Focus On… 2022’s Anti-Hero
Where did 2022 go? Feels like yesterday we were preparing for adventures around the globe. Now here I am gearing up for a milestone year. Graduation is coming up, more adventures abroad lie on the horizon and I’ll probably start working this coming year.
Last time I wrote a Focus On, I recounted my summer in Europe. Don’t worry because the writers(myself + editor) at Focus On are hard at work crafting the Los Angeles recap post. If you’re itching to get a glimpse of LA through my eyes then head to my Instagram. I’ll also make the video available on my youtube channel soon enough.
Reflecting on what this year was to me. 2022, I think humbled me in the sense that there is only so much in my control. I can’t be prepared for every situation but I can try my best to handle them with grace and humility. Sometimes even that doesn’t work and you become overwhelmed with anxiety, stress, maybe even depression. Losing my luggage in Europe, dealing with heartbreak and the emotional recoil and a certain automobile accident that happened in LA. To be honest, as someone who tries to have his -ish together, It can feel overwhelming when the human experience continues to test me.
This year I began to more fully understand the aspects of my past that influenced my present. I try to make sure that the world around me is okay because I’m hoping that if everything around me is okay then maybe internally I'll be fine. But, I promise, that if the house is on fire it doesn’t stop burning because you’re not looking. We have to have the courage to understand what happened to us. It’s not about seeking an apology, seeking reparations or retribution but for having the courage to tend to ourselves.
2022, was a year for the books and for that I’m immensely grateful but let's please never use the external milestones of one's life to dictate how they should be feeling. Things happens, and what I have to remind myself is that regardless of how I feel, what experiences I’ve endured and the future that awaits me is that I’ll always be exceptional. I refuse to be the anti-hero anymore. It’s me- hi. I’ll be the solution for me. Please be kind to others, be good to yourself and if nobody’s told you, I’m proud of how far you’ve come.
