Entering 2022!

 Hello everybody, and a Happy New Year to all!

I hope everybody has had a great time in celebration to the entry of the new year that is 2022. There is no doubt that many people celebrate the tradition in various different ways, whether it's through house party, attending firework displays or other public events and so forth. With that being said, New Year's Eve is my personal second favourite time of the year behind Halloween. This is purely because the holiday highlights my social side. It's also the day when we look back on the year just gone and think what we want to happen during the next year.

As we look back on 2021, it has certainly been an improvement compared to 2020, a year which I can never defend. The first half was of course unkind to us, thanks to the lockdown which I'm grateful ended on July. Personally, the Conservatives were never my favourite political party. However, on early January, a speech was given by Charles Walker, a Tory MP, which I found to be very inspiring. He expressed how upset he was with the "sneering journalists" for picking on us just because some of us "broke the rules". He added that we needed to show some compassion to each other. I agree with those statements and this is because many of us have spent time bullying each other through social media - one person calls the other "selfish" and "covidiot", and let's not forget the rise in mental health issues. I can understand why Boris Johnson's popularity is lowering. In fact, even though I'm mostly a Labour supporter, I wonder if Charles Walker would make a better prime minister compared to Boris.

As stated above, I welcomed the end to the lockdown last year. Even though I do sympathise with the NHS and hose who lost loved ones due to the virus, the lockdown simply had to end, one reason due to the rise in mental health issues; many people require social rights for the sake of sanity, plus one's mental health has to be discussed at some point and can't be kept secret forever. I know, because I was one of those that experienced the trauma. Plus a few people committed suicide due to the restrictions including the young man at Loughborough University who took his own life the year before.

Another reason why the lockdown had to go was because it even affected working conditions. One of the "rules" was to work home if one can. Outside of my freelance career as a writer/film-maker, I also work as a cleaner and due to the nature of the job, it's unfeasible for cleaners and those who have other physical jobs to work from home. If that wasn't all, the furlough scheme has since been scrapped by the government. See what I mean?

Aside from the elephant in the room, there were other issues that were and still are no less serious including Brexit and the climate change. I myself experienced a rough last few months. Despite still being intact and the fact that I now have my own place, I had experienced some events including problems with the internet and the bureaucracy of ordering new services, replacing my phone and getting my car broken into - and speaking of the latter, to ensure more security on my car will be one of my New Year's resolutions.

No year is a stranger to death and we shall remember those who died in 2021, not just due to the virus, but of other causes;

Sally Ann Howes

Betty White

Tanya Roberts

Michael Apted

Val Bettin

Ed Bruce

Charlie Watts

Sylvain Sylvain

Dale Baer

Phil Spector

Jimmie Rodgers (no, not the country singer who sang Train Whistle Blows)

Roberta Hodes

Bob Avian

Anthony Dawes

Ron Campbell

Larry King

Cloris Leachman

Robert C Jones

Christopher Plummer

Mary Wilson

Rush Limbaugh

Alan Curtis

Frank Lupo

David De Keyser

Peter Harris

Ronald Pickup

Chris Barber

Trevor Peacock

George Segal

Paul Ritter

Arthur Cox

Joseph Siravo

Lew Lewis

Helen McCrory

Jim Steinman

Les McKeown

Charles Fries

Nathan Jung

Frank Cox

Michael Collins

Billie Hayes

Nikki Grahame

Sarah Harding

Wes Magee

Neil Connery

Samuel E Wright

BJ Thomas

Charles Grodin

Ned Beatty

Norman Lloyd

Ernie Lively

Leon Greene

Robert Downey Sr

Jackie Mason

Rick Aiello

Mo Hayder

Thea White

Paul Johnson

Jane Withers

Sean Lock

Sonny Chiba

Don Everly

Ed Asner

Michael Constantine

Basil Hoffman

Avril Elgar

Melvin Van Peebles

Peter Howitt

Tommy Kirk

Barry Ryan

Cynthia Harris

Gerald Home

Everett Morton

Alan Hawkshaw

Leslie Bricusse

Bob Baker

Lionel Blair

Clifford Rose

Dean Stockwell

Graeme Edge

Will Ryan

Lou Cutell

Yvonne Wilder

Stephen Sondheim

Arlene Dahl

Denis O'Brien

Joe Simon

Jaime Comas

Janice Long

Robin Le Mesurier

Richard Conway

I realise that I've missed out some, but the list is too long for me to name anymore examples.

So let's raise a glass to toast the start of 2022.