2021 has been a momentous year for me.
As the year wraps to a close, it’s a good time to look back and see what’s made 2021 an especially important year in my 32 years of life.
The most significant event is undoubtedly my move to Vietnam to be with my partner. It’s been a long time in the making and at various points the obstacles seemed insurmountable.
Pre-Covid, this would have been a simple case of packing my bags, buying a plane ticket, and an hour and a half later land in Ho Chi Minh City.1 But thanks to Covid, Vietnam’s borders were tightly shut. So moving country turned into a huge mess of paperwork and series of permits and lots of waiting and fingernail biting.
But finally, in March this year, it happened. I landed in Ho Chi Minh City, quarantined in a suite2, then finally rushed into my partner’s embrace while trying not to squish the huge bouquet of red roses he had brought.
Moving to Vietnam, at long last, and living with my partner is definitely the highlight of 2021.
Compared with the move, everything paled in comparison. But if I’m to pick a couple more, it would be the lockdown and my job.
If you’ve been reading Val Thinks for a while, you’ll have seen my account of the long lockdown in Ho Chi Minh City. I’m not going to bore you with the same details, but suffice it to say that having to “stay in place” for over a month in August/September has made me see the ability to simply leave the house in a new light.
I hope I never again take for granted the freedom to just go out for a walk, pop over to the nearby cafe for a coffee, have lunch with a friend at a restaurant, go to the cinema, have a massage.
Those were the things I sorely missed during the lockdown, and I truly intend to enjoy every single moment of those activities going forward.
As for work, September 2021 marks my one-year anniversary working for Mark Manson a.k.a. #1 New York Times Bestselling Author (thrice) a.k.a. the guy who doesn’t give too many fucks a.k.a. one of my most favorite authors (I love the way he writes) a.k.a. a pretty cool guy in real life too.
2020 was about adjusting to the role of Content and Research Assistant, but 2021 was about making the role my own.
Tomorrow (January 1st) we’re going to launch a new premium membership platform titled “The Subtle Art School,” and I’m extremely proud to say that I played a pivotal role in creating it.
Dozens of hours of transcribing, writing, rewriting, liaising, testing, tweaking went into this shiny new offering. At times the tasks waiting down the pipeline seemed insurmountable (we pulled the whole thing together in a couple of months). But we made it and I’m very, very pleased with how we did as a team, and with the role I played within it.
Apart from these significant events in my own life, there was another singular event in 2021 that’s also having a sizeable impact on mine. But that is not my story to tell. All I will say is that it’s made me even more resolved to make time for the people I love in my life.
So, I shall say goodbye to 2021 with its momentous events and wonderful memories, and say hello to 2022 with more memories yet to be made.
How was your 2021? Are you pleased with how it turned out? Let me know in the comments, send a reply. I’d love to hear from you.
And if you think someone’s going to get something out of this newsletter, why not forward it to them as a New Year present?
Until next Friday… Stay cool, stay safe, stay thoughtful,
and Happy New Year!
Val
Okay, that’s an oversimplification. But you know what I mean.
I splashed out. If you’re going to have to spend two weeks stuck in a room, why not get a really nice room?
Glad there were lessons learned and that you emerged from 2021 healthy!