Each December, as one year winds down and another is just a glimmer of possibility, I try to encapsulate the outgoing year—and how I experienced it—in a single word or phrase. The year I regained my health by losing weight, went skydiving and took a pilgrimage to Italy with my mother, my word was Joy. The year my grandmother and my husband’s father died was Grief. The following year, which included memorial services, surgery and a new medication to control chronic migraines, was Healing. Last year, full of death, derecho, Covid and Black Lives Matter, was Breathe.
Since 2022 is just a few weeks away, it is time for me and others to once again sum up the whole year in just one word or phrase. Dictionary.com chose Allyship. Oxford English chose Vax (with runners up Jab and Shot). Forbes chose Resilience. Many sites went with Vaccine, since it’s “both a medical term and a vehicle for ideological conflict” (according to NPR). Some chose Insurrection.
Personally, my year also included an anxiety-inducing (but ultimately very happy and healthy) trip to Florida to visit my dad, who I had not seen in four years. It encompassed getting not one but three vaccines for this pandemic that has touched every facet of our lives. It included falling even more in love with my husband and our two dogs as we got to spend exorbitant amounts of time together. It included the unexpected death of two beloved family friends. It also provided space for extended-family Zoom sessions, virtual game nights with friends and outdoor scavenger hunts.
There are so many words that could summarize 2021 for me on a personal level. Pandemic. Vaccine. Black Lives Matter. Challenge. Grief. Simplicity. Relief. Woke.
In the end, I think my experience of 2021 is best summarized by the word Balance. I have gained greater work-life balance by working from home most days—a situation I have grown to love. I have achieved more balance in my approach to others and their beliefs, even when they don’t coincide with mine. I have gained greater balance within myself by better controlling my anxiety. This time has been an incredible pause, a chance to slow down and breathe deeply into what matters most to each of us. A time to find greater balance.
I encourage you to spend some time with your outgoing year. What one word summarizes 2021 for you? What goodness will you take from this year of vaccines, balance and allyship? What will you carry forward, and what will you leave behind?
—Andi Lewis, Prairiewoods marketing coordinator