2020 stole our Christmas

The year 2020 was a troubling year to say the least, this year kicked off with everyone celebrating entering a new decade, but this year quickly stole our joys with several losses.

Incredible people like Kobe Bryant, Chadwick Boseman, Diego Maradona and many more died this year, Trump killed an Iranian General, George Floyd was killed by the police and sparked major protests and riots all over the world against racism.

Here in Nigeria, we had our own protest against police brutality in October the #EndSARS protests that rocked this nation and showed the government the power of the people. There were the Australian fires, locusts and all manner of things that happened all over the world.

Then of course, the defining event of 2020 was the COVID 19 pandemic, the first pandemic the world had ever seen in 100 years. Almost no one alive today had ever witnessed a pandemic, and we all did this year, a deadly virus that has killed over 1.7 million people all over the world.

The pandemic shut down world economies, sent the world into recession, sporting events got postponed or cancelled, fans weren’t allowed into stadiums when sports resumed.

The lockdowns had to be the hardest part of it all, many people went jobless, companies went under, startups failed, the rich got richer while the poor got poorer, middle class people joined lower class people, and this happened all over the world despite the best intentions of governments.

And now we’re having a second wave of the virus at what is supposed to be the most festive part of the year. Nobody is happy, people’s mental health declined at alarming rates this year, and it seems like everyone is simply just tired.

People can’t even go out to celebrate as much as they would want to because of the very fact that they could die if they did. And even those of us who love indoor Christmas don’t even feel the festivity of the season, so much so that the 25th of December, the one day you’re required to be happy has been stolen by a year that came to take away our happiness.

The only thing we can do is try to ignore the emptiness inside and try to be festive despite not necessarily being in the mood thanks to the nature of this year. And I guess that’s all we can do, just like Diane in Bojack Horseman said “life’s a bitch and you keep living”