2022 - The Year That Shouldn't Have Been

It was the year that shouldn't have been. With Vladimir Putin flexing his ego in Ukraine leaving a country in physical ruins, even as its citizens proved to have a spirit and tenacity that could not extinguished. With the climate wreaking havoc, reminding us that if we choose to abuse it, the damage we do is ultimately only to ourselves. With the pandemic still a force to be reckoned with, even if so many would rather not, culminating in the massive toll it has taken in China, where lockdown ended and the floodgates opened. With the ongoing saga of our democracy in peril, from the decision of the Supreme Court announcing that 50 year's of a woman's freedom to choose was no longer, to the political carnival that is the Republican party from their long anointed head to the bottom scraping George Santos. We barely survived its worst intentions in our election, and know the unfortunate truth is that they remain undeterred. With economies around the globe struggling mightily to regain their footing. With global threats of autocracy, or worse, still refusing to abate, right wing dogmas seeming to take an ever-increasing hold. Prejudices and prevarications being the realm of the coin in so many arenas.

But I suppose this is how it is meant to be. The universe forever uneven, some moments seeming to give us ample cause to believe that better days are ahead, others suggesting we are in desperate decline. It is an inevitable ebb and flow, and for now at least we appear to be in a trough.

We are, however, inclined to point in the direction of hope and even if we can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, to understand it exists.

So, we bid a not so fond farewell to the year that shouldn't have been, and hold out our arms to 2023. We ask that it treat us with kindness, respect and that it give us ample reason to smile.

We surely need it.