The calendar year, which for those of us working out of the Southern Hemisphere coincides with the academic / work year, is coming to a close, and while I am not planning on taking a particularly long break and I actually have got a big stack of TODOS to tackle come Jan 3rd, one can’t help but take stock of the past 12 months. It has been a busy, long, often painful and complicated year, my first year at my new job and the first year without my dearest and difficult dad. I often felt an overarching feeling that there is way too much “bureaucracy” and “paperwork” in our lives, that the world is not on the right track in general and that we often make it difficult to get through the day for ourselves and for our fellow human beings alike for no particular reason. But looking back a little more closely, I realise I was actually blessed by many colleagues and “students” who made it possible and worthwhile, and occasionally exhilarating. Some have completed their studies, some have grown in their jobs and now have big plans, many have left us for (sigh;/) greener pastures, and some have moved on to a less frantic phase of their lives. Last but not least, some have “just” got on with their often thankless jobs and come to my rescue even when it was not part of their job description, some have gifted me a smile or a hug when I most needed it, and in this fragile balancing act that is our life, that has made all the difference. So here’s to those who still find it in them to be kind, compassionate and humane, may I always find the clarity and the time to recognise them, keep them close and make them feel seen, because they are often the ones standing between myself and a consistently crazy world out there, and they deserve this and so much more!