Was 2022 a lucky year? Published almost a year ago, my blog post for January 2022 was about the importance of the number 22 in my life.
If I look at the end of the year and the stress I went through during the period between my birthday, Dec-9, and the end of the year, I could easily say that it was a horrible year.
But looking at this picture taken at one of the most amazing Christmas celebrations I have been to, and the winter storm I had to overcome to fly that day to Vancouver, I remember everything happens for a reason. The seat I got on that flight was 22.
Did I achieve my goals? No! And they weren’t all about losing weight. That was the only one I was actually able to achieve.
Did I manifest enough or do enough for the other two to happen? No!
Remember, the reflection of yourself in the mirror is the legacy that ultimately matters.
I achieved one goal from three but looking back at 2022, I am happy to report for myself that I did at least three things that I love doing:
- Travelling
- Helping my clients to achieve their goals in their careers or education
- Leaving a legacy – continue my charity work
ONE
How lucky I am to have such an opportunity to travel for fun and work. In the spring of 2022, we decided to go somewhere warm, but we got stuck because everyone was on a plane going somewhere after the lockdown. After a night of sleeping in an airport, we rented a car and returned home, and we drove 2028km in less than 20 hours. I will remember for a long time the face of the guy from the rent-a-car office that looked at us and looked at the time printed on the invoice when we returned the car. Maybe I am not so good at achieving all my goals, but when I have to complete a task, I am all in! And it was a shared task because when one was sleeping, the other one was driving.
2022 will be remembered as the year when I first attended a World Expo. It was not my first time in Dubai, but it was my first time immersed in the most perfectly organized World Expo. Everything about EXPO2020 (hosted in 2022 due to COVID) deserves a particular post!
In 2022 I went for the first time to Iceland, and what are the odds of being in Iceland and two days after you arrive to receive a nice shake-up as a welcome? The welcome we got was a few thousand earthquakes scattered among the first two days and an eruption of the Fagradalsfjall volcano. Everything happened within a 30-minute drive radius from the city centre!
Easter and Christmas are for time well spent with family, and on Easter we visited family in Switzerland. We also visited new places, and it was the FIRST TIME for something here as well! On Easter of 2022, I was able to visit three countries in a span of 10 minutes walking distance! The beauty of Europe!
For the first time, I had a vacation just for my boys and me, and it was a vacation back to my home country. It was a different type of vacation, planned and arranged step by step, and it was not just a great time spent together after a turbulent period in someone’s life but with a great outcome. I do make the most of any of my travels discovering other places in Canada, seeing amazing art exhibitions or spending time with my family north of Ontario or on the west coast of Canada.
TWO
2022 was a turbulent year as well. In the spring of 2022, I was watching the support that Romania was offering to the population of Ukraine, and I was once again proud to be Romanian. Since the outbreak of the conflict generated by the Russian military aggression in Ukraine, over 1.000.000 Ukrainian citizens have crossed the Romanian border, and more than half are asking for refuge in Romania. Romanians have been doing an outstanding job helping and volunteering in any form they can. From the first day after the conflict started, Romanians have been waiting in their personal vehicles to pick up refugees at our borders with Ukraine. And that was March of 2022! Shortly after, Ukrainians are seeking refugee in Canada. I was happy to help again, not donating to charities as we did before but helping them find a new life in Canada. I dealt in my career with population from diverse countries that were coming and seeking refuge in Canada, and I always listened to their story, and I asked myself: “What power do you need to have, and what kind of determination to leave everything behind and take the first flight out of your home country?”
I am a newcomer myself, and 20 years ago, when we arrived, it was a bumpy start, but we came with two ways tickets, we had money in our bank account (that disappeared in two months), and we had our house back home and jobs where we could return if the immigration journey did not work as planned.
Immigration is a complicated step, and in a few scenarios it worked as planned, but at least you had a plan B; these people didn’t! But they were determined to succeed and show the Canadian labour market that they are willing to learn the language quickly and go to work.
I was devoted to go above and beyond to help them because I recognized that determination! I was fully booked for weeks in advance, and I started seeing family members together to save time. They wanted to see me again in a few weeks because they were ready to work. It was like being in a time capsule where I was going back and seeing myself seven months pregnant, going to interviews and telling the interviewer that I was looking for a job as soon as I delivered my baby. I had a few rejections but didn’t give up and found ways to get a job soon after I delivered the baby. I see them through my eyes, and it was a joy and a pleasure to see them succeed in such a short time.
THREE
The “Arts 4 People Movement,” aka “ROCAteach,” the NFP I founded around 20 years ago, was involved in 2022 in seven significant events, of which three were major charity events. We celebrated “March 8 – International Women’s day” by bringing over 100 pouches (in an estimated total of 3500cad) and a small donation that will support the grand opening at the new location of Stella’s Place in Toronto. After the pandemic, more recent studies have shown that the impacts of the COVID crisis have exacerbated the problem for youth, with heightened instances of both anxiety and depression being reported. The generous donations help us to help them!
A day after we finished the Stella’s Place event, we started collecting money to support three initiatives back home in Romania. Because in moments like this, we ask: what can we do, how can we help? People donate to different organizations, but our focus since we registered the not-for-profit was always to help women and children. More about the full story with why and where we donated, here:
The TEN YEARS anniversary of the ‘IA LA BLOUSE ROUMAINE’ event was celebrated on three different occasions by us during 2022. The first one, on June 24, was celebrated under the motto: Let’s save what can be saved and put everything in symbolic spaces. For example, beautiful pictures courtesy of George Popa Photography; music from Maria Tanase – Ciuleandra and stunning Romanian-Canadian models dressed in a combination between our beautiful blouse and the native skirts combined with the teachings provided by our own and only amazing native Robyn, wrapped up a celebration that we will never forget! And here is the short story of the day:
The second celebration of our traditional blouse ‘IA’ was at the Multicultural Day in Halton region. The last and most complex one was in August, when we culminated with an event offered free to all interested participants and an art contest that was launched in May 2022. Yes, it takes a village to raise a child and a group of amazing women to put an outstanding event in place, like the one we had! Our Hon. Mayor Marianne Meed Ward did the opening remarks. The Consulate General of Romania in Toronto team participated as well. We had traditional music offered by Vasile Simion Ciobanu from Waterloo Philarmonica Orchestra, a group of talented dancers and “The Sonical Bees,” a group of young artists born in Canada from Romanian parents. The event, in my opinion, was a big success, and A BIG THANK YOU needs to go to the women that made the event possible; without their NON STOP unconditional support and ideas, nothing would be possible! In a nutshell:
In Romanian: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAkQLma7YLE
In English: https://www.facebook.com/rocateach.canada/videos/3926054874287280
It was the first celebration for the International Day of Romania in 2022 on December 1 after a two-year break. The reception was offered at the “Royal Ontario Museum,” and we were honoured to be the ones that were asked to help with organizing the event. The reception was tremendously positive!
We ended 2022 with our major charity event “From Our Table to Your Table,” and for 2022, we chose a charity close to home – Shifra Home. We never missed a year but there was no in-person celebration for December 2020 and 2021. We wanted to offer the residents and their babies living at Shifra Home a magic night that feels like home, with delicious food and small gifts for them and the babies. This year we targeted to complete 50 Christmas gifts, knit 12 baby blankets and prepared a festive meal for 50 mothers and their babies! And like every year, we surpassed our target.
With all due respect …I will ask you…Don’t you think 2022 was my lucky year?
