Right now it seems it’s like the cool thing to do. The thing that most certainly will garner tons of allegiance – complaining about 2020.
Perhaps people are doing it to bond over and cope with these unmistakably trying times. But that just ain’t gon be me.
I’m lovin’ 2020.
Now don’t get me wrong, 2020 has presented its fair share of challenges for me as well. It started with going to a company party on The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day where the DJ constantly played music that repeatedly had the word nigga in the lyrics, and I was one of only like 5 or 6 black people in attendance. Then Kobe died. Then my cousin died. I was denied a raise at work. Then the coronavirus staked its claim on the United States. Then I was furloughed from work. I’m now out of work. My uncle got covid. I’ve encountered some really rude customer service workers…
I could go on and on and on if I wanted to, but I don’t. I’ve been down that road before, and it does no good, leading nowhere.
Instead, I CHOOSE to look on the bright side. Sure Kobe died and my cousin died, but we have the memories and I believe they are in a better place. And yeah, I may be out of a job, but that job paid shit, and I didn’t like it anyway. By the way, I reported that job to the proper authorities regarding those songs with explicit lyrics at a fucking company party ( and some other things), so we’ll see how that goes. My uncle getting covid was not a good thing, but the fact that he’s out of the hospital recovering is. And rude customer service workers? Well, what can I say, God bless them anyway.
If anything, for me, 2020 has been a time of reflection to point myself in a new direction. And I take heart in knowing that so many others are going through what I’m going through too. I’ve been unemployed several times in the last five years, and all the other times it felt like I was the only one in the world who didn’t have a job. The only one wondering what’s going to happen next. It’s a comfort in knowing that I’m not alone in that, even though I wasn’t before either, it’s widely acknowledged now. I love that I get to spend more time writing, spend more time with my mom. I love that I don’t have to go into a job where I feel disrespected and undervalued, and I relish the challenge of figuring out how to make sure I don’t do that again. I love seeing the ingenuity of small businesses that are pivoting to sustain themselves during these unprecedented times (at least in our lifetime) and winning at it.
And of course the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement presented beautiful images of unity around the world after George Floyd’s horrific death.
I remember when I was in college there was a movie that came out called “Life is Beautiful.” It won several Academy Awards. Since I’m into movies, of course I had to see it. So, I saw it and it was a movie about the Holocaust. It was a Holocaust movie that had quite a bit of comedy. It was a Holocaust movie called “Life is Beautiful.”
And that’s how I feel about 2020. 2020 may have given us a bunch of heartbreaking experiences, but life is beautiful. I’m looking forward to the rest of it!
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