Git gone, ya fuck.
Can you believe it’s over already? Yes. It’s 2021 — and if you’re reading this, then we made it! And surviving this long really is an achievement after the last year, and it’s something to be proud of. So in a year full of uncertainty, fear and complete change, it feels a bit weird to do a roundup. But hey, here’s a 2020 in Review for you guys regardless!
As a lot of people did, I was at home for practically 8 months straight. I was lucky enough to have kept my job throughout the madness, although on furlough. Which meant that I could stay home, keep people close to me safe. And honestly, have some time to do some well-needed self work.
2020 in Review
The Big C
Covid-19 has been the forefront of every mind throughout the year, and something that has changed our lives for the foreseeable future, if not forever. I’m forever grateful for my health and my family’s health. And even though I’m from a Key Worker family, we’ve had only had covid scares, not cases.
It’s hard to roundup 2020 in a positive way when a deadly virus has ripped apart friends and families worldwide. I’ve known a few people who sadly lost loved ones and their own lives due to Covid, and I’d like to take a little moment up top to raise a glass to them. May their memories always be a blessing.
Mental Health
On a slightly happier note, I’ve actually been in therapy for the majority of the year. I started with GSH (guided self help) in early lockdown to start helping me form better long-term habits and routines. I have difficulty with things due to depression and CFS, and this was part of my management of my chronic illness. It was useful for a time, although I had deeper-set issues that needed to be worked out before I could progress.
The last five months I’ve been in CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy), and it’s honestly been the greatest thing I’ve ever done. I’m an open-book sort of person that rarely hides a lot of my feelings. I’ve got a good idea of myself and my mental illness, and thought I knew it all. I genuinely did not think I could learn so much about myself, my traumas and my behaviours. Although my sessions will soon end, I am no way done in my treatment, and will work on what I’ve learned about myself more going forward.
I Did Do Some Things
Bitch, I got engaged! In a year where there’s little room for things to happen, an engagement is really exciting. Due to lockdown and isolating, we’ve spent so much time together over 2020 that we ordinarily wouldn’t. And I’ve been really grateful for that, we’ve got to learn a lot about each other. We’ve learned a lot about us as a couple, too, which just makes us stronger as a team.
This was also the year that The Fiancé® started his university course to become a mental health nurse, too. It’s not been easy for him with unis mostly online, but I’m super proud of him.
I’ve also learned how to cook properly, baked a lot and generally enjoyed sorting our little flat into a home. Oh, and amassed a collection of house plants I’m freakishly obsessed with. Hopefully our agency lets us redecorate a bit this year — and maybe even adopt a cat — and our home will be complete for a bit!
Sewing and Craft
Finding my love for sewing again (and subsequently losing it hahah) was something that really kept me going in early lockdown. Creativity is really important to me and my mental health, and having time to do these things has been incredible. My 2020 makes aren’t the most incredible things I’ve made, but they’re perfectly me. My plans going into this year are to really throw myself into my sewing more. Make some more items that I love and will wear for years, and just be a bit more positive thanks to it.
I also re-learned how to cross stitch, which I hadn’t done since I was in my early teens! I’ll certainly be doing more of that, and maybe we can make some awesome patterns together, since it’s such a great starter craft?
Changing Priorities
In a year of unprecedented change and grounding, it’s been hard to have human interaction. As someone who is an anxious extrovert, I need human contact to survive, but find it hard reaching out to people. And this year has really stretched my anxiety, so any of the actual time spent face-to-face with people has been incredible. I’ve not seen my family too much this year, but the short time I did get with them was cherished, for sure.
Getting to hug my mum after six months (the longest I’ve gone without seeing her since I moved out ten years ago) was honestly the best. And I was able to connect more with my sister-in-law, who is my straight up best friend. Never before have I been so grateful for a hug from a friend, a phone call or a text thread. I won’t be taking it for granted again.
And with priorities changing, we have also shed light on injustices in the world that needed to be addressed. The killing of George Floyd and the resurrection of popularity in the BLM Movement, plus a rise in racism against East Asian people due to Covid. We just couldn’t hide from worldwide and internalised racism any more. Anti-Semitism on a global scale was brought to light. Mental health worries grew and became more prominent. And even small businesses became an important part of our daily lives. All of these things have been important, and I hope that it carries on into the new year.
And that’s my 2020 in review — how was your year?
Some people have thrived, some have simply just survived. And all of it is relevant, important and understandable. I’d love to hear about your year in the comments!
Onwards and upwards, I hope 2021 brings you happiness and health!
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