Ring Out the Old

There is a certain anticipation for the passing of this particular year, 2020. The events that unfolded took the world by surprise and we are still existing in the liminal space of the “new normal”. We have made our accommodations, creatively solved problems and consciously and unconsciously created, consumed and contemplated. How the pandemic took us by surprise, and how it made us, as a consequence, exist in a prolonged unexpected period with ourselves, an intimacy perhaps, that we never experienced before in this lifetime. Me time became the unacknowledged norm.

Part of the anticipation is just the attachment to the name, 2020. Extended lockdowns are perhaps still out there in the horizon, but now we have the foreknowledge of experience. Patience is the virtue that we were calling to, together with its brothers faith, hope, and charity. But still, there is the excitement that perhaps this new year, 2021, would treat us better.

But just before that a thank you for all the gifts of isolation, the challenges that have sharpened our mettle. There is so much, it seems to me now, that we weave in our day to day lives. Our daily habits are connected to the wider world, even in our separation. What do we put out? What are the ways to take in? These passing seconds of time, full of emptiness and fullness.