This post is my first after what was
“a year like no other”
“one for the records”
'‘unprecedented.”
If you think I am being snarky, I both am and am not. 2020 was the year of feeling overwhelmed and underwhelmed at the same time. Feeling interested and totally uninterested with each passing day. Existing in a time loop but sensing that time was running out. There has been so much analysis about how 2020 unfolded and many proclamations and celebrations of its end. I will not reopen those newly closed wounds. What worries me is 2021. The idea that the world will (have to) get better in the next 12 months is stunningly optimistic. With that in mind, here are my 2021 resolutions and they have absolutely nothing to do with food...
Managing expectations
2020 had some high moments and some incredibly low ones too. One of the high ones was the development of a coronavirus vaccine. Even with the vaccine(s), we need to manage our expectations of when the pandemic will end and if herd immunity is within our reach (imagine the challenge we face to vaccinate at least 5 billion people). We require a united global effort if we want to pull this off. So far, the response to the COVID-19 crisis has been splintered and now, the virus is doing what it is driven to do: it’s mutating, surviving, getting smarter. There has been an incredible amount of political polarization in handling the virus, and very few governments have embraced global cooperation and inclusion. Governments should not and cannot face inward. We will never get a handle on the pandemic.
We have been watching (too) many movies from the 1970s (the golden era of American cinema). It is so strange to see people drinking in crowded bars, having intimate dinner parties at people’s homes, taking bites and sips of shared food and drink, and kissing! It reminds me of a time when we were so alive. Will we ever go back? I don’t know. I plan to manage my expectations in thinking that this pandemic will be dusted and done by the end of 2021, or even 2022. We have a long way to go before this is over, and even when we get there, will we remember how we lived? We may need to watch the Godfather, Klute, Deer Hunter, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Network—to remind ourselves that we had a time. And we may never get back to it.
Focusing on the small things
The world often seems to be on its knees, particularly with the sensationalized news feed that inundates us 24/7. Sometimes it is better to step back and re-focus our energy on the small things. The things we can change. The things that are asking to be appreciated. Maybe, the things that matter. I love these lines from Mary Oliver’s poem, Invitation:
it is a serious thing
just to be alive
on this fresh morning
in this broken world.
Taking the long view
For those of us living in the United States, it is challenging not to get swept up in what is happening to our democracy and the unraveling of a nation. Indeed, the world is broken. Some would argue, we are on the verge of a collapse—all the signs of a very complex, stymied society are ever-present and when you throw a pandemic on top of the heap, it could all crumble. But we must remember that the president before (soon to be former) President Trump was President Obama. Talk about whiplash. And as Obama rightly said: “Two steps forward, one step back. The long sweep of America has been defined by forward motion.” Taking the long view allows us to see the ebbs and flows of democracy. Are we headed for a societal collapse? Maybe. But we still have a few solid years in us to undue made mistakes and chart a better path. We have it in us, much like the coronavirus does, to survive.
Enjoying the silence.
A group of scientists published a paper in Science calling 2020 the “great seismic quiet period.” Noise from transportation, industrialization and population movement and activity, in general, was significantly lower in 2020 than in previous years. Most of the seismic decreases were due to government responses to the pandemic – lockdowns, curfews and restricted movements. While these pandemic responses have been devastating economically, the world has become quieter. So, for now, as the pandemic rolls on, enjoy the silence.