What a terrible year!

[Pelta]

I remember reading this article on Witchvox last January and sorta hoping it didn't apply to me. Well, I had a pretty all-around terrible year. Even the good parts only served to deepen the depths of the disastrous.

Now, I wouldn't consider this that strange if it hadn't been for other people coming out with the exact same complaints. In a certain circle I was in someone mentioned how crap this year was and there was a unanimous groan of consent. It just seemed to be worse for everyone this year.

So, has anyone else had a particularly awful year?
Any idea why?
Or am I just a bitter old hag?  

[CuAnnan]

missmagpie

I remember reading this article on Witchvox last January and sorta hoping it didn't apply to me. Well, I had a pretty all-around terrible year. Even the good parts only served to deepen the depths of the disastrous.

Now, I wouldn't consider this that strange if it hadn't been for other people coming out with the exact same complaints. In a certain circle I was in someone mentioned how crap this year was and there was a unanimous groan of consent. It just seemed to be worse for everyone this year.

So, has anyone else had a particularly awful year?
Any idea why?
Or am I just a bitter old hag?

I've had a very bittersweet year.

Cons:
I've lost friends permanently.
Had massive arguments with others.
My relationship is on the rocks.
My job sucked.

Pro:
Went to america and met Fiddler, Deo, Nuri, Tea, Fae fae, Catofsilence, Tea's husband (who's real name I can remember but who's gaia handle escapes me) and a whole host of other s**t cool people

Related con:
Saying goodbye to them all broke my heart.

New year pros:
New job on the way.
Going back to the US for a fortnight (and hopefully six months later on)  

[Pelta]

So the article said to beware of "diseases, broken agreements and corruption."

A week after I read that article I came down with glandular fever/mono.
I dated a man who repeatedly broke off every agreement we made.
There were instances of rather despicable corruption in certain family situations... The list goes on.

Even wonderful things, like going to San Francisco and seeing Fiddler, were marred by the fact that when I came home my boyfriend didn't want to see me.

It was a pretty awful year.

Yet is it possible that it was such a terrible year because I read that article beforehand and expected one? These things are always tricky when it comes to divination...

In any case I've been told Jupiter is moving into Sagittarius so things damn well better be fantastic for me next year.  

[Deoridhe]

I didn't have a bad year overall. I mean, it was blargh, and dealing with my ex was increasingly unpleasant, and the whole process of applying to graduate schools is throat-slitting goodness, butoverall it wasn't bad.

Next year will be MADE if I find out I'm in grad school.

I think expectations can say a lot both about what you remember happening and about how you react to it, thus making it better or worse.  

[Starlock]

Nope. Not awful at all. Graduated with honors last May. Got a good starting position in my field that has been awesome and inspiring. New living location is a beautiful place. And there are probably several dozen other awesome things I could list. Just about the only 'bad' things have been some of the challenges associated with relocating to a new area, but they aren't so much bad as simply different.  

[Pelta]

Deoridhe

I didn't have a bad year overall. I mean, it was blargh, and dealing with my ex was increasingly unpleasant, and the whole process of applying to graduate schools is throat-slitting goodness, butoverall it wasn't bad.

Oh yay! Someone didn't have a year of horribleness! It has been a tad overwhelming the number of people saying this year was particularly crap.

Quote:

Next year will be MADE if I find out I'm in grad school.

I think next year overall is expected to be fantastic. I'm looking forward to things going well for a change.

Quote:

I think expectations can say a lot both about what you remember happening and about how you react to it, thus making it better or worse.

I think that does have a lot to do with it. Not having read that article maybe wouldn't have changed what actually happened this year, but I think it definately had an effect on how I dealt with it. Especially since after every short glimmer of goodness I expected everything to fall apart. It did, but never in the way I thought it would.

Plus, since I labelled this year as a bad one in about May, looking back on it I only really remember the bad.  

[Oterys]

I can officially say this has been a pretty craptastic year over all. In February I caught the flu, fractured my ankle and got dumped the day after valentines...but I kinda saw that one coming. And to add icing to the cake my uncle passed away on Thanksgiving morning...so I recently had to attend his cremation memorial. On top of that, now my throat's so raw that it's unbelievably painful.

I hope that next year is better, it almost has to be. I'm staying positive about it, and with luck I will be more mentally and spiritually organized when I meet it.  

[TeaDidikai]

Had a wonderful year myself.

Isakane (aka The Hubby) landed one of his dream jobs and doubled our household income. I got Madrona, met wonderful friends, landed a good job and all in all, life is pretty happy at the moment.  

[queertastrophy]

This year was, basically, very frustrating.

In January, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer again. Luckily, they caught it in it's earliest stage, and the lump was surgically removed the next week. The radiation following the surgery just ruined her, though. In the spring, my father was diagnosed with diabetes. Come summer, there were a lot of problems with my a*****e uncle pissing my grandmother's money away (he lives with her to take care of her *cough* because she's had a stroke and now has mild dementia). The family had to go to court over it in the fall.

