Tolstoy once wrote that “true life is lived when tiny changes occur.” 2021 was a year that seemed to hint at the potential for great change and yet, for me, it never seemed to fully deliver. One year on, and I feel that things have remained relatively static despite the time that has passed.

Maybe this is a naive way to view things and, perhaps, it's unwise to try and define our lives by what we think of as big changes. Instead, we might listen to Tolstoy and try and find true life through all the tiny changes that occur.

The big thing you'd miss this year is the craic. I used to live abroad and would try and explain the idea of ‘craic’ to some of the foreigners that I'd meet. "Having the craic is kind of like a social activity," I'd say. "It's about having a good time with friends." Yet, these descriptions never quite fully captured what I found so special about this word. This year, it has been the absence of craic that has helped me to realise what is so special about it, and this has given me something to work towards in the year ahead.

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