Covid hit over a year ago and it definitely turned the world inside out.

People were hopeful when it first started. I heard things like, “Oh, everything will be back to norma in a month,” and, “Just trust that it will all get figured out,” and, “They made a vaccine! Now just give it a month and we’ll all be good.”

Of course, none of these things rang true.

This has been a long year.

Throughout the pandemic we’ve seen our fellow BIPOC and AAPI community members targeted and unjustly murdered, we’ve seen a contested presidential win that came with an attempted coup, we’ve seen 149 million people contract Covid and 3.14 million people die from it worldwide, with another terrifying spike happening right now, we’ve seen our government send body bags to Native reservations being ravaged by Covid instead of tests and PPE. We’ve seen almost 14 months of living in a world of fear of the unknown.

This year has been a hard year.

Throughout the pandemic we’ve seen people come together to protest for justice and change. We’ve seen Derek Chauvin found guilty for murdering George Floyd, which is not justice, but it is accountability and a tiny step in the direction of what one day could be justice with a change in the system and more accountability from here on out. We’ve seen countless people coming together to support each other over virtual platforms with curbside pickup allowing for support of small businesses, and platforms like Zoom where people can come together, at least virtually, to feel some community. We’ve seen a shift in workplace practices with WFH becoming something of a norm, like it should have been before. People have baked bread, gone hiking, and started to look at the root of things again. There’s been a shift in perspective as we slowly start to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

This year has been an okay year.

I know that for me, I’ve gained many positive things from the pandemic. I know I’m lucky. It hasn’t been easy, but I have to be grateful. I left my job and was able to go back to school because of it, and eleven months later I’m finally graduating. I drink less and eat better. I’m a little less active, but I try to remedy that and on days where I don’t move around as much as I wanted, I don’t give myself a hard time anymore. I have learned to start to work on my view of myself. And while sometimes I still catch me berating something I’ve done, it’s nowhere near the amount that it used to be. It’s okay to feel overwhelmed and to cry, but remember that nothing is as important as you. On days where I want to scream at myself for not getting everything I had on my list completed I have to take a deep breath and close my eyes a minute. “It’s okay,” I tell myself, “You did enough today, and tomorrow you can remember to move.”

This year has been a good year.

It’s important to recognize the good things that have happened this year, but it’s vital to remember the terrible things that have happened as well. When we move forward, which will hopefully happen at some point, we will with a weary but renewed outlook on the world.

Signing off for now,

— Tory

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