Good Bye 2022 – record sprint year & lots of life

When I scroll through my Instagram feed, I see more and more memes like "2022: January, February... Summer, Winter" as the year draws to a close. My inbox is full of these memes that we send back and forth among our friends - each one more fitting than the last. Modern meme culture has once again captured a phenomenon: 2022 has apparently not felt like a marathon for us collectively, but rather like a really brisk sprint. Barely three blinks and it's already Christmas. It's kind of crazy how so many different people can perceive the period of a year in a similar way. And now, as the year draws to a close and we inevitably fall into the usual mood of reflection, this seems to be particularly noticeable once again.

For this last article of the year for JUNGLÜCK magazine, I thought a lot about what it could be about. Do we need another look back at a year in which so many negative and shocking events have overwhelmed the media landscape and our private lives? Are there any words that are appropriate at this time? Words that can convey general hope and joy for the new year?
I think that you and all other readers will carry very individual feelings, hopes, fears, dreams and plans into the next year. You know best what your thoughts are about at the end of the year. That's why I don't want to go into the usual New Year's resolution topics here, or deliver a monologue about JUNGLÜCK milestones achieved in 2022 (even though there would certainly be enough to tell). I would rather talk about something that particularly connects us these days: time.

Sense of time in 2022

After the Corona restrictions of the last few years, a little more of a sense of life returned in 2022. More and more happiness with freedom, social gatherings and a sea of ​​leisure options - almost like before. And at the same time, dramatic scenes are playing out in the world.

Political situations are becoming increasingly more acute, states of emergency, states of need, freedom is coming to an abrupt end. And us? We live in a balancing act between happy prosperity and persistent world-weariness. Time stands still and then it runs away all the faster. Moments were lived, many days were experienced, and time was really felt, in the here and now. And maybe that is why our sense of time is somehow common in the end, no longer as lonely as in previous years. And time becomes a feeling that we share, not a method of measurement, not a time of day or a calendar year.

A year with lots of life

A year in which so much has happened. For you, for me, for everyone. Beautiful, sad, important, right, breathtaking, "holding the world in suspense" things... And perhaps it is not in our power to determine our own sense of time. And we will never be able to stop time. But you are in control of how you want to spend your time - a reminder that this year has given us. Because despite all the negativity, upheaval and tragedy that is taking place in the world - or perhaps precisely because of it - we have used 2022 to live.

We filled it with people, with festivals, with good food and sport, with visits to bars, family celebrations and packed travel bags. We experienced a lot, from days with good friends to nights with strangers who became confidants. We danced, laughed, hugged, kissed and sought new closeness. We were able to explore the world again, stand in the middle of waves and crowds. And before all that, we were able to see the moments when we could breathe, when we wanted to be grateful and kept our eyes closed to capture the feeling of time, to hold on to it and, before it flies away again, to simply switch back a gear for the moment.

“Time flies when you're having fun” – open your eyes and we're already in the hottest free time stress we've had for a long time. And together, each of us individually, we fill the days, weeks and months with life. Completely unnoticed and quietly, time slips by rapidly and it's already December and I'm sitting in my kitchen writing these lines and feeling completely connected to you and to everyone out there. Close your eyes and take a deep breath, because I'd like to frame and hang up this sense of time, this play of emotions. As a daily reminder that we are free to shape our lives and that after all the distance and deprivation, we can find commonality even in something as abstract as “time”.

And before we dive into the new year, there is only one thing left to say: Have a good time.