After a few years of reading my Saturday ramblings I'm pretty sure this much is clear: I'm a fan of the re-frame. I love shifting my perspective and nudging into a new way of seeing an old situation, or finding a better way of seeing a persisting one.
So after several years now of years so big and life-changing that they just seem to roll into each other, I'm giving up on the idea of the Big Ending of one year and the Big New Beginning of another, and reframing this end of 2022 as just another small step forward: the next step, the next choice in how we decide to live this hour, and the next, and the next.
As I wrote during the year, all those hours, all those choices add up to how we actually are living our lives.
Thank you for your great company, for your thoughtful notes and your responses to and reflections on these columns: it feels like being part of a wonderful community of readers and thinkers and that's a rare and special thing.
Here's a special selection of some New Year reads that cover all the themes of the past 12 months: joy and family, grief and loss, faith and mullets. Yes, mullets.
Here's my Christmas gift to you: every song I've ever shared with you in these columns all in one convenient playlist.
At seven and half hours long (have we really been reading and chatting here for so many years now!) I like to think I've taken care of your family Boxing Day playlist, because there's something here for everyone — from drunk uncle to cool kids (watch out for a couple of swear words though!)
Share it with your friends: I hope they find something to love and dance to among the gems.
I will see you in the New Year. Look after yourselves. Look out for as many moments of joy as you can -- and go well.
A lost world returns with a warning
America's mega-drought is revealing natural wonders unseen in decades. But their return from the watery depths heralds a deepening crisis.
The year I lost myself to concussion
Hayley Gleeson smashed her head and joined the significant minority of people whose concussion symptoms last for months or years — dimming sparks, derailing careers, pushing relationships and mental health into danger zones.
The narcissists' playbook
After falling for a man she met online whose life was a carefully constructed web of lies, journalist Stephanie Wood meets other women with uncannily similar experiences.
Trapped, stripped of assets, and silenced. And it's all perfectly legal
When the Public Trustee is given the keys to your life, speaking out publicly is illegal, and it can block you from trying to regain your freedom. Four Corners went to the Supreme Court to reveal the hidden ordeals of those who have escaped the system — and won the Gold Walkley for their investigation.
The most important woman in the Queen's life was a hard-drinking, chain-smoking 'house guest from hell'
The crown usually dooms royal siblings to a life of jealousy and suspicion. But the love between Queen Elizabeth and Margaret endured through scandals, a constitutional crisis and a string of heartbreaks.
8 billion and counting
In mid-November, the world's population ticks over a historic milestone. But in the next century, society will be reshaped dramatically — and soon we'll hit a decline we'll never reverse.
After the Queen's death, Indigenous Australia can't be expected to shut up. Our sorry business is without end
"We aren't supposed to talk about these things this week," wrote Stan Grant. "We aren't supposed to talk about colonisation, empire, violence about Aboriginal sovereignty, not even about the republic."
The next Dalai Lama
The reincarnation of the Dalai Lama is steeped in ancient tradition, but as the current spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism marks his 87th birthday, China is looking to assert its influence.
The rapper, the Russian-born entrepreneur and hack that shocked the cryptocurrency world
In a case prosecutors describe as "pulled from the pages of a spy novel", a young couple stands accused of profiting from a brazen cryptocurrency heist and attempting to launder stolen Bitcoin worth billions of dollars.
'I said 'I'm gonna grab a drink' ... I never saw her again': The night of the Bali bombings retold
In this oral history, we hear from Australian and Balinese survivors, former and current Australian Federal Police officers, a journalist and a terrorism expert. Together they tell the story of the Bali bombings, the single-largest loss of Australian life from an act of terror.
'One of the ultimate taboos': The bizarre story of how a bestselling teenager's diary was exposed as a fabrication
When the captivating diary of a runaway teen on a self-destructive path hit bookshelves more than 50 years ago, it was a bestseller. But one of its biggest mysteries was its author.
The killings and disappearances that we don’t even count
One group of Australian women are being murdered up to 12 times the national average. Why isn't it being treated as a crisis?
The postcode wars
The turf war claiming young lives on suburban streets and the people spurred by tragedy to fight the violence.
After thousands of hours searching, Jared found his dad’s number. The call left him physically ill
Thousands of children have been abandoned by Saudi men after relationships while studying abroad. Will this secretive kingdom welcome them home?
The long and short history of the mullet
Masculine and feminine, long and short, functional and high-fashion. The humble mullet can be everything to everyone, and it's back in a big way. But a tell-tale sign shows its days may be numbered again.
'I don't know if I'll get the old Lisa back'
Lisa Curry has always lived a life in the public eye — from babies and break-ups to plastic surgery and weddings, her milestones have played out in the pages of magazines. But there was one thing this determined former athlete could not change or control.
The brain puzzle: How scientists are unravelling the secrets of anxiety
It's one of the most common medical conditions on the planet so why are the causes of anxiety still such a mystery and what new scientific breakthroughs are helping to unravel them?
Ten years after their baby was born, this family made a shocking discovery
The Johnsons, who live in Salt Lake City, Utah, had no idea that a mix-up that occurred a decade ago would change two families' lives forever.
