7/10? Which feels awful to type given the context. Gonna spoiler this because I feel bad having a good year when so many aren’t and I don’t want to look like I’m boasting.
got to move back in with my partner after three years away for work
not paying for my own place anymore has helped me save loads, so we can look at moving to a much bigger place next year
got a new job internally on a temporary promotion, fairly sure I would’ve been overlooked for these things a year ago because I wasn’t based in London
minimal ability to socialise has been really good for my mental health because I don’t feel like an absolute friendless dweeb anymore
we adopted our cat and I love her so much
haven’t seen my family in a year now. My niece is 1 now and running around like a terror and I want to cuddle her.
my health has been a fucking joke. every few weeks something else comes up. after surgery last december, 2020 started with my spending nights in the hospital before them diagnosing some issued with nerves. a planned MRI was set for march 30th or something and didn’t get sorted. only last week was i finally diagnosed with severe nerve damage, and prescribed the meds that i needed to start at least trying to get it under control. it’s been shit living with excruciating pain for 10 months basically.
add onto that kidney stones, which i’ve still not been sorted for (but i think i passed them a few weeks ago, TMI) and breaking my fucking wrist last week… it’s been wank.
obviously, march to july was a nightmare. home schooling took a huge hit on my MH and the TV’s as we struggled to teach our kid how to add and write, at a crucial moment in her P1 year. add to that their own anxiety, and it’s just a mess.
then add in the Landlord harrassment issues we had and the shadow of eviction across the whole pandemic, and then having to find a house when there were none on the market, and then the police being involved.
and then a few weeks my gran passing and the tiny service she had to had despite her family being larger than the sidelines of an NFL team.
it’s been rough.
tiny bright spots include my kids learning things, like the eldest finally clicking with reading which is a real joy, the new house we found was simply brillliant, and i’ve never felt more connected to my friends, crazily, thanks to our weekly quizzes.
Started the year out going to Aus for work stuff, pretty annoying that 1) the only real free time we’ve been able to have this year I was working stupid hours and miles away from everyone and 2) didn’t even get to see very much while I was there.
House move collapsed due to Covid so had to move back in with my parents, wasn’t great, but it was genuinely nice to spend time with them properly again. My partner couldn’t hack it really though, she was in a pretty bad place but had to put up a front which was making her spiral badly.
Luckily we sorted a place out, moved up to probably the first place I feel we can consider home, which is quite sad when I think about it. Got 2 cats which has been a massive distraction and keeps it interesting.
Had a kind of bad meltdown at the height of stress when studying which I’m quite ashamed of - but that was basically the first real release of emotion of the year which is very unhealthy.
Some good stuff though
Been a huge godsend being able to go out into the peaks etc on a weekend
Ran my first half marathon
Been fun decorating a house
became a doctor
Somehow got a job in the middle of all this
It’s picked up a lot recently but the first 9 months were torture. 4? 5?
Second worst year of my life, but I am massively priveleged so it is all relative. (the worst being a year when I was seriously ill and barely left the house)
Went through a break up with the only person I have ever really loved in January/February, so those two months were shit. Then thought ‘well I will just make the most of being single and travel loads etc…’ but then the obvious happened and I’ve barely left my little basement flat. Work has been good I guess, managed to transition into a role I should really like, but i’ve been too sad to make the most of it. I know this is the same as everyone, but definitely feel like I’ve lost a year of my life - I am 32 and need to seriously think about my future but really wanted one last gasp of care-free ‘living’.
Next year promises to start off with a bang as my sister will have her first child in January, and as soon as restrictions start lifting I am going to try and get out there and do things. Maybe attend my first DiS Meat?
been effectively financially neutered/a one-income family in real terms.
ongoing diagnosis of worrying symptoms that started in March and we’re still not clear if i’m a CancerBoi or just… really ill in other ways? My partner went through rough, rough MH times when she couldn’t work and was cut off from visiting her entire family and friends out in France, which made that worse. i lost a good, old friend who was younger than me and that put me on my arse in the middle of an already taxing month.
On the plus side we kind of cocooned into our shared hobbies and our individual ideas. She got her british passport sorted and has been learning japanese, chess and non-ballet dance forms quietly at home. I’ve been on the comic book, the album and writing a coffee table book. so it’s been weirdly productive.
despite my health being poor my closest loved ones are healthy. and my job has provided. so i guess it is a relative 10/10 year by comparison to most but a solid 5 in comparison to our own timeline
I’ve run almost 500k this year, which seems mad given how much of a potato I’ve always been. I’ll never be good at it, but it’s great fun and I love doing an early run. On the best days it’s an excuse to see the sun rise and listen to some bangers, and on the worst days it’s been a genuine lifesaver.
Materially I’ve been lucky, my job has been great, I’ve been able to WFH and luckily my family and friends have been ok. Really grateful I’ve got a few friends in London within walking distance, and have managed to hang out with them to greater or lesser degrees over the year.
But it feels like I’ve gone from living a lifestyle of bachelor freedom to living the life of a basement dwelling incel. I haven’t seen my family all year, which is grim. I really miss travel, hiking and swimming. I would have said cooking was my favourite hobby, but I’m getting increasingly sick of it and the endless fucking washing up. Hate the general feeling of distance that attends every interaction, I just wanna hug someone.
4/10, a pointless year for me, but nothing actively horrible yet
sorry to hear about your friend passing, it’s never easy, pretty fucked that your other friends excluded you after a falling out too but you know you weren’t in the wrong, well done for challenging their dodgy views, that’s something you can definitely be proud of!
You’ve really been through a lot lately, I can only imagine how bad it is to live in constant pain, must take massive strength to get on with your day. Hope the meds help you out there and give you some relief. Also fuck landlords!
It is fun being an uncle! I don’t see my nieces much these days even without the pandemic, they are getting to the age where they are aware it’s not cool to want to muck around with their crazy uncle.
This week my youngest niece commented that she didn’t have a watch but her older sister has a watch. My mum said well that’s because you can’t tell the time, but when you can I’ll get you a nice watch, ok? She said “me can’t tell the time, me can’t read, me can’t write, me can’t do anything!”
Same. I’m on track to easily hit 800km this year since starting running in late March. WTF. Went from absolutely hating it’s guts to loving it’s guts to back to hating the guts out of it but very happy it’s given me something free to do to keep things ticking over a bit MH wise.