There have been good things that happened in 2021- people that I have met, times that I have hung out with my friends. We are renovating my house, which has caused us to move in with my parents for four months- and that worked out incredibly well for all of us.
But my initial thoughts about 2021 are the people I have lost. My grandmother passed away in her 90s. One of my oldest friends from high school passed away from cancer at 50. Every year has good and bad points- but this one seems to sting harder than most.
In the world, two events stick out. The vaccines worked brilliantly, and turned COVID from a plague that threatened the world to a manageable problem. Even though the virus mutates (I now several people who are positive now), it is much less severe than we could have possibly imagined in the summer of 2020. The world has changed because of COVID- but the changes are much less dystopic.
The second event was January 6th. I have always felt that, despite the differences between the citizens of America, when the chips were down, they would stick together. January 6th should have been a wake up call that things were too far gone in terms of rhetoric and the Culture Wars. Instead, it has become one more cudgel to be used. I fear that January 6th won't be seen as a warning, but as a sign of the future.
And, after a forty year pause, inflation has come roaring back. Good times. I feel like we're in a sequel to the 1970s, but the soundtrack is much worse...
I am an optimistic, and believe the future trends upwards. But even upward trends have down years. 2021 was a down year. Here's to 2022 being better for us all.
