As is typical with any year, I neglect to update this space until I have a decent chunk of time off. There's a strange psychology in my perfectionist mind that if I can't write several entries in one go, it's not worth writing. But 2020 is no typical year. I've had a lot of downtime, I've done very little travel and my last foray onto an airplane was in February.
At the start of this mad pandemic journey, when the government suggested a 12-week lockdown, we all wondered how that would even be possible. 12-weeks inside our houses. Nope. And now it's December. We've been in and out of lockdown, been out of school for four months, out of offices for much longer and watched the death count rise exponentially. Concerts, events, parties of more than 6 people outdoors seem like a thing of the past.
Ongoing restrictions are contradictory. I've been at school since August but I'm not currently allowed to sit indoors with the same people I share an office with in a pub or restaurant. Several 'grade bubbles' have been collapsed and sent home due to positive covid tests and I'm currently at the end of a 14-day self-isolation period after being in contact with a staff member who went on to test positive. I've cancelled my annual Thanksgiving party, won't be going to Michigan for Christmas and don't even know when to begin feeling hopeful about getting on an airplane.
On the wider world scale, we've watched protests, riots, a divisive US election and Brexit proper is just around the corner. For a year I've spent largely inside my flat, it feels awfully eventful. It's difficult feeling to put your finger on, knowing that you're in the middle of a historic period that students will learn about in school one day.
With all of this in mind, and as much as I've felt trapped this year, 2020 has also forced to to do something I'm bad at: stop. I may even emerge from this pandemic with a Covid type of Stockholm Syndrome. I doubt that will stop me from booking a flight for off this rainy island as soon as is safe.
With a vaccine on the horizon, 2021 sure does have a lot of expectations to live up to. Fingers crossed.
