2020 changed us. Most of us had never lived through a pandemic, In fact we barely knew what it meant. It took us a while to adjust. We had felt invincible for far too long. Familiar Sound bites like - it’s no worse than the flu; It’s just another virus; it’s seasonal, it’ll be over soon - were persuasive and pervasive.

 Eventually it sank in. Our world had made a shift. We adjusted. We slowly came to terms with our vulnerabilities. There was no quick fix. People were dying -the elderly and the compromised. But there were young and healthy victims too. The virus was an anathema. We solve puzzles using logic and yet this one evaded us for a long time. Fortunately, things changed toward the end of 2020. Our super-human scientists solved the riddle and help is on its way. We are going forward with much hope.

But we have lost our innocence, our naïveté. With our vulnerabilities and fallibilities exposed we have experienced a collective trauma. And yet with trauma comes healing. We need to emerge from this not just with compassion and gratitude but with awareness and a sense of responsibility. Responsibility not just for those in our immediate pod but for those strangers we don’t know - Our fellow humans. By simply wearing our masks and taking the vaccine we protect those we will never know. We must pay it forward. We are the lucky ones. We survived the pandemic of 2020 and we need to give back. Embrace that feeling and you will be a part of our better angels.

So while the pandemic has stifled us and taken away it has given us a sense of collectiveness, a feeling of connection -of being a small part of a whole. It has given us the opportunity to give back, to contribute.  We are all responsible for keeping the pandemic at bay, the healthcare workers and scientists cannot do it alone They need us to carry them forward. It’s a unique and privileged partnership.

So as I write this on my birthday of 2020 – this year has been about the gift of giving. It’s not just the thought but rather it’s the action. And that my friends has been the incredible experience of 2020!