Have you ever gone into a new year with a list of uncompleted goals, saying it will be “your year”? The answer to this is most likely a yes. 2020 seemed like it was going to be the best of the best, too good to be true, even. I think I can speak for everyone when I say this year was not what we expected. Life itself went downhill as soon as the ball dropped. Everything was happening so quickly, from earthquakes and fires, to worldwide viruses and tight elections, until it eventually felt like we were living in slow motion. There was a pause. We went from living our everyday lives, to suddenly being trapped inside for months as everything around us shut down. I never once thought I would be saying that I lived through a global pandemic, but here we are. The horrible thing is that not everyone can say the same, that they have lived through it. Not even just people, but businesses are having a hard time coming back to life. The food industry has not been the same for months, they had to adapt to these new changes, but many are not financially stable or secure enough to get back on their feet. Plenty of restaurants were able to have curbside pick up, delivery services, or outdoor dining, but the true restaurant experience is what is missing. People go out to eat and relax,  to have fun and enjoy delicious food, not to have to worry if they forgot their masks at home. More so, dining out is a great way to socialize and to get yourself out of the house, but over the course of the pandemic this outlet was inaccessible. During quarantine, going outside was the most popular activity. In the midst of the overwhelming negatives, there was the realization that we had been taking taking the great outdoors for granted and an overall change to that as many flocked outdoors whenever possible. In general though, the world was doing anything they could to keep themselves sane, it is truly the little things that can make people happy. Life is slowly getting back to normal, but it will be a completely new normal than we remember.

An interesting idea to ponder is how so many things that occurred in 2020 were history, in a way, repeating itself. Starting with the crash of the stock market, a parallel to the crash in 1929 which sent America into the Great Depression almost 100 years ago. Next, the ongoing racial issues and protests came out during the pandemic to fight for rights another theme of the the 20th century. All this time later, change is still demanded and yet to come. Lastly, the corona virus was not the first time a pandemic ravaged the world. The last one was the influenza pandemic, or the Spanish flu, that occurred back in 1918. It almost feels like the world was giving us a warning, or a wake up call that we need to be treating our Earth and the ones around us much better.

With this crazy year already coming to an end, we can only hope for positive things to come in the future. Schools are opening up again, restaurants are opening the doors and people can finally get a sense of normalcy. We can stick together (6 feet apart) and get through these times. 2020 is an unforgettable year filled with change.