Arkadina.com Over a picture of an eye with text at the bottom saying 2022: A Retrospective of life under a king

This has been such a momentous year. Three prime ministers (!), the loss of the Queen and arrival of a king (seriously, I can’t get used to the idea of a King: A Queen seemed right for the times; a king seems archaic, I don’t know why*) and a war in Europe. The world has clearly lost its marbles.

On a personal level, I’ve done big, scary things in my work; nearly moved … then didn’t; caught covid and struggled to regain my equilibrium after. Truth be told, I still am. So let’s get dosh to the nitty gritty: just how did I measure up to my own goals?

WritingGoal: get feedback on The Fall

I went one step beyond that … I submitted to The Bruntwood Prize. I mean I was rejected but still… I submitted to an actual, bona fide competition.

I also wrote ‘Flamed’ a short solo piece that had been niggling away at they back of my brain for about seven years.

Acting – Goal: Create Snapchat stories (sporadic, on the fly)

Well, I hit it out of the park with on the fly — I didn’t plan a thing on the platform all year. And you could say I did the same with sporadic — if rarely posting at all fits the category. I’m not quite sure how I managed so little as I’m on the app every day. Still, after all these years *cue nostalgia*. But all in all, it was a disappointing year for posting.

CREATIVE

Watch 100 movies

I made it. Although only just. The last couple of weeks included several silent shorts (Thanks to ‘Trailblazers’, sadly no longer, on Netflix).

Read 20 books

I smashed that goal. By half way through the year! Super, mega proud of this. Although a fair whack of it is down to Audible’s Plus catalogue having so many awesome titles I want to hear. Would definitely not be that high if I’d had to purchase each book separately.

SITE

Woah, they were lofty goals all stretching my limitations.

And no, I didn’t accomplish them all. I didn’t set up my e-commerce website, turn 52 Films into a double feature thing, create an app or expand my outlet.

I did expand my product line (hello👋 candles, stickers and pins/badges) though and I grew my following and email list too, both by the hundreds.

Great Things from Last Year

I participated in a Bundle (Lizzy’s Christmas Party). It’s been phenomenal: Lizzy’s generosity and presence, the community support and connections, the amazing people who wanted my thing. Everything about it was a blessing. Thank you, Lizzy.

So that was my year. I accomplished far less than I would have liked, but given the struggles I’m happy with it.

How was your year? What was the great thing you did in 2022?

*Although as a child I thought the monarch of the uk had to be Queen and could not understand why Princess Anne wasn’t next in line.