A Look Back at 2022

Emily E. Finke
Dec 30, 2022
7 min read

Updated: Nov 8

☀️ 2022: A YEAR OF BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS ☀️

A Month-by-Month Look Back

JANUARY:

I began the new year in high spirits getting a much needed vacation and time spent with my family. With lots of movies watched, cups of hot cocoa drank, a day-trip to Mexico Beach, and plenty of sleep caught up on, I was ready to tackle 2022. Things kicked into high gear as I began to work toward the release of a new song. Life was a series of business endeavors, but fun was never too far behind as I began to create content featuring my growing record collection.

FEBRUARY:

The days of February passed in a blur as the imminent release of my song crept near. From countless thrift store shopping trips for costumes and props to the filming of the music video to promotional work, interview scheduling, business odds and ends, and everything in-between, life was hectic but exciting. A day off for a trip to the Florida Flywheeler’s Antique Engine and Tractor Show (and swapshop) to hunt for treasures (of which many were attained) was the prelude to the excitement of the next month.

MARCH:

Why have just one, or two, or maybe three big events in the month when you can have six?! (And don’t forget the little events in-between.) With the release of my song, “Maybe,” on March 4th, the premiere of the music video a couple of days later, SO many interviews to attend and articles to write to share the song - including a fun interview at a LIVE variety-talk-show in the theatre where the music video was filmed - March was a jam-packed month. Add a three-day event of working for Cadillac at the 12 Hours of Sebring, performing a show at the Heritage Festival, and premiering my video series “Adventures in Record Collecting,” and March was absolutely busting at the seams.

APRIL:

The rush of March seemed to be gradually slowing, but it did not last. After a last minute decision in March to submit my music for the International Singer-Songwriters Association music awards, I was shocked when I was announced as a finalist at the beginning of April. Thus, the work began as I rallied my friends and supporters to vote me into the nominations. It was an exciting, tiring, but truly blessed time. My beloved song became the gift that kept on giving, and, by the end of the month, I was awarded for Best Actress in a Music Video by the Prague Music Video Awards.

MAY:

If you haven’t noticed by now, things around here don’t tend to happen one at a time. I was not the only one in my family reaching milestones. It was with immense pride that my family trekked to Virginia to celebrate and witness my sister’s graduation as a Doctor of Music Education. Though I ended up sick at the end of the trip, seeing my sister achieve such great academic status was one of the most thrilling moments of my life. Remember I said things don’t happen one at a time around here? It was during our travels to Virginia that the nominees for the ISSA Awards were announced among which I received six nominations! The month closed out surrounded by family and friends as my sister and I joined Double Trouble to make music at a local venue and had a party for my sister’s graduation.

JUNE:

The year was now half-way gone, and things started to change. Plans were still being made for the ISSA Awards in August, and I was busy preparing music for a show in July, but most of the work and rush from the release of my song had come to an end. Yet, things were still as busy as ever as the month was filled with sickness, health treatments, long days of travel, and family matters. Joy was found in the small things such as canoeing down the Kissimmee River for Fathers’ Day, Emily’s Summer of Classic Films hosted in The Community, and playing music with my friends.

JULY:

Quite likely the most stressful month of the year, God carried us through and blessed us in the midst of struggles. We enjoyed Independence Day playing music with our friends, Emily’s Summer of Classic Films was still going strong and gave much needed diversion, and sewing became a source of joy in difficult moments. Things started to look up toward the end of the month with my performance at the Caladium Festival. The ISSA Awards were also quickly approaching!

AUGUST:

The ISSA Awards were as spectacular as I had hoped they would be, and I came home with an award for Best Music Video! Being in Atlanta was a unique trip, but one for which I was grateful as it afforded me the opportunity to re-connect with an old friend, make lots of new friends, and perform at the ISSA After Party. I closed out the month with my friends in The Community with a LIVESTREAM Game Night to celebrate the end of Emily’s Summer of Classic Films.

SEPTEMBER:

If July was the most stressful month, September was the wackiest. A “mini” vacation to visit my grandparents in Pennsylvania was a terrific way to kick off the month and was a most enjoyable trip. Projects I had planned weren’t going my way, but God didn’t let me dwell on that. I had the opportunity to record a legendary concert for my friends, Double Trouble, and I was excited by the plans that were being made for collaborations and Christmas projects. God once again put things on hold with a hurricane and a week without power.

