2020
2020 has not been kind... but I don’t think it’s her fault.
She is the product of all the years that came before her. Like a new leader doing his best with what the opposition left him. Like a puppy innocently ruining a new carpet. But the carpet is a new decade, and the puppy isn't cute.
2020 has not been gentle, but I don’t think it was her choice.
She is the messenger for other people’s actions. Showing us the things we needed to know but didn't want to see. The indifference of friends. The apathy of strangers. The insensitivity of those in power.
2020 has been so generous, but I don’t think she realises it.
She is an expert in unintentional consequences. So much death, and so much life. So much despair, with so much hope. So much tragedy, yet so much triumph. When we look back I hope we remember the empty streets as a sign that we care for one another. The protests as a symbol of love. The separation as a reminder of all we should hold close, and all we are inherently connected to.
I hope 2020 is not used as a term for something that went wrong, a test that we failed, but as a term we use to describe unprecedented opportunity. A test's primary purpose is to show us where we need to improve, and hasn’t 2020 done just that? Given us time to stop. Think. Take care of ourselves. Break down routines that weren’t working, create space for fresh ideas, prioritise those things that matter most.
2020 should be used to describe our power to persevere and survive. 2020 was not an explosion of countless disasters. She is a catalyst for change.