As we enter December and look forward to the coming New Year, this is a time when many religions and cultures around the world celebrate major holidays. 2020 has been a really hard year all across the world. From pandemic to social unrest, from economic downturn to the food and housing insecurities created by all of, it has been an exceptionally trying time.
Now is when kindness, empathy, compassion, and understanding are more important than ever. We all need to try to come together, in spirit, to support one another. While most of us are having to stay physically apart to help protect each other from this deadly pandemic, it doesn’t mean that we can’t still be there to help one another. So many right now are suffering more than ever: fear of catching this horrible disease, anxiety over how to pay the bills due to lost jobs, loneliness at being isolated.
Unlike in the past, our global community is more connected than ever. Reach out to one another. Let people know that you care. Check on your family and friends. And if you’re one of the ones that is struggling, reach out to others* and ask for help. There is no shame in it. This is hard on everyone. Be kind and gentle with yourself as much as you can, because right now no one is at their best.
If you are able, donate. Donate money to your local food banks. Donate gently used items to local good works organizations. Donate your time to places that you have the ability to assist. There are many places that you can help while still remaining within your own home if it isn’t safe to go out (whether for yourself or for the community at large). Check with local volunteer organizations, they are more than happy to help match you up with somewhere that will suit your unique circumstances and abilities.
Please be kind. Be patient. Show grace. Understand that it isn’t the cashier’s fault that the store is out of the item you need. Realize that the delivery driver is just trying to survive, the same as you. Recognize that your favorite restaurant has had to pivot, and pivot, and pivot yet again to try to remain open in one fashion or another so they can continue to serve you. Support local businesses as much as possible.
Listen to the public health experts. Follow the advice of the scientists and medical personnel that are working at a feverish pace to understand and find treatments for this new disease. Yes, the advice changes from time to time. That’s because this is brand new. That’s how science works. As they learn about it, they figure out what works and what doesn’t. They are doing their best. Help them.
And please, hold a thought for our front line health care workers. They are exhausted. Please do your part. Stay home if you can. Wear a mask if you need to go out. Don’t gather in large groups. Wash your hands.
We will get through this, together. For the pandemic, hope is on the horizon. There are so many different vaccines that are showing great promise, at this point. As for the rest, if we hold to one another, if we care about each other, we can pull through. Humanity has always shown its best when things have been really tough but we’ve helped each other. Hold on. We’ll make it.
Dolby, myself, and all of our moderators, wish you and yours a safe and happy holiday season. May the new year treat us all well.
#Happy Holidays
#No School Snowdays
#Joyous Kwanzaa
#Merry Christmas
#Happy Hanukkah
#Blessed Yule
#Happy Krampusnacht
#Blessed Solstice
#Happy New Year
#Howly Wolfenoot
#Touched By His Noodly Appendage
#Joyous Saturnalia
#Happy Festivus
* If you are struggling with your mental health and feel like you don’t have anyone else you feel like you can reach out to, reach out to me (Cairenn). I am very open about my own mental illnesses (anxiety and clinical depression) and thus you needn’t worry that I will judge you for your own struggles. My PMs are always open.
