It was a record spring!

Scrolling through my Instagram feed, 2022 felt like a sprint... and it is perfectly captured by the GIFs I come across. And clearly, I am not the only one that says that 2022 felt not like a marathon but a sprint in record time. It is a collective feeling. I still remember January 2022, and then March 2022 speaking to a friend saying "how can it be already March". Barely blinked and it's already Christmas.

This is not an exclusive feeling. It is a mutual feeling. And now, as the year draws to a close and we enter the period, between Christmas and New Year, we have a moment to reflect. 

Time 

I wasn't quite sure what to write initially. The last post of the year. Shall I reflect and digest all the things that have happened and write another review of a year. A particularly this, with so many shocking events that left us shaking that filled the media and our lives. What would be even the words that I would choose to convey this feeling inside. A time during which one typically chooses words that convey hope and joy for the new year. Or shall we talk about new years resolution or my favourite and questionable topic of detoxing and regurgitate it all over again?

No. You are no idiots! And I won't do it. 

You will carry your own individual feelings, hopes, fears, dreams and plans into the next year.  You don't need me to say "set yourself some resolutions" "2023 will be THE year" "Achieve your goals and get closer to your dreams". You know best what your thoughts will be and what will be best for you at the end of the year.

I'd rather talk about something that particularly connects us these days: Time.

SENSE OF TIME IN 2022

After the Corona restrictions of the last few years, a little more feeling for life returned in 2022. More and more happiness of freedom, social gatherings and a sea of leisure options - almost like before. And at the same time, dramatic scenes are taking place in the world.

Political situations are coming to a head more and more, states of emergency, states of distress, freedom is coming to an abrupt end. And us? We live in a balancing act between happy prosperity and continuing world-weariness. Time stands still and then runs away all the faster. Moments have been lived, many days experienced, and time properly felt, in the here and now. And maybe that's why our feelings of time end up being somehow together, no longer as lonely as in the years before. And time becomes a feeling we share, not a method of measurement, not a time or a calendar year.

A YEAR FULL OF INTENSITY

A year in which so much has happened. Beautiful, sad, important, breathtaking, and leaving us speechless.... And maybe it is not in our power to determine our own feelings about time. And we will never be able to stop time. But you are in control of how you want to shape your time - A reminder that this year has given us. Because despite all the negativity, upheaval and tragedy that is happening in the world - or perhaps precisely because of it - we have used 2022 to live.

We filled it with people, with festivals, with good food and sports, with bar visits, family celebrations and packed travel bags. We have experienced a lot, from days with good friends, to nights with strangers who became confidants. We danced, laughed, hugged, kissed and sought new closeness. We were able to explore the world again, to stand amidst waves and crowds. And even before all that, we could see the moments when we could breathe, when we wanted to be grateful and keep our eyes closed to capture the feeling of time, hold it tight and, before it flies again, just shift down a gear for the moment.

"Time flies when you're having fun". And together we fill the days, weeks and months with life. Unnoticed and quietly, time slips by and it's already December and I'm sitting here writing these lines and feeling completely connected to you and everyone out there. Close your eyes and take a deep breath, because I would like to frame and hang up this feeling of time, this play of emotions. As a daily reminder that we create our lives freely and that after all the distance and deprivation, we find commonality even in something as abstract as "time".

There is only one thing left to say: enjoy the last few days of 2022. Be in the moment and seize it. And wishing you all the best for 2023. 

With Love,

Sarah