I’ve been writing an annual retrospective for myself since 2020, which I started for obvious reasons at the end of the first pandemic year. The whole process helps me put things into perspective and avoid the dreaded recency bias I warn many of my coachees against.

However, my last public retrospective was published in 2018, featuring a different time, a different world, and a different Zaharenia. It was high time to put together a string of random thoughts while looking back at my year.

If I had to choose a word or a theme for 2024, that would be cynicism. I regret that. I don’t want to become more bitter as I get older, but it is what it is. Welp, here it is again.

However, after a certain age, the state of the world starts making complete sense if you keep thinking in worst-case scenarios.

Looking back at my year, it was terrific. I have my family and a big group of friends. I have love and cats and good food and new hobbies. However, I noticed a sharp turn in my behaviour towards bitterness and cynicism, which I hope to reverse in 2025. Let’s see how that goes.

Happy New Year, friends. I hope we can make it a better one.

January

January came and went like all Januaries do. Full of false new beginnings and unkept promises to one’s self.

I went through my “currently reading” pile on Goodreads and tried to reduce it (yes, I’m the person who reads different books simultaneously). I succeeded, partly.

I also got serious about experimenting with new art styles. I played around with coloured markers and pastels. I will upload my studies and experiments to my art Instagram account, @sugarenia.draws.

February

First Athens trip of 2024. I counted ten of them this year. I consider this trip my commute now, but I use these visits to see friends and catch up with art in a way I don’t have the chance to do in my hometown: theatre plays, live gigs, and museum exhibitions.

However, on the same trip, I got sick with a recurring pharyngitis issue. My ENT doctor shoved a camera down my nose and told me my throat resembled a singer’s throat. I thanked him for the compliment. He told me it was not a compliment. My throat was looking rough. It turns out that talking to make a living has a cost.

March

Do you like dressing up? I loathe it, but I go through the motions every year because most of my friends love it, and I love them. This year, our group project was the Kill Bill girls, so I dressed up as Daryl Hannah’s character, Elle Driver. The wig was itchy and I couldn’t see a thing with that eye patch, but the photos were epic.

As part of the carnival festivities, I also played my first live music gig as part of a band. I played the drum at a local carnival with our Brazilian percussion group and had a whale of a time.

Our friend group trip this year was a Croatia road trip. Six of us drove from Zagreb to Split, Dubrovnik, Zadar, and back to Zagreb in a black van that made us feel like touring rockstars. The Croatian national parks we visited (Plitvice Lakes, Krka) were breathtakingly beautiful. You should visit.

April

I read Rendezvous with Rama, and now I want Denis Villeneuve to finish Dune Messiah and get his butt into it, pronto.

I got a shorter, blonder haircut, which I loved.

There was another trip to Athens for the Devoxx Greece conference, as I’m in the committee.

May

May was rough, for no lack of reasons.

That feels all kinds of wrong because it’s my favourite month of the year: everything is in bloom, the days are long enough to enjoy, it’s warm but not hot, tourists have not started coming in droves, so you can still enjoy the sea.

But then I had a disastrous trip to Athens that resulted in health issues that resulted in me writhing in pain in the ER that resulted to frantically chasing after two separate doctors to get an antibiotics prescription just before my trip to Barcelona that resulted in a missed flight that resulted in a horrendous overnight stay in Fiumicino that resulted in my Barcelona Airbnb host threatening to cancel my reservation as a no-show because I didn’t inform them… May was frantic and bad. I don’t like to think about that month.

June

The beginning of June found me drenched in the rain, shoved against other festival-goers while watching Bikini Kill live, along with a treasured friend. I had just attended my fourth Primavera Sound festival, having the time of my life, again, burning through my hard-earned money, again, for the sake of music and fun and feeling alive and connected by a shimmering thread to everyone around me. I watched the sunrise behind the bulky Parc Del Fórum slope and decided to take a break for a while. This year’s lineup confirmed my suspicions - the festival is now gearing towards music that differs from what I like to listen to. But I’m not sure I’m done with Primavera Sound, or Barcelona for that matter.

We had a week-long camping trip where we watched aliens invade (it was actually a SpaceX missile launch, but watching an eerie green blob in the sky while you’re effectively sleeping under the stars wakes up a primordial fear in you).

June marked the first time I got on a theatre stage. I presented a short monologue from Tenesssee Williams’ Sweet Bird of Youth, which allowed me to dive into Alexandra’s psyche and find ways to connect with her. When I first got the assignment, I had many questions and phobias. How will I remember all those words? Will friends and relatives in the audience see me in a different light? Is my butt visible when I sit on that sofa on stage? But then something clicked in my mind, and I didn’t have to remember the words any more; I didn’t have to remember to walk towards the table and pour myself a glass of wine because I didn’t just portray Alexandra Del Lago. I was her, and of course, she needed a drink right now, of course, she needed to persuade Chance to keep her company because she’s lonely and past her prime and… Well, I can now see why people fall in love with acting.

