Ending this year with the same phrase I started it with, originally expressing high hopes and expectations to reflecting on a year of perseverance and resilience. Right before the start of 2020, I was sitting in Dominique Ansel, trying out the newest monthly cronut flavor, searching for an empty seat, when LJ and MJ from That Couple Who Travels offered me an extra spot at their table. After chatting with them for a couple minutes, they mentioned that they loved traveling and exploring new places in the city and documented all their trips on their travel insta. I mentioned that I’d been wanting to start a blog as well; intended as a platform to document living in NYC as a 20-something and a portfolio of projects on retail sustainability. LJ encouraged me to go for it, saying “2020, amiright?”
For so many people, we started off this year filled with excitement. With the start of a new decade, we told ourselves that this will be the year… the year we get back in shape, focus on our health, have a thriving social life, build out our side hustle, get that dream job, etc. I kicked off this year wine tasting in Napa followed by back to back trips between Houston, Chicago, and NYC. As cases started emerging in the US, we were still naïve about the impacts this virus would have on our lives. I had recently ended a long-term relationship at the time and was contemplating going on an Eat, Pray, Love adventure to visit friends in LA and Thailand and doing a silent meditation retreat in Bali.
A couple weeks before lockdowns happened in NYC, I was at a colleague’s going away party. Someone at the table mentioned how Asia and Europe were already on lockdown and it would only be a matter of time before NYC would as well. We all laughed at him and said that sounded ridiculous — “America? How would that even work?” We thought we were untouchable, immune to disease and suffering, somehow superior to the rest of the world.
When cases spiked and NYC announced lockdowns, I decided to go back home to the suburbs to avoid the insane Trader Joe’s lines. I packed a small suitcase, thinking I’d be back in a couple weeks at most, which quickly (but also veryyy slowly) turned into four months. I watched on the news as NYC became the epicenter of the virus and checked in with friends around the world as we all experienced varying tragedies. I empathized with those who lost family members and loved ones, while frustratingly watching as peers from my suburban Pennsylvania hometown protested to open businesses back up.
We saw on the cover of the NY Times when 100K lives in the US had been lost due to the virus and the next day, news broke out about the murder of George Floyd. As people took to the streets and protests erupted around the world, I started having difficult conversations with friends and family — discussing So You Want to Talk About Race at the dinner table and dissecting We’re Not Really Strangers – Race and Privilege questions with friends. Before these events, I assumed that I was already well informed, studying human biases and prejudices in college and leading diversity and inclusion panels in the workplace, but soon realized that there’s still so much more work to be done, within myself and society. This year has opened my eyes to the continual unlearning and learning processes that must occur and the journey that I am still on to create a more just society.
As boredom grew and sourdough bread interest rose, I tried to fill the abundance of time with all the typical covid hobbies — watched too many tv shows, tie-dyed some sweatsuits, baked banana bread, learned to watercolor, and replaced my daily office espressos with dalgona coffee.
However, I also found myself frustrated with the lack of productivity in my life. As someone who was always on the go, packing my calendar as full as possible, I struggled with the months of isolation. I joined an accountability session that my friend Amy put together with Mariana and Sara, which got me inspired to reframe this time of remote work and use it to focus on my creative pursuits and passion projects. I started checking in with Mariana every week and joined The Next Step Sessions, which allowed me to reflect on my vision for this blog and set goals on how to achieve them. Over the following months, I redefined the purpose of this space as a platform to start meaningful conversations about societal issues and share reflections, research, and interviews around the people and products that are building solutions in these spaces (more to come soon!).
It’s an understatement to say that 2020 has been a difficult year and unlike anything that we could’ve predicted; however, as with all challenges in life, I think we’ve come a little stronger and learned how to pivot and adapt. Barak Obama wrote in his article “How to Make this Moment the Turning Point for Real Change”:
I recognize that these past few months have been hard and dispiriting — that the fear, sorrow, uncertainty, and hardship of a pandemic have been compounded by tragic reminders that prejudice and inequality still shape so much of American life. But watching the heightened activism of young people in recent weeks, of every race and every station, makes me hopeful. If, going forward, we can channel our justifiable anger into peaceful, sustained, and effective action, then this moment can be a real turning point in our nation’s long journey to live up to our highest ideals.
Being in the city this year as election results came out, gave me a renewed sense of excitement. I heard the news as I was waiting in line at a sample sale and car horns started blaring. As I made my way to Washington Square Park, I heard crowds cheering and bands playing as the streets filled with strangers dancing. This year has had its setbacks and progress has been a long time coming, but I believe we’re at the cusp of making real change happen as long as we keep striving towards it.
Best wishes,
