2022 Word for the year

It’s hard to go into 2022 with a positive attitude when the Covid numbers here are scarily high:

And when some of those closest to me are going through really shitty times.

But… I’m an optimist and so I am going to do my utmost to come down on the side of hope and see if I can manifest a better year. And, really, given the circumstances, this year hasn’t been all that awful. Two out of the four of us are double-vaxed and boosted and the other two should be double-vaxed by the end of February. So far, we have (as far as we know) escaped Covid. We have managed to get out there a little bit (though not outside the UK still), with trips to London, Bristol, Cornwall, Edinburgh and Carnoustie. We have seen (not all of us for all of them) a bunch of musicals, the circus, live fireworks and ridden many fairground rides (and I am now sworn off them after bruising my rib on the Twister!).

The final quarter of the year has been filled with illustration work for me, working on multiple books, alongside 1–2 days of project management, which I’ve found a really nice balance. My illustration career goal for 2022 is ‘MORE BOOKS, PLEASE’ – so do get in touch if you have any book illustration projects you’d like me to work on from February onwards. I’d especially love to work on some plant-based cookery or nutrition books, but I’m very open to other projects, too. They don’t have to be books, either, though I definitely wouldn’t be sad if 2022 ended up jam-packed with book illustration projects.

So… my word for the year for 2022 is…

EXPLORE!

I like my words of the year to have multiple meanings and applications and this is, I feel, a good one.

• Obviously, I’m hopeful that there will come a point in 2022 when international travel becomes easier and I can get back to exploring Europe and maybe further afield, and be able to take the kids (currently there are many countries they wouldn’t be allowed in yet as they only have the one vaccine so far), if they want to come.
• But I’ve enjoyed some exploring in the United Kingdom this year and would love to do more of that, especially hoping to fit in a few solo city breaks and sit in cafés people watching, wander round art galleries and museums and get my city steps in. (And I’ll be sure to share any travels, domestic or global, on my travel insta, which has been somewhat neglected the last couple of years!)
• I also want to do more creative exploration – playing with different media and taking 15–30 minutes out of every day to do something different to what I’m working on at the time (and hopefully sharing that exploration on my sketchbook insta) – plus I’ve signed up for a few online art classes this year, so will hopefully be able to carve out enough time to truly delve into those. I also think there may be some style exploration, as I’m starting to feel the call of pixels and texture (see the picture above, for example). But I feel that call every now and then and usually come back ‘home’ to my flatter vector style, so we’ll see if that manifests or not.
• I want to continue literary exploration – reading is such an amazing way to discover new worlds, cultures, people, or just new stories about ordinary and fairly familiar life. You can see what I‘ve been reading this year on my reading insta, though I am actually slightly behind in updating it. I’d also really like to flex my writing muscles again and see if any of the many stories in my head will come out in something resembling coherent form! And if they don’t, at least I’d like to get back to writing here and in my newsletter – did you sign up to it yet? – about illustration, life and whatever else comes up.
• I want to get better at culinary exploration, particularly in terms of all the delicious food that plants can give us. I’m embarking on Veganuary this year and hoping to stick with it, and beyond. But, even if I don’t fully succeed, I want to experiment, and explore, more things to do with vegetables and rely less on eggs and cheese. (Hmm, maybe I’ll need a food insta! Or maybe I need to explore how to cut back on my Insta addiction!)
• And I want to continue exploring Tasha Goddard and who she actually is and what she actually stands for and believes in. Because that’s actually kinda fun and interesting and eye-opening.

Do you have a word for the year? Do you have intentions and hopes for 2022, or are you still wary of them? I know I went a bit crazy this time two years ago with a word for the year and one for the decade and a bunch of optimistic hopes. Yeah, oops.

Whether you’ve got a word for the year, a gazillion goals, or are just hoping to make it through the year intact, I wish you a HAPPY NEW YEAR and hope it proves all you want and then some more.

See you on the other side.