Hindsight in the Year 2020

When I thought about writing this post back in February, never could I have imagined what hindsight was going to be about. It gives a whole new depth to the saying Hindsight is 2020. As I reflect back on this year, I learned how much our thoughts and attachment to sameness and consistency affect our general well-being. The macro events that shaped this year: Covid. virtual schooling, BLM, civil unrest, joblessness, limited food, and limited supplies. Relationships changed. Paranoia and germophobia set in. We lost loved ones in death and ends of relationships. We refashioned family life to homeschool our kids while working from home. Many had to grieve the loss of loved ones with excruciating restrictions.

We survived an intense year. It affected absolutely everyone because we are human and we attach to what we know and life as we know it. This year challenged everyone to reflect and re-evaluate their life choices. Everything we took for granted was analyzed with a fine-tooth comb. We were judged for it, stigmatized, chastised. We found refuge in like-minded individuals and furthered the gap between “them” and “us”. The weeks of quarantine brought up everything we thought we resolved or didn’t realize even existed up to the surface with a vengeance. There was no escaping the anxiety besides binge-watching Netflix, drugs, and alcohol. Some meditated with more fervor and frequency to cope with it that way. But, nightmares visited nightly for many. Tensions were high and escalating until it burst at the seams of society.

We are told that to deal with pain, we must first accept it. Sit with it. And then, we move on and find solutions. It is so very damn hard to sit with something no one alive has ever experienced and on top of everything else going on in your life. When you can’t trust the government or health officials and everyone is just following along their own rendition of social distancing and care. This year was survival of the fittest. Can you think on your feet? Can you think outside the box? Can you handle the pressure of the unknown?

As this year comes to an end, take a look back, on it, if you can. What did you learn to let go of? How has it made you stronger and wiser? How did it make you softer and open to receive support and affection? Where are your pain points that need tending? What were you trying so very badly to control that once you stopped resisting changed- for better or worse? I wish everyone a very happy New Year. I hope that these questions helped you find closure and comfort in this bittersweet year.