listened to an absurd number of armand gamache stories
I saw two coyotes that were peaceful, healthy and happy (unlike the urban kind that want a piece of me)
I flew in a private plane to one of the most beautiful places and took my baby on an insane canoe-hike-canoe
I went on several hikes
I wore a little snuggly baby
I barely worked, which is about the right amount of work
Percy has adapted
I learned online shopping.
I learned some cool new music and now have a favourite conducted.
I watched my baby go from a newborn to a toddler, and that is an absolutely incredible process that I’ve been happy for every single day. All the years of hoping it would all be worth it? It was worth it.
We bought a house. I think it was a good financial move, and it has certainly been a quality of life improvement (catch 22 because it is an improvement because of the pandemic. But still).
I have an induction stove again.
I have room for a Christmas tree, and a delightful cackling beast who waves “goodnight” to it before every nap and bed.
I’m starting to get comfortable in my own skin again. When the year started, I had a hard time walking very far, had to log roll to get out of bed, was limited to standing for a period of minutes at a time. My body is much more usable now, and starting to feel familiar.
I did not have an asthma attack during the wildfires.
I spent an entire year not worrying about trying to have a baby.
My husband is really hitting his stride in his new(ish) job, and really enjoys it. It was a good change to make.
I got a raise pretty early in the year making it possible for me to get by with only two jobs instead of the usual 3.
Paid off a lot of debt, made good headway on starting an emergency fund, and now am really close to not having a negative net worth.
Had more open financial conversations with Sweaty both about where we’re at and our goals, and now have a joint savings for dog efund and for an eventual house down payment.
Made significant progress toward figuring out the right balance between my values, risk tolerance, skills, etc. when it comes to political action, and did things that went beyond giving money and yelling on social media.
Our Dungeons and Dragons group has been able to meet more regularly, almost weekly, during the pandemic, and our friendships have strengthened as a result.
I found an at home strength training program that works for me and that I’ve managed to make a habit of.
Realized I am not a man, but instead non-binary/agender and way happier about myself wearing dresses nearly 100% of the time. Even with a lot of abuse from my family of origin, realizing this and coming fully out shortly afterwards has been very worth it.
Realized I have had an eating disorder on and off ever since I was a kid. Much clarity and improved health as a result of this.
The above two realizations improved my mental health so much that (so far) I seem able to get off all psychiatric meds.
Gave away lots of fresh veggies to neighbors, and my neighborhood is very class-diverse.
Made a new BFF during the pandemic and we are each the only non-binary people the other person knows IRL, which is an extra bonding point.
I’ll think of more things later, but having so many things be virtual meant I ended up having tons of video calls with friends from all over the world, some of which I wouldn’t have had without corona and some of which I wouldn’t have had in the frequency I do. In some ways I felt more socially fulfilled than before, and I have a real gratitude for having the people in my life that I do.
Boyfriend was laid off from his toxic abusive job and, while it took some time, got a much better job where he is treated with respect, fully remote, and making more money.
We got to go on a bucket list trip to Hawaii pre-pandemic. I am so so so grateful that I pushed for us to do this.
We are keeping in better touch with our friends in St. Louis since lockdown.
I got all my outstanding dental work taken care of and just the peace of mind of knowing that I was not anywhere near losing many of my teeth the way many family members did due to neglect and lack of dental care gives me a lot of peace of mind.
I grew a lot of tomatoes and peppers and herbs and greens.
-I got pregnant.
-Daycare closed and we’ve had kiddo home with us since mid March.
-We had the chance to work from home, and have now decided to do that permanently, and not go back to the office.
-We crossed a net worth milestone.
-We made the decision to go live near family.
-We realized RLG can stop working if he wants to.
-I slept a lot.
-RLGs job has given us a meal box (sort of like a hello fresh or something) every week since March.
Most of this wouldn’t have happened without Covid. We were just going along in our inflexible jobs with commutes and long daycare days, and this really kickstarted a lot of (hopefully good) changes. I’m very thankful.
was born (also many other excellent humans, but he is the only one I’ve spent time with)