It’s far too early to celebrate, but the light at the end of the tunnel continues to come into clearer focus. More people are getting vaccinated (if we could just get more doses sent here!) and Pearlridge Center announced that 14 new stores or kiosks are opening there.
One positive touchstone of 2020 will be undoubtedly be the year’s music- perhaps songs like these, whose simple titles might seem to mimic the bizarre year and make for a fun playlist (in 10-years). Songs like:
“Things You Can’t Control” (SOJA + Trevor Young)- the title just about says it all for the frustrations of 2020!
“Circles” (Post Malone)- OK, go out and play. No wait, come back inside. Hang out with family only. Actually… hang out with no one! As Malone said: “…we’re running in circles”, getting exhausted; but basically, many went nowhere in 2020.
“Road Trip” (Sons of Zion)- surely something we couldn’t do in 2020, especially if that road trip included actually getting out of our cars!
“Rumor” (Maoli)- rumors, alternative facts, fake news, social media, dubious posts, paranoia, a huge crevice in our political landscape; it all became the reality (or lack thereof) of 2020.
“Without You” (Rebel Souljahz)- pretty much how we spent most days in 2020, without someone(s). We might’ve spent a lot of time with ourselves; if so, hopefully we learned something of value as the new days dawn.
“Speechless” and “When The Rain Falls” (Kolohe Kai)- you couldn’t make up some of what happened in 2020, when “hard-to-believe” became the norm, often leaving us speechless, and the pandemic rain kept falling. Luckily, real rain washes things away, and we move on.
“10,000 Hours” (Dan + Shay & Justin Bieber)- this is what many weekdays felt like in 2020. Idle time, expanded work days, no work, too little human connection, Zoom after Zoom, raising kids, raising hell, where every long day invariably felt like June 35th or August 47th.
“Memories” (Maroon 5)- when all was said and done way back in 2020, that’s (hopefully) all we remember when we glance back- memories, and none too painful. For long haulers, COVID-19 may not end up to be just be a blip on life’s colorful radar screen. But many people’s 2020 memories will include earworms like the songs above, plus the good, helpful, caring, and empathetic humanity they experienced way back in 2020.
Think about it…