2022: A Review Of The Year I Bloomed.

Angel Nduka-Nwosu.

Picture Taken September 2022.

Towards the end of 2021 I did a year in review post documenting my growth away from traumatic experiences.

I tagged 2021 my year of rebirth and yes rebirth I did.

Upon entering a new year in 2022, I remember writing my goals for the year with the three themes of: “Reemergence. Lightbringing. Enjoyment”.

My main aim was not just to bloom in 2022, but to fully show to the world what I had rebirthed.

As 2022 draws to an end I can boldly say that I indeed bloomed despite some drawbacks and difficulties.

These were my highlights of 2022:

• Building The Emecheta Collective, a women only community of creatives to over 250 members. I got numerous editing and writing gigs from it this year and that strengthened my resolve and belief in women’s safe spaces.
• Moving to a better home space.
• Getting a job as an inhouse writer for Urban Woman Magazine.
• Getting a job as an editor in chief for a media publication. I eventually left it but it still gave me incredible opportunities.
• Getting a job as a news editor early in the year for a women’s online publication. Though I’m no longer there, this was one of the best things of my 2022 as I had more openings and opportunities through it.
• Interviewing notable people on the AMAKA Studio magazine.
• Getting published in newer magazines like Radr Africa, Culture Custodian, The Spill Mag and Black Ballad.
• Editing my first poetry collection for an international client. The day I had the hardcopy sent to Nigeria would always be a highlight for me cause I saw my name in the acknowledgements.
• Getting invited as a speaker on several Twitter Spaces. I did a Twitter Space for the brand OKWU ID and it felt surreal being paid for using my voice cause I used to be clueless about how to use Twitter Spaces. I was invited to Twitter Spaces by organisations like ElectHerNG, FAM Inititative and AWIM to share my thoughts on women in politics, mental health/body positivity and violence against women respectively.
• Getting invited as a speaker on ARISE TV and for a feminist event organised by Yommy Ayilara to launch her women centered publication.
• Improving my skills as an Igbo tutor and getting my first independent Igbo tutoring clients outside of Igbo based agencies.
• Going back to the poetry perfomance scene in Lagos. I was on a poetry album which can be listened to here. I also performed poetry more and got my first official performance pictures. In addition to these, I wrote poetry much more compared to the past two years.
• I attended two workshops for youths and human rights defenders during the year.
• Creating book content for Instagram and getting asked by authors to review books for them.
• I also read about 50+ books in 2022. I didn’t have a reading goal perse but I read and reread books that were deeply enriching.
• I judged a literary prize for women and doing so broadened my understanding of what it means to write.
• I participated in an academic research on the effects of police brutality and #SayHerNameNigeria. I was cited as a co-author in the journal which is a dream come true seeing as I’ve always desired being published in an academic journal.

As important as all of the above are, there are two major things I did this year that boosted my confidence.

I went back to writing short stories and had one of them accepted by a magazine I adore. In total I wrote about four short stories. This is huge because it once felt like my ability to write creative fiction had left me.

This too was especially encouraging as I had received several rejections from literary magazines on the Submittable platform for the past four years.

The second major thing I did this year was that I started my NYSC journey and got sworn in as a youth corper.

Although there were difficulties at first, I successfully attended camp after two years of hitches, made new connections and faced my fears of NYSC. This has made me understand that there is really nothing to be afraid of.

There were other things I did which were not career related or about jobs but they still made me incredibly happy.

For one, after about seven years of not flying on planes, I took a mini vacation to Port-Harcourt and saw my dad, mom and sister. That trip was very refreshing as it gave me the space to enjoy a calmer environment.

I also gave pocket money to my brother a lot more and I helped my parents financially when I could. They also helped me whenever I encountered dry spells financially, further deepening my appreciation of them despite our arguments sometimes.

In line with my goal of reemerging, I went out to more events and socialised more. This meant a lot to me cause there was a time attending events and parties didn’t happen as easily seeing as I was living then with my uncle. It was an indication of growth to be able to come back when I wanted and to own my time.

I definitely became better at asking for help this year and this is a big win cause I struggled with asking for help without feeling shame in the past.

To add to these, I became better at leaving negative situations and ignoring men who wanted to pull me down relationship wise. I was more intentional about protecting my peace and spoke up even in situations that weren’t tied to love or sex.

Future Projections…

For 2023, my main goal is to flourish, improve my finances and face every fear that I witnessed in 2022.

Practically speaking this would look like:

• Getting more Igbo tutoring gigs.
• Getting paid to review books.
• Finishing my NYSC service year in peace and not in pieces.
• Getting extra editing gigs.
• Being published in more international magazines and landing a paid in house writer role with one (or two).
• Getting paid to perform poetry and performing in a poetry festival.
• Exploring Twitter Spaces more and actively hosting events and broadcast shows as a broadcast journalist.
• Voicing an ebook and an animation.
• Exploring film and other aspects of photography asides book photography.
• Living freely even when worries of Nigeria want to take my joy.

I am more than grateful to everyone who made my 2022 a year to truly remember.

I’m thankful to those who sent me books, recommended me for jobs and spoke life into me when I wanted to give up.

I don’t take any of you for granted and I know that because of y’all I truly reemerged and showed the world a rebirth of light this year.

May 2023 bring hope, peace and of course incredible laughter.

Ise ✨