Y’all, 2020, am I right?  Thinking back to this time last year, 2020 had all the promise, and we were working all the analogies.  2020 vision we were going to make all the changes, slay all those goals, it was to be monumental, the year of all years.  To be fair, it was all of those things, wasn’t it? 2020 was the year that taught us dystopian novels weren’t necessarily works of fiction, rather premonitions.  We had outbreaks, riots, violence and suppression, civil unrest, separation from loved ones, fights with loved ones, isolation, job loss, life loss, and that’s just the surface level.

This year has torn down the illusion under which many of us lived.  While avoiding the year’s political discord the best I can, none of us can say we weren’t touched by embarrassment, fear, frustration, and hopelessness from time to time. However, once again, our community has held fast and stayed our course.  I was listening to a podcast about self-care during the pandemic, and one of the interesting comments was that trauma victims have been training for this kind of thing their whole lives.  How true is that?  How many of us are the O.G.s of long-distance communication, video visits, alternative ways to maintain intimacy?  Not only that, but we are also accustomed to government failures, fear, loss of control, and oppression.  We miss our visits, but so many of you, my dear tribe, have sat calmly through this storm and powered on.  The whole world now knows what it is like to be separated from a sick loved one and not be there for them.  There isn’t anyone who has not had to replace human contact and communicate with digital alternatives.  No one is untouched by loss, grief, and uncertainty.  The difference is we at SPWF are already soldiers in this arena.

2020 has brought many things to the forefront of consciousness.  The old doctrine has been called to the carpet, injustices are drug into the light, and selfishness has been painfully obvious.  We have seen what humankind does in the face of injustice, and we have seen how humanity has reacted in the face of inconvenience.  Some of what we have seen has been so inspiring, and some show us how much work we as a human race still need to do.

Some of us have been protesting death and oppression, while others refuse to wear masks with apparent disregard for their neighbor’s wellbeing.  There has been much division.  2020 has been an epic year, and all transitions come with pain and upheaval.  I am not sure how so many of us charging forward didn’t anticipate the earthquake our combined energy created.  We cracked the foundations built in greed and ignorance, and we have exposed who we all really are…for better or worse.  When cracks are made, though, no matter how painful, light shines through them. 2020 has given us perfect vision of ourselves.  This year has made us all take a long look in the mirror.  As Michael Jackson so eloquently sang, “If you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself, and then make that change.” We see that we need to see others, needs, different perspectives, and embrace them rather than shun, ignore, or disregard them.  

2020 wasn’t a wasted year, albeit a bit traumatizing.  It has been a necessary year. We have so much more insight, resilience, compassion, and understanding should we choose to embrace the awareness that these gifts can bring. Let us take a long look at our reflections, inhale deeply, exhale, and take these lessons forward into 2021.  March on, my friends, let’s show the world how it is done. 

P.S. Those murder hornets tho…