OCTOBER:

October brought restored power and renewed spirits! On the day our power was restored, I finished a most timely embroidery project (and my favorite embroidery project to date) based on the Psalm, “…Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.” After a few months away, it was so good to be back playing music with Double Trouble. More awards were won for “Maybe” including “Best Song (Lyrics)” from the Beyond Family Film Festival. Once again, I turned a year older, but I didn’t feel much wiser. Health problems were worsening, and I felt God stirring something in my heart to lead me in a different direction. Change is scary, and it was only beginning.

NOVEMBER:

God was speaking, and I was doing my best to listen. So many projects were in the works, plans were being made, but God said to stop. Upon letting go of my plans and projects for the rest of the year, God filled me with peace and assurance. I still don’t understand where He is leading me, but I took the first step to be faithful, and I will be faithful when He reveals the next step. Around battling health issues and sorting out what God would have me do, Ashley and I gave a Veteran’s Day performance at a nursing home, I recorded a cover of “(There’s No Place Like) Home for the Holidays”, we celebrated Thanksgiving as a family, I received some of my favorite records as a birthday gift, and we once again joined Double Trouble to make music. Following Thanksgiving, I started Emily’s Classic Christmas in The Community.

DECEMBER:

Perhaps not the most memorable or exciting of Decembers, it is the December that is going to push me into the new year. This month has had wonderful highs and many, very low lows, but, through it all, God has remained faithful and given me endurance. He blessed me in the moments when I needed it most and brought people to love me when others didn’t. He has given me a vision for 2023 - a new beginning. December may have tested and tried me in ways that I would not have wished for, but it was still a month filled with blessings and joy. Emily’s Classic Christmas was a constant source of fellowship and Christmas spirit. I was honored to be the soloist at the Sebring Presbyterian Church Christmas Carol Sing. Playing music at two events with Double Trouble was a balm to my soul. Meetings with old friends for a late-night talk, or a fancy tea party, or just because are going to be cherished memories. Playing music with Ashley as featured musicians and vocal soloist for two Christmas Eve services was a most spiritually uplifting experience. A lazy Christmas day of watching beloved Christmas movies in the company of people I love will always be a reminder to me of what really matters in life.

The year of 2022 was far different from the year that I had planned. It was a year full of highs and lows, beginnings and endings. These highlights do not even come close to sharing what a roller-coaster of a year it was, the little moments that so deeply impacted the overall tone of the year: the tears that were shed, the laughs that were had… the deaths that were experienced, love that was grown… late nights spent talking, laughing, and listening to records with my sister… the blissful moments at dusk on an autumn eve when the world seemed in perfect harmony, and I was so grateful to be a part of it… friends were lost, friends were made… hearts were poured out in song or verse… prayers were said, prayers were answered… seasons came, seasons went, and now the world, you, and I are all a year older.

We never know what a new year will hold for us. We make our plans, dream our dreams, and lift our hopes to the skies. We know we are facing the unknown, yet we can remain at peace in the fact that God is in control. A new year is not a reset. The trials and tribulations from this past year will likely carry on into the new year. What the new year does promise is another chance - another chance for questions to be answered, battles to be won, and memories to be made. In a way, nothing really changes from year to year, and that’s ok. That doesn’t mean we stop dreaming, stop hoping, and stop growing. That’s what the New Year is for: to take stock of the last 12 months, think of ways to improve, and try again.

I thank God for another chance to be faithful. I thank God for another chance to praise His name. I thank God for another chance to love.

Thank you for sticking with me through this year. You are one of my biggest blessings! I wish you a most blessed, prosperous, and joyous New Year.

⭐️ Cheers, my friends, and I’ll see you in 2023! ⭐️

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pessex1

Jan 04, 2023

You my dear LONG-TIME student, now Friend, are a blessing to all that to whom you reach out. Love you dearly, your friend in TROUBLE...DOUBLE. Former teacher and now colleague. Proud of your accomplishments.