2022: The Year of Transition
Reflections on an insignificant year
Notes: Written at the end of December, 2022. Edited and added to until the present day.
Thinking about 2022…
I am writing this from a coffee shop in Utah after a long ski day. Ski days, writing, coffee. My favorite things.
I figure I’ll write to recap the year – a year that was probably one of the most unsignificant of my life so far. Why? Because nothing changed. In 2021, I graduated, moved to a new city, started a new job. In 2022, I still live in Boston (although I did move apartments). I work the same job. I belong to the same gym. In 2021, I built routine. In 2022, I maintained it.
Yet, this was probably one of the most significant years for my personal development. This year, I laid down the groundwork for questions that I will answer later. Some small: “how much money do I want to spend on shampoo?” Some big: “what do I actually want to do with my life?”
Many cultures name years. Most notably, the Chinese give each year the name of an animal. Less notably, David Foster Wallace, in Infinite Jest, named each year a commercial brand (a cynical take on the future of society.) And so, I will now attempt to name this year, and I will call it the “Year of Transition.”
I didn’t move. I didn’t start a new job, but for the entirety of 2022, I have been in transition. To where? I am not sure. But I am in motion -- both physically, as I average ~4 days a month in my Boston apartment. And mentally, as I explore who or what I really want to become.
While I may not have a lot to show for 2022, I did discover some pretty neat things. Here are the quotes that will stick with me long past the ball drop.
On business and ambition:
“If you are going to fail, fail fast.” – Phil Knight, Shoe Dog
“My life, is just going by so fast, but it’s not going anywhere.” – Sammy, The Fablemans
“Did I want to do this? And if I did want to do this, how would I do it? And then if I was going to do it, by damn I was going to be successful.” -- Kirsten Green, Interview with Protocol
On art:
“What I had to say to you, moreover, would not take long, to write: Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what’s inside you, to make your soul grow.” – Kurt Vonnegut, Letter to Xavier High School 2006
On relationships:
“I did not always think he was right nor did he always think I was right, but we were each the person the other trusted.” – Joan Didion, The Year of Magical Thinking
“Were they beautiful? We were all beautiful. We were in our twenties.” – Steve Martin, Born Standing Up
Here are my favorite pieces of art:
Best book: The Year of Magical Thinking. I know I am very late to the Didion game, but I did get there, eventually. This summer, I read all of her books, and this one, in my humble opinion, is the finest.
Best movie: Steven Spielberg’s The Fablemans. Hands down. If you haven’t seen it, watch it. This movie did not get the press it deserved.
Best song: “Orange Juice” by Noah Kahan. This album also wins best of the year, largely because of lyrical genius. (A tough pool considering that Maggie Rogers, Tyler Childers, and my favorite always, Mt. Joy, released an album this year.)
Best live concert: Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats at Austin City Limits as the sun set over Zilker Park. Specifically, the song “I Need Never Get Old.” Hearing this song, surrounded by some of my favorite friends, dust in the air, an orange tint to the sky. That is a memory I will carry with me.
It has been a time.
Happy New Year!