I find there is something very therapeutic about looking back on the year you’ve just experienced and making plans for the next. So, I thought I’d share my reflections and what I hope for 2021.
the beginning of 2020.
I started 2020 off by stressing over my dissertation – whew, what a time that was. Academic writing is hard and it took so much out of me doing this. However, I finally finished it and the relief of that hand in was something else. One positive though was that I shot my first wedding in February which was so much fun, honestly. Anyway, with one uni stress gone, came another. I had to contend with my final major project – ahh. Its safe to say I wasn’t very happy in my personal life at this point either which didn’t help. However, I did get to visit my best friend Rebecca before everything went downhill and we had such a fun couple of days. That was the last bit of normality before the pandemic hit.
The end of March/ beginning of April was very strange. Nobody knew what was going on, whether our final year plans would go ahead or if we’d ever set foot back in uni again (spoiler: we didn’t). Let me say, doing a photography degree from home is no picnic. All the facilities were at uni whilst we were stuck, locked-down, at home. There was some real improvisation when it came to my final project but I’m glad the sun shone throughout April and May so I was able to do a lot of work in the garden and I can’t tell you how much this helped.
3 programmes I watched during lockdown that got me through…
– Life On Mars/Ashes To Ashes
– Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia
– New Girl
3 books I read during lockdown that got me through…
– The Prison Doctor
– The Girl With A Clock For A Heart
– The Tattooist Of Auschwitz
the middle.
On the last day of May, I submitted my final project and it felt so bittersweet. I was beyond happy to be done with academia but at the same time, it wasn’t how I imagined the send off. It would have been amazing to celebrate with my uni pals and get excited for graduation, alas it wasn’t meant to be. Come June, lockdown restrictions were slowly lifted. I didn’t know what to do with my time, considering I was used to being preoccupied with uni work. It was around this time I met my now (incredible) boyfriend, George.
This brought so much positivity to my 2020 and could not have come at a better time honestly. Thankfully with case numbers low over the summer, we were able to visit a few places, one of my favourites being a trip to Bocketts Farm. I also did a mini break with my friend Maddie which was sooo much fun. We headed down to Corfe Castle and stayed in the sweetest AirBnB which actually overlooked the castle. We walked loads, saw so many gorgeous sites and ate really good pub food. This was so needed after the beginning of the year.
There were a lot of small highlights throughout the summer for me and I just felt very content. However another really fun thing myself and George managed to do was have a cocktail evening at The Cosy Club in Guildford. We were invited to a cocktail making masterclass and we also had a lot of yummy complimentary food – such an incredible evening and such a privilege.
So yes, the middle of 2020 was a good ‘un to say the least. I’m really thankful I had this time, I’m not sure how I would have felt without it honestly.
the end of 2020.
Luckily both mine and George’s birthday’s are in September – just before things started going downhill again (boo). For George’s birthday, we had a Bob Ross evening which was so much fun. And for mine we managed to go out for dinner with my family to The Cosy Club (I love this place haha). We also went to Longleat Safari for the day a few days after my birthday which was so good. This is where it started going down hill again and cases were on the rise. I’m pretty sure I spent a lot of October working whilst simultaneously doing nothing. Oh, actually the highlight of October was probably visiting Tulley’s farm for some pumpkin pickin’!
Unfortunately come November, I started to feel unwell with what felt like a cold but I decided to get a covid test anyway and sadly it was positive. I was super upset about this, mostly because I felt an immense amount of guilt. I wondered how I could have picked it up, who I could have passed it onto without knowing etc. However, I don’t think its fair to put that guilt on yourself – I was as safe as I possibly could have been at the time, wearing my mask, hand washing/sanitising, minimal contact etc. Sadly, it was just one of those things. Isolation felt so strange, confined to a room for 10 days but actually, it went by pretty quickly. I’m so lucky and grateful I wasn’t super unwell with covid, I just felt under the weather and lost my taste and smell (which was so odd). The rest of November was spent in national lockdown anyway, so not much went on there.
Anndddd we’re at December. Things didn’t improve much did they? But at least it was Christmas. Although plans changed for so many, I’m very grateful I was able to spend it with my family and it was actually quite nice after all. So, that was my 2020 (well mostly just the highlights, as I can’t share everything) hahah!
looking to 2021.
Oh, I so desperately want 2021 to bring good things for everyone. 2020 was so difficult for so many reasons and I know the beginning of this year isn’t going to magically be any better, sadly. However, I want to keep as positive as possible because its the only way through this sh*t storm, lets be honest!
I’ve been trying to figure out what I want to do with my career since leaving uni back in May and I still haven’t figured that one out yet. I’ve managed to land a part-time role within radio/social media which I’m really happy about and thats what I’ll be doing for the foreseeable future. Saying this, I want to explore different avenues, as I have the opportunity to do so. So hopefully by the end of 2021, I’ll have a clearer idea of what I wanna do with my life (fingers crossed).
I think this is my main aim for this year, just keep exploring whats out there. I also want to continue reading lots now I have the time and educate myself more on topics I have an interest in. Perhaps try and blog some more as well – I think I became a bit lazy in 2020 and I definitely miss it.
So there we have it, I’d love to hear what you have planned for 2021!
Lucy