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Goodbye, 2020

And Hello 2021

By Calliope BriarPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
1
This ghost will haunt me forever

Dear 2021,

I don't expect you to clean up the mess that 2020 has left behind. I'm not sure that it's a mess able to be fully cleaned. The negativity and events in 2020 are bleeding through into 2021 already, but we know or should have known that the shift into a new year doesn't erase the events of the previous year.

It doesn't matter how much we wish. No year will be perfect or without bad alongside the good. That's life. But you can't hold it against time. Time isn't responsible for what happens in our lives. People are. Sometimes, it's nature that causes pain. Sometimes we can control. Most times we can't.

2021, I'm sorry that you had to follow a year like 2020. My promise to you is that I'll stay cautiously optimistic about the possibilities you hold and the potential for healing that you offer. I know that there's a lot spilling over into you from 2020, but I promise to do my best to keep in mind that you also hold the potential for the world to return to normal. Or to evolve into a state that is better than our previous normal.

2021, I promise that I will continue to work on improving myself because no one can do it for me and I can't do it for anyone else. In this endeavor, we are both alone and together. Solitary improvement brought about by the support of others. And if there's no one to support us, then we have to be able to support ourselves and say that it's enough. We can't be enough for others if we can't be enough for ourselves.

Even though we're saying "hello" to a new year, I think it's important that we learn from the previous year and remember our experiences in order to grow from them. If we can't grow from year to year or from our experiences, then the passage of time means nothing. We cannot allow ourselves to stagnate. Even in our worst times, there comes opportunities to grow.

So, 2021, I will promise to do my best to grow. I will allow every day to be a day that I can learn a little more, no matter how simple or trivial what I learn may be. Even if I just manage to make spaghetti more often at home rather than buy it from a restaurant out of laziness. Even if I only learn to drink more water instead of coffee (or alongside coffee, give me this one at least). Even if I only learn to allow myself to not be okay, and then to help myself be okay afterwards.

2021, you are receiving a scarred population into your arms. You're receiving a reduced population as the pandemic has ravaged us and left so many dead. More than 350,000 in the United States of America alone. You're receiving masses of heartbroken and hurt people. People who have lost loved ones, and people who have had their own health compromised by Covid-19.

2021, you're receiving a population who wants to hope for a fresh start with the beginning of a new year. You're receiving people who want to hope, but are afraid to let themselves believe in that hope.

I ask that you be patient with us, and that you understand that we're still hurting. That some of us will keep hurting for years to come due to the damage that 2020 brought with it. I ask that you believe in us when we have trouble believing in ourselves. That you understand why we're putting so much pressure on you to be a good year.

Hello, 2021.

I hope you help us heal.

healing
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About the Creator

Calliope Briar

A lifelong writer with a creative writing degree.

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