At the beginning of year 2020, I had great hopes for the future, our businesses, our lives. My life. It would be the year where I would buckle down and begin to have gratitude for myself, step up and envision new possibilities. Write music, play the bass in live performances (something that gives me shivers when I think about doing it), play more festivals and club dates. Really get out there in the world. Work on my health and fitness plan. Get my bachelor’s in Liberal Arts and Humanities….. It was a grand and inspiring list. I created goals around that list and immediately started working toward those ambitious targets.
Actually, it was right before the year 2020 began, at the end of November, when I turned my focus inward to honestly look at myself, identify and then to take action on the things that I wanted to change about myself while honoring and respecting the things I wanted to grow, evolve, and subsequently made a determination to become a new person.
At the end of February was when I first heard about Covid 19 and at first, I didn’t think much of it. In the past, I usually labeled it a “type of flu” and upped my antioxidants, vitamins and food to strengthen my immune system. It was Travis that directed my attention toward what the virus was and how dangerous it could be. His concern was what prompted me to pay attention to this health warning. He’s never been one to become “alarmed” at flu viruses. In this case, it was totally different and I took notice.
I began self-isolating right after Valentine’s day. And watched as the months went by — how the panic, denial, confusion, fear took over the entire world. They say that one of the signs of intelligence is the ability to adapt. Maybe….. I do know that over the past 10 months, we did just that, we adapted. We followed safety rules such as wearing a mask in public, washing our hands frequently, cleaning and wiping down surfaces with disinfectants, keeping at least 6 feet apart from people. I would shop every 3 to 4 weeks to limit my going out, which could increase the chances of contracting which in turn could lead to spread. Following guidelines and taking precaution was to show solidarity with other human beings who want to help keep the world and the people in it as safe as possible. To me, it’s the best part of being a human being, the ability to have compassion for another being.
As the months swiftly changed, so did the world and its fear, anger and frustration. We began to see more social unrest especially between people of color, Western/Eastern European descendants and the police. This was only exacerbated by an elected official that was the 45th president of the United States. I remember when he won, I cried and I told Travis that this was the end of democracy. The shit is about to hit the fan.
The major turning point was when the whole world witnessed via a video capture, the murder of an African American man by a white police officer, using excessive force. That force was the kneeling on the neck of George Floyd until he suffocated to death. The match that ignited the fire was his last words. I felt at that moment, the vision of the world began changing, the lens began correcting. Some went from blind to blurry to crystal clear vision. This is what I call having 2020 Vision.
Hidden virus not seen:
- Social injustice
- Police brutality
- Blatant racism
- White privilege
- Economic disparity
- Isolationism
- Nationalism
- Underfunded educational system
- Underfunded health care system
- Divisive self-preservation government
- Propagation and promotion of misinformation
I’m sure there is a multitude of things I’ve missed. As we approach 2021 with a new vaccine on the horizon and the restlessness of the masses to get back to things as usual, I’m hoping that we don’t get back to things as usual. I’m hoping that with this warning we can truly reflect on who we are, what we want to become and what type of world we really want to live in and I pray that it isn’t the world that we can now no longer return to in good conscious. This is not a pessimistic view of the past, it is a clearing of all that no longer serves us – life and the planet. Maybe we can see our way through, I’m counting on it.
