Dear 2020,
You have left us stunned, speechless, seething, and slaughtered.
I remember entering this year with so many innocent plans, hopeful intentions, and lofty goals. A global pandemic, economic collapse, and an uprising of the people are not exactly what we were expecting. This was supposed to be the beginning of what many thought would be the start of a new and brighter decade. We were leaving all of that nonsense from the past behind and starting fresh.
Well, you’ve taught us that starting fresh comes at a cost.
We have had to burn ourselves away in the wildfires. Demons needed to be exorcised. The slate had to be wiped clean. Most people have little praise for anything that happened in 2020.
But I am grateful.
I know that may seem insensitive considering all the personal tragedies that have befallen millions of people across the entire planet. However, this year has unearthed things that I have been excavating by hand mostly alone for my entire life. Only now is the mainstream starting to get it.
Now no one can ignore not only their own personal shadow, but the collective shadow of institutions, cultures, the trauma of our history, and entire nations.
We were forced to look at our history this year. To observe the very foundation of our culture and economic systems. We were forced to ask, “Why?”
Finally!
Still, I don’t think we’ve been able to get a full perspective on 2020 because we are in it. We’re too close. It’s going to be a few years before we can fully appreciate all it has gifted us in hindsight.
Even so, I have created a list of reasons why I think we should be truly grateful for this unanimously detested year.
It Highlighted Our Fears
Nothing can make you more aware of your fear of death, of losing loved ones, losing your livelihood, and your freedom like the plague. 2020 has hit us where it hurts:
EVERYWHERE.
It has brought to the surface every fear you have repressed and everything you’ve taken for granted. Things have been systematically taken away from us: health, lives, work, money, trust, freedom, certainty…
Let’s give ourselves some credit for facing hell head-on. Not everyone will make it through, but we are putting up a fight–whether that’s the fight to survive the virus, the fight to find work, the fight against the government, the fight for universal health care, the fight against censorship, the fight against misinformation, the fight for universal basic income, the fight against corporate bailouts and tax cuts, the fight against racism, the fight against police brutality, the fight against fascism, the fight against Big Pharma, the fight against the wildfires, the fight against political polarization and continued human separation…
I mean, there are a lot of fights to be had.
It Gave Us Focus
When our lives are threatened in a multitude of ways, we are forced to come to terms with what is really important. We begin to question what we really want in life. Have we been satisfied with the status quo? Have we been going along with the systems in place unquestioned for too long just because, “That’s just the way it is”?
I know most people have begun asking themselves what they want their lives to look like. It seems that most people put off their lives until retirement. This is a sad way to live and no one should have to settle for that. And there seems to be a divergence of reactions here. It has made a lot of us a little bolder and braver. And some of us have been battered and beaten so thoroughly that we can barely find the strength to get back up. Some have experienced both.
Either way, we know what’s important now.
Major changes need to be made to our health care system in the US. The same goes for our government, the economic system, our education system, how we deal with mental health, the poor, the working class, and minorities. We need to change how we manage our resources because we are destroying ecosystems and the earth itself. Which we fully depend on for our very lives.
This is all a result of the deep separation we feel from ourselves, each other, and the earth.
Now We Know Who Our Friends Are
Unearthing the collective shadow and handling our own personal breakdowns and breakthroughs has had a clearing effect on our relationships. Holding all of this chaos and intense energy this year has weakened, strained, and broken down relationships. But it may have been for the best.
Any issue that came up during this year that had the strength and power to ruin a friendship or destroy a relationship only proves that you were ignoring toxic behavior, incompatibilities, and boundary-crossing for too long. This year has made it clear where you stand. And not everyone is going to like where you’re standing.
Let them go.
We are learning what is good for us and some people just aren’t.
The Light Shows Through The Cracks
“There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” ~ Leonard Cohen
COVID-19 has held a microscope over the problems we’ve had all along. Before it seemed to those who were always paying attention that people have suddenly been cured of their collective and selective blindness. The cracks in modern civilization are showing. We see the problems
The Dawning Of A New Age
There is always light even in the darkest of times. You can find it if you’re looking for it. Just step outside into nature to see the beauty in the flight of birds, in the sunrise and sunset, the trees, the snowflakes falling, the streams, and even in the intricate pattern on the palms of your own hands.
There is a shift taking place and that is both terrifying and exciting. What an interesting time to be alive.
Lots of things are changing. Our very human interactions and relationships are being revolutionized. But if you think about it, this has been happening for a while now. COVID-19 has only taken it to the next level.
Participate. Use these years of upheaval to address all the injustice in society and/or all the things in your life you’ve been merely tolerating. Create something new out of the ashes.
I hope that we can all take the wisdom from the observations of the cracks and fault lines that have become starkly apparent, and arrange our lives in a way that benefits our own personal growth and the betterment of all humankind and the planet into the future.
Gratitude for this year. Thank you for the push to face down the dark.