Yes I’m going to write an end of year post just like all the other bloggers out there. This year has been absolutely crazy. A financially destructive, emotionally taxing, politically divisive, and overall crappy year. Despite only having minor loses personally it’s important to acknowledge everything that’s happened this year, good and bad.
First the big one, the pandemic. Because of this we’ve lost family, friends, and for many people their livelihoods and some of their sanity. Kids have lost a year of their education. I count myself lucky to still have most of these things, but it’s important to recognize what has been lost regardless. My kids have lost contact with many of their friends. They have lost some social skills. I have lost much of the silence that I previously enjoyed now that they are home all the time.
Then there’s the political upheaval that drove friends and families apart as well. I’ve been around for almost half a century, and I’ve never seen such a display of petty bickering on all sides of all the issues. Most of this was an attempt to either keep or take power, which is pointless when the people you’re supposed to serve and keep safe are dying.
There was a social reckoning with the black lives matter movement, protests, riots, people on roofs with guns, people being run over, and too many other social upheavals to count.
This summer there were record wildfires in the western US, Australia, and probably many more places I’m forgetting. The sky turned orange, the air too thick with smoke to go outside at all. Millions of acres burned. With all this going on it was hard not to think it was the end of days, if you believe in that sort of thing.
Personally my family lost two animals this year. While not related to anything else that was going on in the world around us, it was a major thing for us. We missed several holidays with family that we will never get back. The milestones that help define our lives were denied us, and they deserve recognition and mourning of their loss.
So what have we gained? If nothing else this years has pointed out just how many holes there are in our supposedly secure lives. For the first time many people are starting to put more emphasis on spending time outdoors in nature because they can’t attend events. Many people have gained new skills in an effort to improve their lives. People have been able to pay off much of their debt because they aren’t spending as much on non-essential things. We have a vaccine that will hopefully end the pandemic. There will be a new President on January 20th, hopefully bringing a stabilization to the government and some sanity to the world at large.
So despite all that has gone on and all that we would like to forget, the lessons of this year should not be forgotten. We can all come out of this stronger, wiser, and hopefully healthier than we were when this all began.