Year in Review: 2022
I started off the year in a pretty dramatic way: The very first week, I slipped on some black ice on my way to the bus. What I initially thought was just a twisted ankle ended up being a fracture that needed an operation, three nights in the hospital and almost two months on crutches.
It was the first time I broke anything in my 42 years of life, which I suppose is quite lucky when I think of how banal and easily this accident happened!
This led to two months of life and work being mostly from home, which proved the perfect opportunity to watch the entire eight seasons of Game of Thrones for the first time with my partner. I now finally understand references to ‘Winter is coming’ and I have as many opinions about the last season as every other GoT fan!
I also did a lot of reading and studying and ‘wintering’, and in a strange way, this opened me up to a more inward way of being which I continued to explore throughout the year.
Waiting at the doctor’s office when wearing masks was still a thing.
finding balance
This was followed by intensive physiotherapy as I re-learned to use my ankle and trust my body.
Willow in my (his) home office.
I got Covid twice, and these stops and starts made me appreciate even more being able to move freely and having the energy to do so.
I also found a great balance of online and in-person, with two days from home in the company of my cat, Willow, and three days from the office.
I did mostly one-on-one sessions which is what I enjoy most because every session feels unique, and is a co-creation, like a dance we are doing together. I feel very privileged to do work that feels so meaningful and stimulating.
my greatest love in life: learning
One of my greatest pleasures in life has always been learning, and this year it felt even more true.
I continued working with my own therapist and did clinical trainings on topics such as shame, narcissism, masculinity and a form of meditation called The Realization Process which is a very powerful way of inhabiting the body.
I finished my diploma at the Mercury Internet School of Psychological Astrology (MISPA) making this my third year of astrological study. I started doing readings for clients who are interested in this, and also going deeper into some aspects of the astrology chart when exploring certain themes in therapy. I love combining therapy and astrology in this way, as it brings a different lens from which to view ourselves.
I also started studying the Tarot, and I particularly love looking at the 22 cards of the Major Arcana or the Fool’s Journey as the psychological process of becoming more whole.
Experimenting with the Tarot.
I was also drawn to the study of Alchemy, which is a very insightful way of viewing human transformation. The idea of alchemy was to turn base metals like lead into gold, and when applied psychologically or spiritually, it is about taking suffering and the ‘base’ parts of ourselves and transmuting them into gold.
I’m not sure where all these all these more mystical / ancient systems of knowledge will lead to professionally, only that for now I am finding them very nourishing on a personal level.
no longer the same
Something that felt very obvious to me this year, and that I also encountered with clients as we emerge from these last two years of pandemic is accepting that we are no longer the same people.
What once felt nourishing, may no longer feel as nourishing. What once felt important may now feel less meaningful.
I had very little desire to post on this blog or social media, which was quite a shift from previous years. The only blog post I wrote was on Control vs Power - my take on David Richo’s assertion that Control is the poor man’s version of power.
I didn’t do any workshops or webinars for the first time in the almost 10 years I have been doing this work.
I tried to give myself permission to just be with the more inward energy I was in without forcing anything, even if in many ways it felt and still feels foreign to the image I had of myself as someone more dynamic, communicative and outgoing.
image of the year
The image that summarises this year for me is this crescent moon taken by my partner, Björn.
As opposed to the full Moon when the moon is reflecting the light of the sun and is bright and luminous to us here on Earth, in the waxing crescent phase, the moon is only starting to becoming visible to us.
This is how this year felt like to me - incubating, being in the dark of the moon, turning more inwards, journeying more internally and through knowledge rather than being out in the world.
And like the moon and nature, I believe life also goes through cycles - it isn’t a linear path of progression we often imagine, and we aren’t static beings who aren’t supposed to change.
This year really taught me the importance of embracing whatever cycle we are in even if it doesn’t make rational sense or fit our image of ourselves. To allow ourselves to be changed by it.
So for this coming year, perhaps we can stay open up to whatever cycle or phase we may be in, to flow with it rather than resist it, and to stay open and curious to where this may lead us.
Thank you for being part of my 2022. And here’s to flowing with whatever 2023 brings.
“May what I do flow from me like a river, no forcing and no holding back.”
