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2023 it was good knowing you
This last year was a weird mix of good stuff done and being held in limbo, a hold over year until 2024 explodes and makes the world wonder why every other year happened. Like 1938 or 1913, coming out of one crisis, allowing us to catch our breath, a reprise from the chaos of the Covid years. For me 2023 is this jumble of getting stuff done, teeing stuff up, and preparing myself for a long, hard year to come. In many respects I am glad that this year has been chill, giving me the space to think and exist outside the pressures of the wider world. Sometimes quiet is a lovely thing.
Given the crises around the world, especially Ukraine and Palestine, it is odd that for me 2023 was a year of things coming back together and me finally grounding myself outside of a relationship or work environment. For the first time in twenty odd years I was single for a whole year, and aside from a bit of commission work I did not work a contract job for any organisation. It was refreshing in ways that in hindsight I probably needed for a long time. Doing the PhD has given me a chance to do a hard reset on my personal priorities, and I am enjoying the fact that I am able to dictate my own pace to some extent.
Yet, I am acutely aware that this is a privileged position, one which will disappear in January 2024. Many of you will have experienced hard years over the last four, and I appreciate…
