2020, what were you??!!!

 

A collage of the few photos I have from 2020. Top: Seeing Come From Away as a 22nd b'day present to myself was such a beautiful theatre experience. Bottom Left: My Xmas tree in black and white sort of sums up the tone of 2020 don't you think? Bottom Right: One of many creative milestones I achieved whilst trying not to go crazy in lockdown.

As a new year begins, it's customary for a lot of people to write some long paragraph about how the year gone by had tested them, or blessed them, or ended up being their 'best year yet'.

In the case of 2020, you would need a book the size of an Oxford English dictionary to sum up all the ways the year we just finished emulated a ginormous dumpster fire.

Usually I would do a countdown on New Year’s Eve writing about all the ways I’ve grown and experienced new things in a year that had typical ups and downs, but doing that after the woefulness of 2020 just feels utterly disingenuous.

I could talk about how I learnt a new skill in Stage 4 lockdown through YouTube tutorials and created a mammoth patchwork blanket for my bed (pictured above). I’m quite proud of that, it looks pretty cool. But people all over the world have struggled through multiple lockdowns where isolation, adapting to changes and businesses closing has made these periods difficult and devastating.

So even talking about my creative endeavours feels tonedeaf.

I could talk about how good it felt to get back into a cinema after so long in lockdown with the smell of popcorn and Choc Tops a familiar companion once more. Tenet (too confusing and slightly boring), Trolls World Tour (a colourful hot mess), After We Collided (being better than the first one doesn’t make it not totally clique), Radioactive (a fascinating dramatization of the life of Marie Curie), Happiest Season (a new Xmas movie that didn’t quite live up to expectations) and Wonder Woman 1984 (a flawed but still fun sequel); I did not waste any time in returning to my happy place. But other people who either work on film sets or in other arts spaces have had a heartbreaking year of losing jobs and not being able to do what they love for an audience.

So even talking about the movies I was still able to see this year feels tonedeaf.

I could talk about the fact I got a job this year. It’s been a wonderful experience working with kind and lovely people who make every shift a fantastic learning experience whilst making both staff and customers feel safe amidst the pandemic. Whatever happens beyond January, I am super grateful that I was able to be a part of that organisation and contribute to such a hard-working and energetic team. But so many people have worn PJs to work meetings over Zoom, had their hours shrunk drastically or even lost their job completely.

So even talking about the opportunities I was able to find in 2020 feels REALLY tonedeaf.

Instead, I want to congratulate everyone all over the world who made it through the rollercoaster of trying times that will define 2020 in the history books. It was awful, stressful, dripping in uncertainty and unprecedented circumstances, and now most importantly… OVER.

*POSITIVE THOUGHTS ONLY NOW PLEASE*

Let’s make 2021 as splendid as possible; full of good vibes and hope for the future!

Thanks for reading,

Love and socially distant celebrations, Emily 🌠