Dear 2022,
It’s only been 20 days, but after the past two years we’ve had, I was hopeful.
I hoped that you would be kinder – kinder to our bodies, our hearts and our societies. I wanted you to be understanding of what we’ve been through and where it got us, so we could make the future a little brighter. I hoped that you would be more forgiving of our mistakes, to grant us grace and patience to move forward. I hoped that you would stop taking our favorite celebrities from this earth and that you would help us return to normal life after this raging pandemic.
But it’s only been 20 days and all you’ve done is the opposite.
You’ve taken a member from our Full House, a Vogue icon, and at this point, I’m blaming you for our Golden Girl too. You’ve turned pandemic cases up too many notches, erupted a tsunami-causing volcano, and spurred arguments between the metal boxes in the air and the ones in our pockets.
It’s only been 20 days and you’ve already given me two angels of my own.
I’m starting to feel like this is a game to you and all you care about is winning. But by what metric? Is it how much you can take away? Is it how you can top two years of negativity and destruction? No matter what the case may be, I hope this relationship can get better with time. After all, maybe it’s not fair to judge based solely on first impressions.
So, to my dear 2022: I will hold on to the hope. I will hold onto the gifts of kindness, understanding and patience. I will remind myself that 345 days leaves room for plenty of goodness. I will remind myself that this is not about luck. This is about taking what you give me and making it my own. This is about becoming a diamond under the pressure. This is about learning what adulthood really means before being thrown head first into the waves. This is about growth.
It’s only been 20 days but a bad start does not predict the end of the race.
This year, we will keep going no matter what. This year, we will create a new mindset around beauty and compassion. This year, we will make time to fall back in love with the things we’ve forgotten. This year, we will spread kindness, understanding and patience whether you provide it or not.
It’s only been 20 days but we’ve still got a long way to go.
Sincerely Yours (until 2023),
A Hopeful College Student