Dum spiro, spero.

While I breath, I hope. These words caught my attention back in the early 2000s when I was taking Latin in college (I know I was definitely one of the cool kids). With three simple little words, such an immense feeling is brought forth. While there is breath in my body and life in my veins, I will hope. Hope for what? That’s up for you. Hope for a better world, hope for happier days, hope for love, hope for joy, hope for another season of your favorite tv show. Anything. And that’s the beauty of it. Hope is yours. Here is what I am hoping for on this, the very last day of this agonizingly long year: a step back towards normalcy. Especially for all who are suffering both financially and mentally due to government imposed restrictions.

This year so many were robbed of so much from the small things like a canceled concert or trip to the large things like the loss of a home, job or loved one. And wherever your losses landed on this scale, doesn’t make it suck any less. We all, the whole world, struggled this year. But I am going to venture into cliche territory here and say that in some ways it made us stronger. It made us be a little more creative, a little more compassionate and a lot more thankful for what we had.

As we venture into this new year I think we are all full of both trepidation and hope like never before. A new year is always a time for fresh starts, new goals and big changes. 2020 gave that to us in spades, but not as we had hoped it would. We had to rearrange our goals, weather the storms of change nearly weekly and learn how to live in a whole new society. With 2021 on the horizon of course we’re scared. Who knows what it will bring. The pessimist in us worries it’ll be just like 2020 or worse. Mental health could continue to decline. We could continue to be locked down with our friends and families struggling financially. We might continue to live in fear, with nothing really changing at all. These are all things my anxiety brain tells me on a daily basis. BUT I’m working really hard to stop the negative self talk. And with the end of negative talk comes the advent of hope. Hope that 2021 just might be a better year. Maybe it won’t even be as amazing as you wanted 2020 to be. But just maybe, it’ll be better.

Several times during this year I felt as if I had lost all hope. Lockdown one seemed nearly endless with the words “foreseeable future” tossed around by the government without them fully grasping what it did to their constituents. While physical health was first on everyone’s minds this year, mental health, at least here in England was mostly on the back burner. But with my reconnection with therapy, a vaccine already in the process of being administered, I’m really hoping to keep hope alive this time.

That doesn’t mean I won’t struggle, and that doesn’t mean you won’t struggle too. But at least we’re in this together. If anyone is struggling with their mental health as we continue to live in the times of the VWSNBN, I encourage you to seek help. It can be me, it can be a friend, family member or it can be professionals. But you’re not alone in the struggle. I’m holding on tightly to hope that 2021, while it won’t start as good as 2020 started, will end far better than 2020 ended.

Happy New Year all my wonderful readers. Here’s to something brighter, just around the corner.