2020: A year with no pause.
By Somer Saleh
Every year, we write down our resolutions in the hopes of creating healthier habits and becoming a better person in the new year. This year, all of our resolutions went out the window with the pandemic of COVID-19. As we all know, 2020 has brought with it many challenges. With the initial shutdown of schools and all non-essential work closing down, everyone was forced to be at home with their thoughts and unresolved habits. Instead of repeating all that has happened this year, which many of us have been doing since the start of COVID-19, I am going to process it.
2020 was shaped differently for everyone, but it was ripped from the same cloth. What did we learn? What was the takeaway? While we were all struggling to learn new ways of living that required physical social distance, we were able to expand our minds and touch into and connect with each other on a global scale. We learned new ways of connecting, of giving, of caring. Our love crossed boundaries virtually in a way that the physical realm could have never. We connected deeply. For a moment, we were all one, bound by a virus.
2020 was the year we learned that life keeps moving. No matter what was coming up, whether it was a virus, forest fires, BLM, social justice protests, interrupted holidays, remote learning, the presidential election, every day became the next and life continued on. There was no time to pause, ever. The reason for this is because we adapted our lives, morphed our realities, and changed the rules of our everyday living. And through it all, many institutional organizations were still asking us to move on and continue functioning like we did Pre-Covid. But if you listen closely, you can hear the call of social justice and change, and see the electrical spark in the air that has been pushed out from our bodies. We will not continue to bend for much longer.
I write this post to shed light on the fact that many of us used this year to become more resilient and were able to push through successfully. But that does not mean that those who didn't push through failed or aren't strong enough. We came together as a collective when times became tough. But we have not been given our moment to pause. What will 2021 hold for us? Every year we think of what we were not able to accomplish and create New Year's resolutions. When you think of 2020, I want you to take a moment to just breathe and listen. Let us not see what this year took from us, but what we were able to make from its tragedy, how we adhered, and how we honored the lives lost, and shed light to the true heroes of our time: our family, friends, community, and our own selves.
And then, exhale...and step into 2021.
