A Silver Lining
Good riddance to 2020.
As I look forward to 2021, different emotions assail me. Everyone can agree that 2020 has been a sad and frightening year. The whole world discovered it was in a battle. And the battle continues. But now we are over the shock and have girded our loins, determined to win. As the vaccine for COVID roles out, we feel we will be victorious. We have learned, and knowledge is power.
We learned how vulnerable we are, not only in sickness, but also in our efforts to avoid sickness, and death. The costs were, and still are, enormous. Many of us lost family and friends in the worst way imaginable: without being able to offer comfort and show our love. We can only imagine how they felt. There is no way to know. They died alone. And in our efforts to avoid the virus, we are also alone. The cost of battling the unseen enemy is isolation and separation, which humankind was not designed for. Fortunately, many of us are lucky to have our immediate family around us and the illusion of safety to sustain us each day. Those who need us, give us purpose.
We learned that when we do come back together in a healthy world, we will need to be kinder to one another. To feel the undeniable connection between all humans. I feel humbled by what I have seen possible this last year: the front line healthcare workers, mortuary workers, the food line workers, grocery store and drug store workers, those who worked unimaginable hours to bring us a vaccine, and all those others who put themselves out there to provide for our needs in an attempt to keep some type of foundation beneath us so that we can persevere. How can we ever repay them?
We learned about continued intolerance and injustice. Again we were reminded of the inequality that color and class create. Humans are designed to establish status, it’s in our DNA. For our long-ago ancestors, status provided the means essential for optimum survival. We are way past that, although as our world population increases and resources decrease, we will most likely find ourselves there again. But not yet. Right now we must learn to get along, regardless of our beliefs or status. We have to work together to get our planet healthy so it can continue to sustain us.
And we learned about purpose. I selfishly hunkered down in my comfortable home and focused on my writing. Aside from watching the news every evening and checking in regularly with family across the country and across the ocean, I found my purpose and kept my sanity. But there were days I felt great sadness. Days I woke up with frayed nerves, my thoughts on a world fighting for survival. But when I sat down in front of my computer, I was able to banish the fear and start my fingers moving on the keyboard. I watched words form sentences which formed paragraphs and created pages. I found a silver lining in the isolation that kept me from being too “busy” to devote the time I needed to finally complete my book.
On December 20th, 2020, I completed a last read through and declared my book finished. Four and a half years of writing and revision. A positive milestone in a year of negative ones. I’ll take it.
