2020 has offered time to reflect on needed change

We’re all feeling like we could use a bit more holiday cheer. 2020 has been exhausting. It’s been frustrating. It’s been overwhelming. Discord and panic have reigned.

It’s no surprise, then, that I’ve seen the Christmas lights go up even earlier this year. When I saw the lights going up around my neighborhood during my afternoon stroller ride with the boys in the early part of November, a small part of me thought: “At last.”

Because with the twinkling of the holiday lights comes a sense of peace. A sense of normalcy. A sense of happiness. It’s why some people with depression and other mental illnesses choose to keep twinkling lights in their homes all year – a reminder of light, a feeling of calm. 

This year will be no different, in some respects: the Christmas season brings with it reminders of the necessity of patience, of anticipation, of delayed gratification. These are things we desperately need in 2020. A reminder of dwelling in a transitionary period, a reminder of the need for waiting. As Catholics, we know that with anticipation comes our greatest events – the celebrations of Christmas and Easter. 

But in other respects, this Christmas will be – should be – different. We are a changed society. We are a changed world. A world that has been marked with grief and suffering. A nation marked by discord.

Rather than wishing away the past nine months – rather than “canceling” 2020 – we should dwell in the possibilities, the opportunities that the year has brought us.

Advent is a time of reflection. It’s a time for us to choose to meditate not only on the aspects of this past year and our actions within the year, but also a time to reflect on the preparation needed to bring forth change. Change within ourselves, as we prepare ourselves for the coming of our Savior, but also change in our outlooks. For it is our own selves – the individual – that creates change in society. 

Our faith reminds us that we embody the actions of Christ, and in doing so, serve as examples for the rest of the world. 

After Thanksgiving, my husband and I reflected on the past year. Our sons struggled with breathing and feeding difficulties for the first six to seven months of their lives. We were constantly back and forth between specialists and hospital visits. When it seemed we finally had turned a corner, the pandemic hit. 

This Advent, I’ll be reflecting on those aspects that I have found most gratifying in my time of social distancing – those aspects that perhaps have been missing in my everyday life. 

In these past nine months, I’ve had time to grow and become a mother. I’ve had time to watch my twins grow from infants to toddlers – a true test of patience. I’ve had time with my husband, balancing both personal and professional life. We’ve had time to grow as a family.

Yes, of course, we’ll be happy to put 2020 behind us. But this is also the time to reflect and prepare for change: 2021 doesn’t need to be the same frustrating sense of discord. And with expectant waiting and antici­pation, we can change our outlooks – we can change our interactions – and welcome the joy of our next season.

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