This was a weird year; we’ve been in lockdown over the pandemic since mid-March. Despite it all this has been an eventful year for me.
I had these plans for years to move to New Zealand this fall to work but the country shut their borders to immigration to control the spread of the virus. There’s no indicator yet as to when they’ll open and even when they do it doesn’t look good for me. The fallback plan is Vancouver.
Pursuant to that, I bought myself my dream car: a Jeep Wrangler! It was everything I wanted: stick shift, soft top, yellow exterior, beige interior, heated seats and steering wheel. The only thing I wanted different about it was for it to be a two-door instead of four, but with yellow Jeeps being so rare to begin with, much less stick shift and beige interior, I couldn’t pass this up.
This year was also the year I got my first stick ‘n poke and first tattoo. This ticked off another life goal. The stick ‘n poke has the name of my two best friends, and the tattoo is a half-sleeve of Van Gogh’s Starry Night.
I also went solo backcountry camping for the first time in 2020, hiking up in Algonquin Park. To be honest, I was terrified. Not of the technical component – I’ve been camping every summer over the past few years – but of bears.
Jamie and I have been together for a year and a half. I think for the both of us this has been a good, healthy, relationship.
I also got my first oil lanterns this year, which has given a really pleasant ambiance at home, and picked up new coffee gear to make quality beverages at home. With everything being closed, this has made being at home so much better.
I also picked up some new art to cheer up my place: a print of “Outside Looking In” by K.C. Hall, and a cover for a of 1960’s lesbian pulp fiction novel.
I couldn’t travel out to other cities this year, on account yet again of the pandemic and a need for social responsibility, but I took plenty of trips within the city and treated it as a tourist would. It’s a pleasure; there’s so much to uncover here under the surface.
There were also a lot of unique sights because of the lockdown: the panic buying of toilet paper, the empty streets, the anti-mask protests, the murals and graffiti.
Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention the flourishing of mental health that took place for me this year. Every year I come out of it with a much better understanding of myself, and working away at these maladaptations that I formed. This year I got to resolve a lot of stuff about my feelings of inadequacy which was at the heart of a lot of my most harmful behaviours. I also processed my sexuality which is rooted in trauma; exiting the year with a healthy approach. I also gave away my microwave to promote better cooking at home.
So while 2020 was a shit show and for three quarters of it we were all in lockdown in our homes, it’s been a really good year for me. Lots happened.