2021: Year in Review

I feel like I marvel every year about how quickly time flies by, and this year is no different. 2021 has simultaneously rushed past and dragged on for what feels like centuries. A lot has happened, but I’ve still felt pretty stagnant as my life (and the whole world) is still mostly on hold. There have been some wins and high points, but I won’t deny that there have been mostly lows and I’ve had a difficult time with both my physical and mental health. As a result, this post might be a bit moan-y at times.

To get it out of the way, let’s address the microscopic elephant in the room – Covid is still wreaking havoc on the planet with new and exciting variants popping up regularly. It’s a long, frustrating slog and I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s completely tired of it. This year held a positive note on this front though – I am now fully vaxxed! I got my second dose of Pfizer in August, and had my booster jab just one week ago (Moderna – yessss, Dolly Parton’s one!). I’ve been abundantly cautious and still haven’t yet had Covid, even when my whole household had it. I consider myself really lucky.

The Job Sitch

I have been applying for jobs all year. I’ve had a few interviews and tonnes of rejections, but I’m still doggedly looking. If you know anyone who requires a writer/editor, hmu (I’m only partially joking). In October, I decided to start freelancing to fill the gap, keep my writing muscles working, and make some money. It’s not much, and it’s still early days, but I’ve already earned a little bit and I want to try to keep it going and build up my freelance business in the New Year.

Driving

In April, I made a huge decision to start driving. I’d just never gotten around to it before – I’m lucky to have always had good public transport connections in the places I’ve lived, and just never thought it was worth the expense. However, with my health and possibly needing to commute for work in the future, I decided it was time to get going. Better late than never! In June, I took my theory test and passed it first time. As it stands now, I can drive – I just need to neaten up my manoeuvres and ‘git gud’ before I can take my practical test.

Unfortunately I had to stop driving lessons for the last few months of the year because my bad knee has decided to go kaputt, and of course it’s the leg I need for the clutch pedal which means I can’t drive safely (or at all, if it’s bad). I was absolutely gutted.

Knee Woes

That kind of leads us neatly to my next Big Thing of 2021. My left knee has been a thorn in my side (leg?) since the age of 15. After going to physiotherapy and starting at the gym, my muscles were supporting it a lot more and it seemed to be stable. But in May, it locked up for the first time in about 3 years.

Following this was a looooong process to get referred to the hospital and see an advanced physiotherapist, which finally happened in September. She’s decided to order an MRI of my knees because it appears to be cartilage-related. However, due to the Covid backlog and how swamped the NHS has been for months, I don’t even have an appointment for the scan yet. I have no idea when they’ll be able to get me in.

In the meantime, my left knee is getting worse, and my right knee is also deteriorating because of the overcompensation. I’m on painkillers that I only take when it’s really bad because the side effects are crap, and started another antidepressant which also helps to mitigate pain. It’s really depressing that it’ll probably be years before it can be completely fixed, unless I win a shitload of money.

Mental Health

I’ve also not had the easiest year with my mental health (who has, am I right?) – depression has been difficult to contend with, and was especially bad in the winter. I also experienced quite a big uptick in anxiety. This is probably unsurprising, considering my personal life and the state of the world in general, but it still threw me for a loop.

On a more positive note, I’ve identified one of my major problems after talking with a psychologist – perfectionism. And I don’t mean that in the job interview ‘good thing disguised as a weakness way’. I set myself ridiculously high standards and unattainable goals all the time, and feel guilty all the time for ‘not being good enough’. It’s something that debilitates me, stops me from pursuing life goals, and has a huge knock-on effect on my self-esteem and mental health. I’ve been doing a course to understand this problem better and learn ways to manage my way of thinking. I hope it’ll be helpful.

Weight Loss

I’m now sitting at about halfway to my weight loss goal! I’m still counting calories and exercising as regularly as I can. In the summer, my weight loss suddenly plateaued and I started finding it harder to lose as regularly. I think I’m getting close to my body’s Ideal Weight.

In September, I tried to ‘reset’ my metabolism by going up to maintenance calories and then back to deficit every fortnight. I haven’t noticed an enormous change from doing this, but I also relaxed a bit in the winter and over Christmas. I’m planning to weigh myself on Friday, and get back to being more disciplined again.

Live Music

This year, I got to see some live music again for the first time since 2019. In June, I virtually attended Gary Numan’s global album premiere of Intruder. It wasn’t the same as being at a venue, but it was still so good to see a live performance from one of my favourite musicians. He was so brilliant and entertaining that I immediately booked a ticket to see him in person on his UK tour in April!

