2020 Isn’t the Problem
What we’re experiencing is part of a continuum of suffering — and struggle
When the news broke that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had died, the instant outpouring of grief on social media was immediately followed by an outpouring of condemnation. Of a single 12-month period of time.
It all amounted to: “2020 is the Worst. Year. Ever.”
This year has been a steady stream of devastating wildfires, political disasters, mass whale beachings, near brushes with World War III, a global pandemic, police brutality, and a growing awareness on the part of White Americans that we didn’t actually fix racism by watching Get Out and reading half of Between the World and Me.
And although no one is actually blaming 2020 for what’s happening in 2020, we are using it as a scapegoat.
Declaring 2020 the worst year ever is a form of collective commiseration that gives a name to a difficult experience and makes us feel less alone. It’s a coping mechanism. But for many of us, it’s becoming less effective and more dangerous all the time. Blaming the year has become a convenient container into which we can stash every difficult truth and terrible event. It’s a way to distance ourselves from the moment. We’re choosing to believe that everything that is difficult will…
