2022 in Retrospect

Greetings friends!

 

Another year has passed. The best way to describe this year of my life is “liminal”. It’s felt like a time where I am standing at the bridge of what was, and the next big seasons of life. Similar to a loading screen on a video game or website, it’s a type of lingering threshold where it doesn’t look like much is happening, but in reality, the multitude of pieces are aligning to reveal a new world for exploring.

 

As I crossed the threshold from my 20s into my 30s I felt deeply the stings of transition. For starters, I entered the new year exhausted with sickness, then a few weeks a knee injury left me limping through the lovely halls of the local IKEA. Early on, my body and spirit were filled with a type of helplessness and hopelessness. I felt like I had run out of chances to receive the breakthroughs and blessings that seemed to come so easily to others. Gifts of romantic relationships, new jobs, healthy bodies, children or fur-babies, renovated homes, crazy faith stories, and other conventional milestones. I’ve had moments in my life where I’ve been confused, or even disappointed with God or my circumstances, but for the first time, I felt deeply heartbroken. It took me many weeks to cope with that grief, to move through the waves of anger and into a kind of acceptance.

 

After those months, I started allowing myself small moments of revival. I wasn’t going to sit in the void forever. I was determined to keep healing, and I did. When my knee recovered I started going on mid-day meditative walks, and eventually joined a crossfit bootcamp that challenged me into healthier rhythms. My parents and I took a trip to Las Vegas where I could rekindle some childlike wonder. Contemplatively I sat on a dusty cliffside of the Grand Canyon amid the splendor of creation, spent an afternoon exploring a multi-dimensional art installation, and basked in the endless desert sunshine of the West.

 

Comfort was found in the fulfillment of moments long-awaited, like postponed weddings where I was sent home with plates of eggrolls, chances to hold friends’ healthy newborn babies after many miscarriages, and watching my old interns graduate college and get real-world jobs. I pushed myself to new artistic explorations, including collaborating with Native tribes on artwork of Creator Sets Free (Jesus). Of course, much stayed the same, like drinks with old friends, watching broadway musicals, eating Korean BBQ, playing board games, and escaping far away to Los Angeles and DisneyLand!

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As I cross into the next decade of my life, I’m actually very excited. There is so much more life I get to live, so much more I get to do and experience. I’ve always had a maverick spirit, and maybe I can live into that more in the coming years. I have milestones made just for me that are waiting on the other side of these transitory moments. So cheers to crossing the liminal space, there’s much more life to come!

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All My Love, Maggie <3