I hesitate to call 2020 a dumpster fire or the worst year ever, not because it wasn’t terrible but because honestly, I feel like that sweeps it under the rug like oh, we’re done now, that’s over, thank god, things were good before and they were bad but now they’re good again, this is something to forget. I don’t want to forget this year. To borrow and put my own interpretation on a line from colonialist weenie Rudyard Kipling: “Lest we forget—lest we forget!” I don’t want to forget the appalling way the government responded to the pandemic, the substantial portion of the country that saw the last four years and said yes more of this, and the energy and activism and cooperative spirit that has always kept the world spinning away from the worst. I hope you got through this year as best as possible. Here’s what helped me in various ways:
Participating in mutual aid
Toast with a lot of good butter (I really did not want to cook)
My neighbor’s window displays which I need to create a hashtag for
Working out to this corny jam of a remix I heard from one of the Twitch streamers my husband follows in a bromantic way
My husband (happy second anniversary, sorry the universe gets us trash gifts)
The occasional times I saw loved ones who live outside my household and the many times I talked to them via the Internet and text
My writing groups, The Wag and Fantastic Worlds
The brilliant I May Destroy You
Seeing 9 1/2 Weeks for the first time
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
Local news emporium Block Club Chicago
Lovely, low-key perfect sci-fi mystery The Vast of Night
Dishonorable mentions:
[redacted]
Depression and anxiety
My weird cat. We didn’t want to get out of bed a lot, but I did.
I’ll see you in the new year. xx
as always, these are such a gift. Happy New Year, friend.