2022 Lookback

At year’s end, there is the inevitable meme avalanche depicting animosity towards the previous days. Here’s a big F You to 2022 is all over my various social media feeds and I gratefully must dissent. Every year will have its challenges but 2022 was a wonderful year for me personally. Firstly I was not homeless or living in active drug addiction. This makes it the 12th year in a row! Already off to a great start. I spent the entirety of 2022 in the place I dreamed of living in since I was 10 years old, chasing dreams I long thought had passed me by. All of the amazing experiences with the wonderful people I met along the way were just nutmeg on the cocoa. The time spent all by myself immersed in the experience of a vision coming to life was deeply cherished. The year was not without worry, struggle, and major setbacks. It wasn’t even without tragedy. I live in a community that wears its struggles openly. People sleeping on the streets and begging for change in freezing winds. Paradise and Hell share a mailbox. I lost count of the breathtaking sunsets. All of the music and laughter. It was soothing and uplifting most times. Other times it was just enough to get me through the news of an untimely death or catastrophe. A year is a long time that goes by in an instant. I refuse to set the bar for a wonderful year unreasonably high. I spent time with loved ones. I had amazing experiences. I laughed and cried. I created and explored. I had successes and failures. I learned invaluable lessons bringing me to the next year better prepared for growth. Will I find my place in Hollywood and thrive? Only time will tell. But I am here now. Wish me luck.