Then there were my problems with the financial aid office at my college. Between them basically saying "You guys aren't making enough money for your college payments, but you're not poor ENOUGH to qualify. Sorry!" bullshit and them withholding my loans... I'd like to suckerpunch them all heartily. And, throughout most of the year (up until July), I was stuck at my shitty job at Sears--they paid me s**t money ($6.50 an hour plus commission (commission would be good if the Sears in our area actually had customers...)), denied all of my days off that I requested (even though I worked almost full-time), and was talked down to on a daily basis. Unfortuantely, after quitting, it took me almost three months to find a new job. And as a college student...that's rough. I went through Hell during those months, having only around $20 in my checking account and $60 (it was dwindled down to that point paying for miscellaneous car s**t, gas, etc.) in savings. It killed me to ask my parents and Isaac to help me out with gas money and such.

Good stuff was really few and far between. So far this year, I've only seen Isaac once. My cousin Steve got married, one of my best friends had her baby (he's so adorable!), and I finally found a new job at Target, which pays very nicely, and they're awful nice about giving me the days off I need for finals (boo) and Isaac-time (yay).

The next two weeks are looking to be the best of the year. It's about time some contentment and happiness took over for more than a day.  

[Pelta]

It sounds a bit like it's been a testing year for a lot of people. Not particularly awful, but with a lot of difficulties and obstacles to overcome.

Someone said this is because it's a numerologically eight year. What do you think of that?

(thinking of Tarot eights here)  

[TheDisreputableDog]

This year had about equal portions of being awful and being awesome. Made some amazing friends, had a few really good relationships (one still continuing, the others great despite their ends), got more involved at school in sports and organizations, learned a lot about myself, and brought my grades up this fall.

But in terms of "disease, broken agreements and corruption"? Very much so.

Disease: I had mono this fall too, and now my suitemate's boyfriend has both mono and a severely infected lip, my suitemate may have had mono but is such a workaholic she didn't notice, and a friend at a different school also has mono. I had my first pelvic exam this fall (way too late) and came up abnormal with HPV. Another friend had a persistant cyst and other health issues and was forced to withdraw from school for the semester because she couldn't keep up with her work.

Corruption: camp this summer was so full of people being mean and selfish and all around hateful for no particular reason, complete with some of the staff being favored over others to the point where some people got away with everything and others were watched like hawks for any mistake.

Broken agreements: I have been trying to have dinner with a friend of mine all semester and it has just never worked out. I lost my scholarship in the spring for poor grades; I think that would count as a broken agreement. My mother was promised a certain job at her company several times and has been having extreme difficulty securing it.

If I were the kind to get down about stuff for the longterm, sure, the year would have sucked over all. But I prefer to focus on the good things, of which there were and are many. smile Testing year, certainly. Unsalvageable? I don't think so.  

[Aesi]

I found a very good friend, but I hardly get time to say two words to him. My grandfather died on his son's, my father's, birthday, but I learned a lot about the man afterward and gained a stronger appreciation of him and of my father. I got away from a household of horrible people, who then moved out of state, but I miss their kids, who were miraculously awesome. My brother moved in with me, proceeded to do everything in his power to take advantage of my patience, but he made me an aunt last week. All together, an exhausting year, not so bad, with plenty of ups and downs.  

[Doctrix]

This year was just bad for me because my dad died. The year he was diagnosed with cancer (2002) he celebrated the following New Year by peeing on a piece of toilet paper with "2002" written on it. New Years was always a special day for him and I, so I'm going to be peeing on "2006" at the New Year. confused  

[TeaDidikai]

[Kudzu]

This year was just bad for me because my dad died. The year he was diagnosed with cancer (2002) he celebrated the following New Year by peeing on a piece of toilet paper with "2002" written on it. New Years was always a special day for him and I, so I'm going to be peeing on "2006" at the New Year. confused

Nice.


As a note- by the measures most people seem to be citing as for what makes a "bad year", I can't name a good year of my life.

I am beginning to think this isn't a function of anything beyond a simple perspective.

Is your glass half full or half empty.

Me? My glass is always full.  

[Fiddlers Green]

Twas a different year...
There was loss and there was gain...
There tis still time for much to happen as well...
Ultimately, was it good or bad...?
Bah!
I just didn't start the year right...
I forgot to wash the dust of last year off, so much lingered that shouldn't have.

I lost my Home, my Jeep, and a pile of money...
The former part of that was excrutiating...

On the other hand, I finished my Rubix cube, met some wonderful people, and have had numeorus new experiences.

A year both like and unlike any other...
As always, there was dynamis, and that is all I really expect anymore. wink