A toast to the good year 2020.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Disbelieve a bit. Repeat. © Wasted Rita

I am no look on the bright side kind of person — my close friends would gladly attest to that, hehe — but even I’ve gotten fatigued with the refrain of ‘this weird/crazy/shitty/fucked up/worst ever/etc year’, that preempts what feels like every conversation and social media post these days.

2020 was certainly different and difficult for a lot of people, and never before had we gotten to experience it quite so collectively. Whilst it’s safe to say that nobody was left unaffected, that is also false to assume that everyone necessary had such a dismal time.

Reading back on my resolutions note from 31st December 2019 I am pleased to see that in broad strokes, most of the changes I aimed to make in the new year were successful. Not all of them due to me being especially proactive, but, ironically, some of them were gently nudged in by the changes in the world that were beyond our control. And despite a whole bunch of things not working out as expected (or at all) in my own life due to the pandemic, I feel like I’ve actually had a pretty good year.

I’ve been conflicted about writing this post: these words alone — ‘a pretty good year 2020’ — seem insensitive, obnoxious almost, something I have to utter with shame. On the other hand, I don’t feel like I must…