July

July was my busiest travel month, maybe ever. It started with a friends’ trip to Milan for the (eventually final) Queens of the Stone Age in San Siro stadium. After an eventful arrival (ask me to tell you the tale sometime), we stuffed our faces with focaccia and explored the city, which was surprisingly beautiful and mosquito-infested. If you ever visit Milan during the summer, I compel you to bring all the mosquito repellent. The situation was so dire that we had to Google it, only to find out that Milan is built amid rice fields, and this is a common occurrence. Who knew?

After a quick trip to Athens to see Jan Blomqvist (yay, rave!) and Massive Attack (so poignant, so important) live, it was time to make the long trip to Austin, Texas. That was my second time in the city, and I was startled at how different it was from 13 years ago, when I visited for SXSW2011. I had to bring up photos taken from South Congress Bridge and compare them to confirm that I wasn’t crazy - the city skyline is entirely different.

This time, I had the chance to visit Texas outside “quirky” and “weird” Austin, and the whole experience was eye-opening. I had hush puppies and cheese grits in a restaurant overlooking a lake. I sipped sweet tea while marvelling at the sheer size of US trucks. I had the best BBQ of my life, meat so divine I had to ration it to savour it, and I groaned while my eyes fell to the back of my head. I visited Whataburger after hours and Walmart at 10 pm. I tried biscuits with gravy for the first time (too buttery) and attended a country live gig sponsored by a bail bonds service. I visited an enormous college football stadium, and my Friday Night Lights fan brain almost exploded.

Texas feels vast and different, yet familiar, and the people are all charming and call you “sir” and “ma’am” and tip their cowboy hats at you on the street. I can’t help but want to visit again.

August

I’m serious about camping. I’m so serious about it that I flew back from Athens to Heraklion on Monday afternoon only to change clothes, grab my already packed camping backpack and drive three and a half hours to meet my friends. Waking up on the beach always feels like coming home.

One of the year’s musical highlights was driving up Psiloritis mountain to attend a Xylouris White live gig right in front of the enormous entrance of Zeus Cave. Memory-making moment.

September

September was so slow I decided to start an Instagram account for my business. I got into it guns blazing, posting three face reels per week, and then I experimented with carousels, promos, silly memes and switching between Greek and English content.

I still am ambivalent towards Instagram. On the one hand, having an account is convenient, especially for marketing my work to the masses. On the other hand, providing value for free felt draining and, frankly, didn’t pay out. I’m still thinking about where to go with this.

October

After years of deliberation and back’n’forth, I decided to quit Twitter entirely. There were more false quits in the past, but I always went back for more. I will spare you the eulogy; you know why I left that toxic cesspool owned by a deranged sociopath. I’m on Bluesky now, and my personal and professional accounts are both there. Earlier this month, I posted that I never open my Bluesky Discover feed without learning something new or chuckling at something witty. Quitting Twitter is one of the best decisions I’ve made for my mental health lately.

Mountain getaways are great. Mountain getaways with friends and board games and crafts are better. We took advantage of a long weekend and drove to Chania, where we played with the local cats, hiked (a little), ate food (a lot), lit a fire (and smelled like woodsmoke for weeks), embroidered and played board games.

I got the baking bug this year; I must have baked a cake every week in October. I prefer fruit-themed bakes; my favourites are banana bread, french apple cake, and lemon pound cake. I also tackled basque cheesecake which had no job to be so delicious and easy to prepare, a dangerous combination. There was also a savoury cake incident, but we won’t talk about that.

November

Thanks to my friend Elena, I discovered Dimension 20 and started the Fantasy High campaign, which I watched while doing embroidery. Honestly, it was the most life-affirming content I consumed this year. Brennan is the most empathetic Dungeon Master I’ve ever watched in action, and his intrepid heroes gave life to some of the most nuanced (and fun!) characters in the D&D universe. I love the John Hughes-esque setting of Fantasy High, but I want to explore more (and I really want to watch Dungeons and Drag Queens - I mean, the pun alone!)

I attended OpenConf in Athens, which is now h u g e. I had the chance to mentor techies on various themes and enjoyed it immensely, being in the business of helping people. If you’re on the conference circuit, check it out.

December

December found me wholly stressed and exhausted. Functional, but running on fumes.

It was no wonder I fell ill during my last trip of the year, catching the dreadful stomach bug that did the rounds at the time. I hadn’t had a stomach bug for years and forgot how awful it felt. I had to cancel all my appointments and survive on water and dry toast for three days, meditating to avoid throwing up (fellow emetophobes, unite).

Although it sounds more depressing than it was, I had to put up Christmas decorations all by myself this year. It felt weird not having friends and family helping as we usually do. But on the other hand, it felt like the correct ending to a tough year.

The holidays were as laid back as possible. No travel, no going out, just friends, Playstation, food, board games, and cats. A necessary respite before tackling 2025.