Twenty Sixteen
Is 2026 the new 2016? I think not.
Another January, another version of “omg this was me 10 years ago” hits instagram. I posted comparison images to my grid in 2019 and again in 2022 (well, technically right at the end of 2021) but paused for thought this time around because the vibe seemed off. It was less about comparing selfies and more about reminiscing over simpler times which shows that this is clearly a trend for young folk because they were only really ‘simpler times’ if you were living with your parents a decade ago, with your only real worry being the enormity of the impending student debt in your future.
I, on the other hand, was 41 and fell face first into the bin fire that was 2016. A quick scroll through my Instagram posts from 10 years ago reminded me that it was the year that David Bowie, Carrie Fisher, and George Michael all died. They may not mean much to you but they were all important enough to me to really feel their loss, despite never having met them. Especially the saint and queer icon that was George Michael who died on Christmas Day. It was the year that I naively hoped the lies told by the Leave campaign would not be believed by the British public, but sadly that hope was destroyed and we were left with the omnishambles that is Brexit. It was also the year that the US voting population believed even more lies than we did (still can’t quite grasp that they voted for the Tangerine Toddler again).
Scrolling back through 10 years of Instagram photos also reminded me of the personal triumphs. 2016 was the year that I co-organised a one-day fashion studies symposium at London College of Fashion, helped start The Underpinnings Museum, donated my worn out pointe shoes and Irreverent Dance t-shirt to London Museum (preserving the memory of yet another vanishing queer space in the capital), and continued with my Master’s research post-graduation. It was also the year I pondered a new career and ended up right back at square one. I blogged about that journey the following year and am still pleased with that piece of writing so I might resurrect it here, if anyone is interested in why I have an MA in History & Culture of Fashion but still work as an administrator.
Instead of reflecting on what happened a decade ago, we should be using January to consider the year ahead. What we want to avoid (the news, doomscrolling), what we want to enjoy (time spent with loved ones, delicious food), and what we want to work towards. For that last one, you know what I’m going to say, don’t you? I want to write more and post things here on Substack. So, this is me setting an intention for the year ahead rather than a new year’s resolution. After all, this isn’t a new me, it’s the same person who’s been writing online since 2003 but with a different set of interests and priorities. Same attitude to timekeeping though — this has taken me way longer to write than it should have, due to my insistence on using my sluggish brain rather than GenAI. I’ll save that particular rant for another day though.