Happy New Year 2022!

Happy New Year / Bonne année / 新年快樂!

Welcome to 2022. Another year of completing another rotation around the sun, and it’s incredible that we’ve also survived another year of the pandemic. Things have definitely improved since the previous year, but there’s still a lot to improve on. 2022 gives us that chance to do so, and we’ll have to see just what happens in the next 12 months…

I’ve already discussed most of it in my “Life Update” post in December, but overall, my 2021 year was incredibly calm– in fact, I don’t think I’ve had such a tranquil year since high school! There was always something going on over these last few years, whether it was traveling, moving homes, or getting my foot into a steady career. Now that I’ve settled in Los Angeles and am now in a permanent work position, I’m living the adult everyday-ness of work on the weekdays, and fun on the weekends. And to be honest, I actually like it.

This isn’t to say that I don’t desire to travel anymore– in fact, I catch myself getting itchy feet to go somewhere. I do hope to travel more this year (and I do have a big, international trip booked later this year), but otherwise, I enjoy finally having stability after years of uncertainty and bouncing back-and-forth between two countries. Honestly, I need to have some roots for at least another few years before I can even consider going elsewhere.

What will 2022 bring? Factually, I know that it’ll bring my second year of being at my current job (come this August) and *hopefully* my big international trip in the winter. But also, I’ll be turning 29 in March, which is just a year away from the big 3-0. It may not seem a big deal of turning 29, but the way I see it, it is the final year of being in my twenties and it is a way of reflecting on what I’ve done and have accomplished during this momentous decade of my life. I won’t say too much about this for the moment, as I am technically not 29 (nor even 30) yet, but I will say that, overall, I’m satisfied with how my twenties have turned out so far. More on that to come later…

I’ve long since stopped making resolutions for years now, as I don’t like the pressure of having to achieve them within the year. However, I do make goals– tentative goals— that I do my best to reach, but don’t find a big deal if I’m not able to:

One of my goals this year is to travel more domestically (safely, of course). It’s been my dream to visit Chicago and New Orleans for such a long time, and I really hope to hit at least one of them this year, if not both. Another is to get a better work schedule, as I am unhappy with my current one– I know that this will be up to administration, but I intend to push a bit and see if it’s a possibility. I also aim to get back into running regularly, as I’ve been inconsistent with my running schedule for several months now. As it’s been my passion since my preteen years, I plan to make a routine to run and increase my mileage again. Even if I can only run once or twice a week, it’s a lot better than nothing!

Whereas the beginning of 2021 still had a lot of uncertainty with life and plans for many of us, it appears that 2022 will be a bit better now that people are vaccinated and things (e.g. restaurants, travel, etc.) have reopened. While there are apprehensions about the Omicron variant going around (and spikes in COVID cases during this past holiday season), I predict and hope that this surge will die down as the year progresses. And even if there will continue to be variants popping up at this rate, I believe that taking precautions to limit going out and to always mask up while doing so is the way to go to reach a “new normal” in our society. We’ll just have to see in these next 12 months.

Thanks for reading my ramblings. I wish you all a wonderful New Year’s and a wonderful 2022! 🙂

Winter in Manhattan Beach

— Rebecca