Standing on the edge of New Year 2021, 2020 still intrudes. 2020 was complicated. Scary. It demanded flexibility. Upending to many, terminal to some. 2020 did not care if you were ready, if you wanted change, or whether you had plans.
Inside the chaos, lives flourished, relationships changed, patterns were broken. Art was created by new artists in unexpected places. Balconies became choral concert halls, storage sheds morphed into art studios, dance flourished in living rooms and YouTube stations.
Music, live music, stared at the abyss of another ‘day when it died’, and said, “Fuck that.” Virtual shows broadcast from porches and dining rooms, the discomfort of Venmo yielding to the grocery reality brought fans and art together in an intimacy we’d never thought possible, the wall between stage and musician melting into a sea of wanting everyone to get through to next.
Some relationships broke apart, others strengthened, and still others took root… A true ‘Love in the Time of Covid’ rewrite.
As hard as this has been, and for too many it was devastating, we all moved. On the grand scale, the earth shifted us in a way not seen in a lifetime. This was our call to rise.
I saw thousands of gestures of love in the past 12 months, witnessed countless kindnesses. I saw selfishness in abundance, felt other’s fear, empathized with loss, disillusionment, and despair. We are human. This was the year of humanity.
After all we’ve walked, the temptation to return to normalcy feels strong, but that’s a fallacy. Our life’s river flowed; we can’t go back any more than they could in 1918, or 1861, or 1492. Change is inexorably linked to life. Each minute lived is lost. Irretrievable.
So in our new year, 2021, I wish you minutes. Ones spent in wonder, in kisses, in sunrises and sets, in the presence of dogs and cats, surrounded by friends and children. I wish you a grip on life that takes the heartache you paid to get here and covers you in the energy of living as an elegant integral component of an amazing fucking Universe. Shine on, beloveds. Stay well, and ride the storm out. We are almost there.
See you at Orlando Reads Books in late August!
What Orlando Reads Books has is store for readers, here.