This morning I am putting furniture together, which means my mind is roving all over the place. So here, as I screw panels together, it occurs to me that 2022 was the year I discovered I was wrong about nearly everything.
The low expectations of racism, or vice versa, had had me imagining all sorts about those I had once known. One old acquaintance I had assumed would have grown up children by now, with grandchildren on the way. It turned out they never married.
Others I’d been led to believe would never amount to much turned out to be working in senior management for prestigious employers. Some I’d believed to have remained up north turned out to have been near neighbours of mine.
And then came the sudden realisation of self, discovering old photos of myself from thirty years ago. Encountering that face and form, coupled with renewed understanding of my condition, changed my understanding of nearly every event from childhood to adolescence through to the pursuit of employment.
The veil has been lifted on all things, challenging my understanding of all I once thought to be true. And so here we are, five months into 2023, and it’s as if I’ve started again. A new beginning.
Thus does the mind rove while engaged in the mundane task of assembling flatpack furniture.
Last modified: 29 April 2023
