Reasonable 2022 Goals: Continuing to Exist

    2020 and 2021 have really flown by in a way that I don't entirely appreciate. It's been a frustrating and strange couple of years for most folks I know.

    As I mentioned last year, I'd had specific plans for my father visiting in 2020 and perhaps my mom getting to make up for that in 2021, but none of that came to pass. The current plan for 2022 includes international travel either of my little Japan-based contingent to the states or of some family there to here, but nothing can be certain until my kid gets her Covid shot and/or Japan opens the borders and accepts vaccine passports so no one has to spend their whole vacation quarantined in Tokyo.

    Currently, I'm looking forward to getting my house in order and cleaning up other messy situations in my life. Overall, what I have is nice to the point that when my husband asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I didn't really know what to tell him. I don't have many wants that people can give me and the few I have seem unrealistically expensive.

    My daughter is growing and becoming ever more exciting and capable. Soon, I'll be excited to see her get her Covid shot and then two years of holy terror for the back of my brain will finally be at an end or at least a reprieve. When that's done, I'll only have to worry about my nieces and nephews.

    When Covid is actually officially over, I will be looking forward to going back to seeing movies and theaters and enjoying train trips all around Japan. Since we've been keeping ourselves in Miyagi, I realized that I miss being able to see other parts of the country, too. Even in Tohoku, Ginzan in Yamagata and the Geibikei gorge in Iwate are places I long to see again soon. Years ago, I decided that I wanted to spend our tenth anniversary showing my daughter the area were her father and I first met down in Chubu. Unfortunately, that anniversary has passed in the midst of the pandemic without any of us stepping foot outside of the prefecture. Maybe one day I'll get to show her the joys and weirdness of that little area. Until then, we'll be here.

2022 is coming. Maybe hope is coming with it?

    The problem with the after Covid goals is I can't say for sure if they're next year's goals or the year after that or some years down the line in the future. Some have indicated that this coronavirus may stick with us, becoming a new flu for which most folks get regular immunizations to avoid. While I'm not excited about that potential future, it would still be better than now.

    So what are my actual goals for next year? I don't know. I'm going to keep working and trying to get my house in order, trying to figure out how to make my brain want to clean and organize, and trying to figure out what the next steps need to be for me. Until those steps happen, I'll be here, just trying to live.