So, I've heard from a lot of people that 2022 was a difficult year and honestly I can see why. If I look at general news it was bleak, with the war, the heat waves, the energy prices, coughtheitalianelectionscough, and covid still not being behind us. Sometimes it was hard not to let all of that big picture get to my head, even if there was objectively little I could have really done to fix things.
It was mostly the beginning of the year that was rough, I was ready for yet another 2020/2021 and I was too focused on university exams anyways, but things started looking up after that. I didn't give it much credit when it actually happened, but I think I got a lot of encouragement from my family deciding to still organize a family trip in May despite the... overall world situation. Definitely a welcome addition to 2022 since in June / July I was once again stressing for exams ^^;
Then magic happened (literally)... if you know me a bit better you'll already know everything about it, but basically I ended up in a place that I thought I could never reach this quick. I started caring about myself a little more, picking up a new hobby, and of course, actively working towards studying abroad! And my friendships also improved in quantity and quality, I guess. Thinking about it, this could have easily been a side effect of the lockdowns: personal growth happens anyways, it's just more limited and "bottled up" in a way, until it all rushes out at the right occasion.
If there's something that 2022 has taught me is that when something's got to happen, it happens, no matter whether or not all the odds are stacked against you ♥ hopefully this will come in useful for 2023, since it already looks like a stand-out year with a lot of things already on the calendar!