The past year was one of the most difficult periods of time most of us have faced since first drawing breath outside of our mother's womb. We've lost so much in a matter of months, weeks, or, in some cases, days after the pandemic first hit. Companies crumbled under the pressure as they sought something suitable to sustain themselves during a time when leaving the house was all but against the law. Family members and friends succumbed to conditions that worsened due to the instability of a virus that attacked already failing immune systems. The social life we once knew that held together our sanity completely stopped as we sought answers and safety from a highly contagious variable jumping from host to host with no bias.
Healthcare workers were driven to work longer hours as they raced to understand and heal people within their area of expertise and everyone else sat anxious as they wondered about their economic stability, continuing education, and surviving without that drunken night of laughter and cuddles after a stress filled day of earning money to pay bills. It wasn't long before restaurants shut their doors permanently, people found themselves homeless, and people in the medical and pharmaceutical fields were torn between helping people as originally intended and quitting after stress and lack of sleep tore at their mental stability and physical health. It was not a pretty sight [from someone working within the pharmaceutical field] to see.
Everyone raced to get their Xbox Series X's and Playstation 5's to pass their time stuck at home, Onlyfans and many other adult oriented sites found a boom in numbers as many were left home with extra time on their hands and a few less date nights in their lives, and the rest of us settled for too much work, barely enough to subscribe to an Onlyfans, and enough exhaustion to make it through another 6 hours until it was time to shower and get ready to go back to work. I only dream of finding the finances to afford and time to wait in the queue for the next shipment of next gen consoles. If only finding love was any easier with dating app members increasing in numbers and Animal Crossing New Horizons becoming the go to virus-safe zone for date nights.
Although most of us have heavy losses that could fill multiple blogs worth of family tributes, had found ways to put food on the table most nights, and kept as close to peace of mind as possible, we made it thus far. It's still an imperfect portrait of people attempting to follow guidelines to keep friends and neighbors safe while capturing a bit of that old life we once knew almost 16 (give or take) months ago but we're getting there. It won't ever be the same, yet it will still be the future each of us are trying to make for ourselves and one another.
We've all accomplished something getting here, where we are, today. We loved, laughed, skyped, read, meditated, and made it through each day to be one step closer to a normalcy. Depression and anxiety snagged our minds and hearts. Loneliness was our companion during Netflix rom coms and tubs of ice cream. Maybe we accomplished a lot with our free time from publishing a book to starting a company to finally binging a few series of books or television shows or maybe we just accomplished enough to maintain our sanity and not close the curtains on the sun one final time.
Social media was both the calm before the storm and the thunder and lightning as people pushed positivity so hard it almost hurt. There were posts claiming that the pandemic was the best time to check off things on our bucket list, yet the other side of that fine line knew full well that it was a big accomplishment to breathe another day. Regardless of what specific feats we accomplished, the fact that we kept our mental health in check the best we could during a time that therapy went from unavailable to online chats is amazing. It was not easy to get through a day without the simple things we took for granted from friendly escapes to therapy sessions to grocery store runs. Everything was flipped upside down and still we walked along that sidewalk with a different gravitational outlook.
There are one hundred things that could be said about the political atmosphere, the issues that rose to the surface despite being decades or centuries old, and the million little hydrogen and oxygen atoms we breathe, but this isn't about what side we lean to or even how we got through to read this blog today. Today is about you being here today. Today is about the sun shining in the clear blue sky or peeking from behind the clouds every once in a while wherever you are right now.
We saw our shadows more than we would have liked and fought with ourselves in ways we never imagined possible. This was our struggle. This was our test to prove to ourselves we are as strong as we hoped we could be. Maybe eating that slice of pizza isn't quite the taste of freedom you expected by now, but it's still a great combination of all the food groups necessary to return us back to our healthy lives.
You're here today, not forgotten by the individuals that make your drum circle near or distant. Our chats will likely be insanely longer than ever before as our music slowly remixes into the greatest DJ set we've heard without our lifetimes. It's the beginning of a new day, a new era where we truly appreciate the who, whats, and hows that got us to this point.
It was a horrible yet great test of what we as humans are capable of as we examined more deeply ourselves in the struggle and bring new eyes to the future before us. We are the stars that never gave up lighting the sky. We are the future of our children, our united family, our coexistence. We are the foundation of love unending.
Wherever you are today, physically, mentally, or emotionally there are those of us that have come back from the so-called grave of communication blackouts and personal struggles to watch (and help) you grow.
I believe we can accomplish rebuilding our future together whether it's a bare foundation to generate personal growth or a home we will share as lovers, friends, or family. Take my hand and I will not let you down. I will be there to laugh at your jokes, share in your tears, pick you up when you fall off that skateboard for the first time, or to bake a few cookies for your next visit to my humble little nowhere in the Midwest. I struggled, just like you, mentally and physically with [actual] damaged lungs and severe bouts of anxiety, but made it through with thoughts of you [yeah, YOU specifically] to come back and guide you like the friend I once was.
YOU are the future. YOU are the sun, the moon, and the stars. You make everything possible with your smile, simple and sincere. You cause a rift in the gravitational waves when you're gone and make everything feel stable when you're around. You give life to the shadows when we chat on the picnic table at the park or kiss by candlelight overly a nervously cooked meal. You are everything to every one of us between slight verbal exchanges and inspiring vibrant imagery. There are no single moments in life that you do not take part in as you linger in thought like a first kiss or favorite song. You are here ❤ and here 🧠
Love always,
Xander
@rambo @missy
