by Elizabeth Otieno
Earthquakes, locust infestations, food wastage and shortage, Forest fires, park fires, mismanagement of funds, police brutality, and don't get me started on the Covid-19 pandemic. When historians finally write about the year 2020, it will most definitely sound like a horror story lifted from the pages of an Edgar Allan Poe or a Stephan King novel. Nothing from the year feels real, and yet here we are reading this on our laptops, from the safety of our homes with our masks nearby. Even though it feels like a pre-apocalyptic era, it doesn't mean we should live in a state of constant melancholy.
2020 is not cancelled!
The good news
Despite the constant ‘doom and gloom’ the media portrays, the world isn’t all that bad. Don’t misquote me, yes I’m aware of the number of people dying or going through an extremely difficult time, but there is so much good happening out there that deserves as much recognition, if not more, as that of the bad. Earlier this year, Adam Castillejo, became the second person to be cured of HIV. This was a historical moment in the medical world, giving doctors hope of a brighter, HIV-curable world. Pollution has gone down and with it the risk of global warming. Science has made it possible to increase the number of animals that would have gone extinct. And some countries have been declared Covid-19 free.
Your reality
As human beings, the need to attach hopes or failures to a period, like years, days or hours has been a part of man since time immemorial. That’s why we look forward to New Year’s “new year, new me”, or possibly dread Friday the 13th because we associate it to bad luck. With all that has happened, it’s not a surprise that the majority of people have cursed the year. But what if, instead of cursing the year, we took it head on and challenged it.
‘I need to get in shape, but I’m too busy’, ‘I have this great novel idea, I just don’t have the time for it,’ ‘We used to love designing costumes, too bad we got distracted by work,’. Oh, too often do we give up on something when we ‘get busy’ or it doesn’t work out. This time is different, however. We work from home now, and for the few that still go to the office, work isn’t as hectic as it used to be. So, what’s really stopping you from achieving it now?
Now is the time to get that body you’ve always wanted, workout from home. Learn that extra language, you’ll be partially fluent by December and have something to brag about at the Christmas dinner. That cake business? Why not try it now? Who made it a commandment to start in a bakery? Your tailoring, new recipe, asking that special person out, the online course you’ve always wanted, that new project - do them now. None of us are guaranteed of a next year, so stop postponing your goals.
2020 isn’t cancelled, it's just a rocky battlefield with great opportunities on the other side. If we are willing to conquer it.
Elizabeth Otieno — Ray of sunshine, armed with a pen. Elizabeth is a young bubbly content creator, who is currently doing her B.A in Communications and Public relations at Strathmore University. The aspiring writer and PR practitioner goes about her day, either in class studying or working as the Digital and Content Manager at Dharkemmy Corporate Communications Limited (DCCL). When she isn’t working, she is either at the dojo advancing her karate skills, creating hilariously sarcastic videos about African history on her YouTube channel, “Epic African Tale” or in the kitchen trying a new recipe she saw on Buzzfeed Tasty or the Food channel. Elizabeth hopes to expand her range of expertise, already learning new languages and a few programming and graphic designing skills that will definitely come in handy in the future. Or at the very least make her sound interesting at the Christmas dinner party.