Closing Thoughts for 2023

It's finally ending

It’s finally happening.

I did the 1:23 bit today as well, stayed up till 01:23 and marked 1:23 pm. Already, parts of the world have rung in 2024.

As the time I write this, it’s approaching 16:01, the official sunset time in the UK. I’m ready to see the sun off, knowing that it will not rise on a day in 2023 again.

There have been some bad days in 2023. But also some good days. Really good days. I’ll mention a few of them here.

• Job: I got a job. I’ll still have the job to go back to on Tuesday.

• Birthday: I had a long week all to myself in the runup to my birthday, which was fun. Same deal for the week of Samhain and the last working week before the Xmas hols.

• Reconnection: I reconnected with the spiritual things I love - Nature, hypnosis, Tarot, the runes, the music I like.

• Travel: I can now travel, more or less freely, throughout Wales.

• Shoes: New shoes, with barefoot soles, have made such a difference, because walking is no longer so painful at times.

• Friendship: I have friends.

• LGBTQIA+: I’m an asexual, and non-binary. These matter to me. I am living in an environment where people I work with are accepting of this.

• Hobbies: I have reconnected with more than just the spiritual. I’ve reconnected with mundane hobbies and pursuits, such as Vedic mathematics, brushing up on the Trachtenberg speed arithmetic system, and practicing my ocarina.

• Certification: I’ve been given certification in food safety and fire safety.

• Award: A magazine devoted to SMEs in Wales has declared me the Best Welsh Translator of 2023.

This Year: No huge plans for now. I’d really like to keep practicing the skills I have been developing. I want to work on soft skills at work, such as boosting morale, showing empathy, active listening. In 2023 I found a new kind of job, one I’d never heard of before: Chief Happiness Officer. I think I’d like that as the last job title on my resume before I retire - my “how do you see yourself in five years” answer.

Here’s the thing. Back in 2015, I was planning ahead for a month at a time, at best. 2016 came along, and in that nightmare year the span of my plans went down to one week, max.

2019, I lost a beloved family member, and went into survival mode, pushing ahead despite the shock. The span of my plans went down to 24 hours - I was, more or less, living from day to day, with zero long-term plans whatsoever.

2020 came along, and the lockdowns, and there wasn’t much incentive to plan ahead either, despite the restrictions easing for 2021. The family bereavement was still too much to bear.

It was only in July 2022, when I began a new job (the first I’d had since my volunteer work at Wrexham Cemetery), that I could indulge in planning for a month ahead. January this year gone, I was confirmed with my workplace, and with gentle encouragement I found that I could now plan for a full year: a luxury I had never had before.

I’m going to wrap up this blog here. I just popped out to say goodnight to the sun, setting on the year 2023. In a few hours, it’ll be back to see in 2024.

Let’s hope it isn’t a repeat of any of the shit years we’ve had.