Hello friends! It’s that time of year! Specifically, the end of it. I wanted to publish a New Year’s Eve Roundtable and Open Thread Situation so we can all reflect on the past 365 days together and take a deep breath before we dive into The New Year.
This year, I asked our writers to focus on the joyous, the lighthearted, the fun, the easy. Life is really hard, but we all deserve joy and sometimes we need a reminder to focus on the joyful moments we’ve experienced.
I asked the Autostraddle Team to share something that made them smile or laugh in 2022, and here’s what we came up with. I’d love you to join us in the comment section and share what made you smile or laugh in 2022, too.
We did it! We made it to the end of the year! I’m raising a glass to the things that brought us joy this year, and I’m welcoming in even more joy into our lives in 2023. Thanks for being here — we love you for forever.
Love,
Vanessa & The Autostraddle Team
Comments
i love this thread! this year, i found joy in: friendships old and new; my cat and her absolute brainlessness and adoration of me; working my ass off academically and professionally and seeing immediate results; visiting my grandmother TWICE and collecting more family stories and also hearing her lecture her retirement community neighbors on being open-minded and accepting; embracing all my weirdo hobbies with joy; and reading just so many queer books. truly an astonishing number
julie, i am absolutely LOSING it at the picture of the frog falling into the cornhole board
This year my joy has been baby cuddles! It had been too many years since I had a baby in the house. Everything is better with baby cuddles!
I needed this today.
Some moments of joy:
Sunrise and sunset walks. My houseplants.
Starting a full time, permanent (as in not contract) job in April and marveling at how amazing it is to have good benefits and paid days off and other things that should not be so rare in the US. Plus coworkers who aren’t assholes!
Watching ALOTO and Derry Girls with my spouse.
One of my 20-something niblings coming out to me as bi and nb at a family reunion this summer (even the part where I responsibly brought up safe sex while mentally going “la la la, shouldn’t you still be playing with dinosaurs and not on hook up apps?”)
Rediscovering that I could be a teacher without dreading every single day.
Playing DnD with my brother and his kids.
Joining the Northeast spinoff Discord.
Abbott Elementary, ALOTO, OFMD, and Matt Rogers’ special “Have You Heard of Christmas.”
Thank you so very much! So this got me thinking and now I’m smiling so here’s a little list:
1. My new and very first own apartment. Getting to decorate my living space and making it completely mine. I swear everyday when I come home I think “I love my place “. Sometimes I even cancel plans to stay in my apartment.
2. Getting to visit one of my best friends in another country again and finding that our bond is strong as ever and she is one of the kindest most interesting funniest and most intelligent people on the planet and I’m so grateful and proud of her and she got to meet other friends of mine and it was glorious
3. Watching baking shows with my mom and really getting into baking and cooking.
4. FOOD
5. My best friend and our hours of voice messages
6. Fleabag and Only Murders in the Building.
7. Canada, especially maple syrup
8. Finding friends at uni for the first time and turns out they’re basically my soulmates and we share an array of very specific special interests and are extremely similar and they are very openly loving and there’s no shame, and as Nina Simone says: “I tell you what freedom is to me: no fear. “
My tiny rural English home town of Dursley, Glos had its first Pride this summer. For a kid who grew up in denial about being bi and trans when it was illegal to even mention queer people in school this was amazing and made me cry with joy. To see young (and old) queers so free to be themselves was amazing
Oh, just reading this gave me joy! <3 <3
Same tv joys in our house Niko! Reservation Dogs and Abbott Elementary absolutely made my year 💓