As November draws to a close and December is just around the corner, the end of the year can be psychologically challenging. Despite the upcoming New Year’s euphoria, we confront what we may have wanted to achieve this year but haven’t. Birthdays and New Year’s are often dates when we reflect on our lives, desires, and goals. If we are not satisfied with the outcome, various unpleasant feelings may arise, especially considering how extraordinary this past year has been.
Who tricked 2020?
For many, this year may have been particularly difficult due to loved ones falling ill, experiencing illness themselves, or losing someone close. The situation has been abnormal almost from the beginning of the year. The phrase “new situation” was so often mentioned as if it promised that all this wouldn’t last long, yet here we are in the ninth month, still uncertain about how much longer we’ll be in these changed life conditions. Activities have been interrupted, and plans have been altered. Some may have benefited from isolation, focusing more on themselves, but what we can probably agree on is that there have been many changed circumstances for all of us. People in relationships or marriages have either grown closer or spending more time together has made preexisting problems even more apparent, leading some to part ways. Many students have returned home, readjusting to living with their parents. Pregnant women are at home, even more concerned for themselves and their babies. Healthcare workers are exhausted. Those in the music, acting, or cultural industries have been without work for a long time and don’t know when they’ll return to their jobs. Those planning to get married have either canceled weddings or celebrated differently than planned. We haven’t gone on vacation, we haven’t traveled, so even annual leave has been different than usual.
Many have powered through this year, and it seems like we need new beginnings more than ever, yet we can’t look forward to them as usual because instead of the hopeful uncertainty we normally anticipate, we face uncertainty that evokes anxiety. It’s true that there have probably been some good things that happened that we may have overlooked amidst all these strange conditions. We’ve likely learned something new about ourselves as well.