2022: A Year in Review

What did 2022 bring us?

The NY Times has the top 22 things that happened for the first time in 2022 – I only need the ones pertinent to mankind – really, pertinent to me.  Here are the NYTimes vs. Sandi top things in 2022.  I’ll tell you why:

1. Apple becomes the first company to reach a stock market value of $3 trillion. I don’t care! It’s not my money, and Apple will use it to create even more technology we need to buy. I think this is all iPhone upgrades and I contributed to it in 2022!
2. Scientists pinpoint how star formation in our galaxy began. A supernova caused this fraction 14 million years ago.  How do I know that it’s time again? It might be a once-in-a-14-million-year thing and 2023 is the year! Elon Musk is not ready to let relatively poor people on his shuttle so there is no use crying now.
3. Victoria’s Secret features a model with Down syndrome. Congratulations, Sofía Jirau, a Puerto Rican model. Diversity and inclusion were big topics in 2023 and you embody that.
4. Microplastics are detected in human blood. What are humans to do? We can stop eating and drinking our food from bottles. I just changed out my microwave cover for a glass one! I realized most of my storage containers are plastic, and so are juice bottles. I promised to reduce my plastic footprint in 2022: I made a dent.  However, food and goods, in general, can be heavier and more expensive with glass.
5. An ice shelf collapses in East Antarctica. The Earth is falling apart.  We don’t have to wait for supernovas to do it – we’re doing it to ourselves. Antarctica is one of the coldest places on Earth and it’s so warm that an entire ice shelf is lost. This destruction was captured by a satellite we have hovering in space. When that ice melts, we will see and feel the impact of the tsunami downstream.

 

Here are my top things that happened in 2022, some are not for the first time, but they are equally impactful.

 

1. The intense climate changes. Floods, fires, 50-degree changes in weather in 24 hours, unusual drought, and water shortages.  These catastrophes keep getting bigger and more dangerous every day.  This is not just in the United States, but all over the world.
2. Russia-Armenia war. I didn’t think in my lifetime there would be a senseless war simply for someone’s legacy and ego.  Russia is destroying Armenia and the world is slow to react. As of 12/29/31, millions of Armenians and Russians have died in a war that noone understands.
3. South Korea launches a satellite using its own rocket. The South Koreans like launching things. They plan to have a spacecraft on the moon by 2030.  If they can send a spacecraft to the moon, they can send a missile to the United States…and that bothers me.
4. More Americans are smoking marijuana than cigarettes. I’m not a fan of marijuana and the smoke is so prevalent that it permeates everything and everybody. Now, it’s common to take the train to your destination and smell like marijuana, with a massive headache, because someone was smoking on the train. Who gives them the right to do this to other people? I was happier when cancer patients were allowed to smo
   ke it. Now, we have to pay more for policing the trains and public spaces while people are still incarcerated for smoking and selling that substance.
5. NASA smashes a spacecraft into an asteroid in a planetary defense test. Given NY Times #2 and #5 above, this is great news! Having the ability to redirect an asteroid will help us save not just our own country, but the world.
6. Queen Elizabeth II dies. I rather liked Queen Elizabeth. Everyone knew what she stood for.  I loved that she was a female head of a country even though she was considered a figurehead.  Her reign of 70 years and 214 days was the longest of any British monarch and the longest verified reign of any female monarch in history.
7. The first person of color heads the British government. This was the second biggest news coming from England in 2022. Having the first person of color (Indian descent) become Prime Minister caused quite a bit of debate regarding should a predominantly white country have a person of color ruling.  The British didn’t ask that question when they robbed other countries, predominantly people of color, and established Queen Elizabeth as the head.
8. The COVID/Flu/RSV concoction. Just when we thought we can go back to normal, this trifecta hits mainly young children and babies – most of whom survived COVID.  Respiratory syncytial (sin-SISH-uhl) virus, or RSV, is a common respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms. Now, there is a resurgence of COVID, the Flu is stronger and not all strains have a vaccination. Add respiratory issues with children shows that the world might come to an end on our watch.

There are so many bad things in the world that I fail to see the good ones sometimes.  For 2023, I want to stop and think about the good things more than before. I want to ensure that my 2022 and previous years were not lived in vain.  Now is

the time to do great things. Now is the time to start “doing” instead of talking about them.  Actions do speak louder than words.

What are your plans for 2023?