In October, I went to see Fascinating Aïda. They’re a triplet of seemingly classy ladies who write and sing songs that are rude, hilarious, topical, and sometimes really thought-provoking. I was introduced to them by Caroline (who is friends with them), and we vowed to see them together one day. This finally happened in 2021 when we went to Yeovil, the most horrible town ever. The rest of the trip was crap, but I’d still do it again to see them. The gig was brilliant, and we got to have a little meet and chat with them afterwards (they are all very nice and vibrant).

I’ve also attended a couple of my friend Will’s choir concerts, one of which was in the gorgeous Bath Abbey. I haven’t seen a choral concert in a long time, so I’ve been thoroughly spoiled this year. It’s such a joy to listen to live singing again, I’d forgotten how much I missed it.

Travel

Obviously travel has been a bit of a dud in 2021, with continuing restrictions and uncertainty. I have gone back and forth to Bath quite regularly, to meet friends, but I’ve only had one ‘real’ trip right at the end of the year. I went to London overnight, had a blast, and managed to avoid getting Covid. I’m going to be writing a proper blog about the trip as soon as possible. I hope I can make more trips in 2022.

Other Highlights

•  Making a new friend! I so rarely click with people so this was a really nice surprise.
•  First meal out in a restaurant for over a year.
• Also first cinema visit in ages – Holly, Ali and I went to see Venom: Let There Be Carnage (brilliant).
• Mochi’s ‘gotcha day' – had this lil rascal for over a year now

• Doing my Myers-Briggs and finding out I’m INFJ, supposedly the rarest personality type.
• Cooking and baking adventures, some of my favourites being: Currywurst, spinach and feta turkey burgers, Parkin, gingerbread Yule log, and stollen.
• A really lovely Christmas, when I managed to see a lot of family members and eat with gay abandon.
• My brother and his partner got a new dog – a Husky!! – and he’s gorgeous.

2021 Goal Recap

Go on at least one trip – Yes, just! As I said before, my London trip was in December. Unless you count a few overnights in Bath, in which case I’ve been on a few more.

Learn to drive – I’ve passed my theory test and know how to drive, I just need to polish it and get test-ready. I like to say I’ve gotten half a licence.

Keep saving money – The savings I started with this year are intact, but I haven’t been able to save any more this year. To be honest, I’ve been a bit too relaxed with money and want to start building savings again.

Get back into paid work – I don’t have a ‘conventional’ job yet, despite my best efforts. I have however earned some money from freelancing – it isn’t much but it’s a start.

Gym/exercise at least 3 times a week – Looking back on my habit charts (so useful to have), I've only had a few weeks in which I haven’t exercised at least 3 times, and even those have at least one day of exercise. I didn’t realise just how well I’d done with it until now, so I’m really pleased.

Read 15 books – This year I read 14 books so I just missed this goal. As is my custom, here’s a list of the books I read in 2021:

• The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
• 11.22.63 by Stephen King
• Surviving the Evacuation: Mort Vivant by Frank Tayell
• Surviving the Evacuation: Where There’s Hope by Frank Tayell
• Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? by Caitlin Doughty
• Bucket, F*ck It, Done It List by Sara Kinninmont
• The Day the Nazis Came by Stephen R. Matthews
• A Slip Under the Microscope by H.G. Wells
• Saving Mona Lisa by Gerri Chanel
• 20^th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill
• The House Next Door by James Patterson
• Regeneration by Pat Barker
• Unnatural Causes by Dr Richard Shepherd
• Wabi Sabi by Beth Kempton

Complete Yearly Purge – It has actually become a habit to do this every year. It’s really therapeutic to sort through all of my things and get rid of stuff I don’t need or use.

Continue calorie counting/weight loss – Apart from the aforementioned plateau and slacking off in December yes! I plan to be right back on it now.

Get a tattoo – Once again, nope. To be honest, I’m kind of losing interest in this one at the moment – I have other priorities for now.

Create a blog post backlog – Absolutely not, I’ve been a complete slacker with my personal writing. The only ‘real’ writing I’ve done has been for my freelance clients. I’m planning to fix that this year (seriously this time).

Write in daily diary – Yes, I actually stuck to it! Writing an entry every day, just recording what happened, has been really helpful for my short-term memory.

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That sums up my 2021, as concisely as a waffler like me could manage. I hope everyone has a much better 2022!