Most of us have a voice in our heads. A mean, resentful, critical voice that berates us for the tiniest of errors.
“Why did you take that second helping of mango gelato?”
“Why did you spend four hours re-watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine instead of finishing The Argumentative Indian?”
What’s new?
Very little, I hope.
When my sister and I were growing up, our mum sewed all our clothes. Right up until we were 15 or so. We had party and church and everyday clothes. We shopped at stores for jeans and shorts and tees and chuddies. But everything else, pretty much everything we wore, was made with her trusty Singer sewing machine. Quirky, singular clothes that had that unmistakable homemade stamp on them. I had this hot Fuschia pink number that I loved with all my being and cried buckets over its eventual demise. When our party and church clothes became less sparkly or saintly or too small for us, they either became home wear or were lovingly refreshed and sent to someone else.
May I let you in on a secret?
I have no idea what the fuck I’m doing with my JOTs. They’re mostly about random, disconnected things. No real thread that ties them all together.
And I suppose that’s like me in real life – fleeting interests in vastly different things, some eclectic life and career choices, each based on my most recent whim. A friend who is somewhat like me – having tried his hand at a number of disparate jobs – told me that someone once saw his CV and went, “oh, so you’re like a monkey, swinging from one branch to another?”
2023 has been quite the trip already, eh? There was an attempt to overthrow a democratically elected government, there was a ship running aground in the Suez Canal, BMW has launched a car that can change colours over and over and over again, China has joined the rest of the world in “posting” disastrous Covid numbers… and it’s not even the 15th of January yet.
I’m not overly fond of dogs. Don’t get me wrong – I think they’re cute and cuddly and all that, but they don’t quite excite me as much as cats do.
But I do think they’re wonderful creatures and fully understand how they’ve earned their “man’s best friend” title.
My family had a dog when I was a kid, who then passed away before I hit my teens. Her name was Puchi, and she was an indie with an ochre coat and a perennial wag on her tail.
I’m one of those people who dislikes the hysteria around the new year. Or even birthdays. There’s something awfully stupid about celebrating your long march to the empty void. The frantic joviality and glee that often feels prescriptive. Like a toddler forced to smile for a photo. Terrible analogy but you know what I mean.
But at the same time, there’s also something wonderful about new beginnings. About looking back on a year gone by. Being grateful for what the year gave you.
Now that 2023 is here, it only makes sense that we’re taking a quick look back at the year that went by so swiftly. Several things happened for me, and the most fun of them all is getting to write for you guys!
So much writing happens around here, so naturally, there is lots to be inspired by. For my first Just One Thing for the year, I’m taking a leaf out of another one of our newsletters!
This week, we’re taking you back to all our favourite things from the year gone by. I, personally wanted to express my gratitude by looking back at all I have learned this year from my fellow writers.
Did I ever tell you my mum sold my comics collection to the raddiwala when I was away for master’s? She did. In mum’s defence, she thought storybooks with pictures are for kids, and she could think of so many uses for the space she’s just rescued. Well, thanks to Thing, everything online is safe from mum’s cleaning wrath at least (at least for now).
Yesterday, Proiti introduced you to some of her favourite posts from Just One Thing last year. Which is what all of us will be doing all week long. If we miss any of your favourites, write and tell us.
First up, my absolute favourite post of the year came from our guest contributor, Thing. It is everything you wanted to know about emoji, the modern language of communication. But beyond introducing emoji, this post also gives you more reason (if you needed more, that is) to avoid buying a Samsung device.