As I sit here to write a post to close out the year, I find myself backspacing to erase almost anything I come up with. I mean, my writing process often looks like two steps forward and one step back, but a year-end post, especially one for a broad audience, presents challenges.

How do you characterize an entire year? I’m struck by the variety of our experience. Maybe you can’t help but smile when you think of 2021. Maybe you look back and see grief, sorrow, and set-back. Maybe it’s a blur. Maybe it’s complicated.

So, for those are inclined to reflect on their experience of 2021 and their hopes for 2022, I present this New Year Fill-in the Blank. Use it quasi-seriously as a template to sort through your thoughts, or pair up with a friend to fill in random adjectives, verbs, and nouns for a humorous childhood throwback.

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New Year Fill-in the Blank

2021 was a/an [adjective] year. [Exclamation]! What a/an [adjective] year.

When I think of 2021, I can’t help but remember when I [past tense verb] the [proper noun], that [adjective] [event], and when my [noun] [past tense verb]. Oh, and that [name of food] from [place] that I ate. [Exclamation].

If I had to pick one word to sum up the year, it would be [any word or phrase].

When I think about 2022, I mostly feel [emotion]. And maybe [quantity] of [emotion] too. I hope that I can find ways to be more [adjective]. And maybe less of a/an [adjective] [identity noun]. And I’m REALLY looking forward to [verb ending in ‘ing’] the [noun].

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From the entire Learning Ninjas team, we wish you a very merry holiday season and the happiest of New Years.

We hope you find some time to relax and recharge before diving into 2022.