Hasn’t everyone asked that question? I know I have. Just when it seems it can’t get any worse, it does. We are in an ever expectant state of what next? … and that became less a question and more of a resigned statement as 2020 wore on.
But people are wonderfully resilient. I found to my surprise and gratitude that I am more resilient than I thought. I’ve survived a lot of hardship–and so have you. No matter who you are. Here are my reflections on a year like no other.
Covid-19
When all this started last March I had the distinct impression that we were in it for the long haul. That this was truly going to be something that would be with us for a year or more, maybe two. It was time spent during my career at UI Health Care that influenced my thinking on this matter. There I developed a fascination with the biosciences, and great respect for the methods, traditions, and marvels that are modern medicine. While working at an academic medical center, I was exposed to cutting-edge medical research and access to some of the best epidemiologists and virologists in the country–even the world. In 2014, I designed a feature segment and cover for the Medicine at Iowa magazine that focused on their efforts against new diseases. To do so, immersing myself in understanding the field and the science, and reading the article, was vital and proved sobering and awesome. I was struck by the global network of brilliant minds across the world working to prevent a pandemic. The article written by my colleague Jennifer Brown begins with telling of a doctor’s concern:
“…MD, cast a concerned eye to the east—the Far East—as a dangerous new strain of avian influenza emerged in China. The H7N9 flu sickened 135 people, most of them after contact with live poultry. The majority of people had severe respiratory infections, and 44 died. Because this strain had never circulated in humans, immune systems were not primed to respond. If the virus acquired the ability to spread from human to human, the world population would be very vulnerable, potentially facing a pandemic of high mortality.”
Chilling words. The article goes on to relate how these researchers and physicians race to beat the clock, using a shared, elite network of global data and scientific discovery to keep the world safe. They strive to keep these “novel” viruses contained by developing vaccines to stop the spread of these new-to-human pathogens.
The race for vaccines.
The design borrows heavily from the iconic intro from the original Mission Impossible television series. The idea is of a race against an explosion expressed by the long fuse on a viral bomb. Set in the dark, the race goes on against an ominous foe.
This image came quickly to mind in March and I realized what we now are enduring is just what they work so hard to prevent. And now work even harder to mitigate.
Getting Schooled
Everything in our lives was turned upside down by the pandemic. And while I don’t have kids at home, I teach college courses in graphic design for advanced high school seniors. We went on spring break and never came back to the classroom. The jump to online was crazy and stressful all the way around, but the use of technology saved the day. It was a real-time crash course in online education, mastering the Learning Management Software and working to engage online. We were fortunate to have already built rapport from our previous in-person classes so that part of the transition was not much of a struggle.
In the fall it was more difficult to build camaraderie with the students. It was harder to deal with hardware and internet issues. Often we couldn’t see each other well or at all. I’m not completely sure we’d recognize each other in the street, even. But teaching went more smoothly and my students participated in a terrific real-life project for the college as a class assignment. It was a great experience for them.
My heart went out to the students, though. They missed or will miss prom, Senior parties, skip day, graduation. Things they will never forget that they never experienced.
Birthday week: August 10–16, 2020
It’s a week in which we usually try to vacation, but with the pandemic in full swing, we stayed home this time. Around noon on my husband’s birthday, August 10th, a derecho hit our city dead on. For more than 40 minutes hurricane-force, straight-line winds gusting up to an estimated 140 miles an hour pummeled our home and property in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
We were safely in the basement waiting it out with the dog. And when we emerged, the damage was severe. We took in the damage as we walked around in shock. Everything we had was either covered by fallen limbs and trees or smashed by them. The garage, the yard, and all the trees, (five mature old specimens) were devastated. Luckily, the house was intact with a small hole in the roof, a ruined back door, and otherwise cosmetic damage to siding, trim, and gutters.
That day the clean-up began. Chainsaws and generators quickly sold out, as did loppers, shears, rakes, and hand saws. Most of the tree canopy of Cedar Rapids was decimated. Billions of dollars in damage was sustained.
We worked, from sun up to sunset, clearing brush and debris. Putting things to rights. We lived without electricity, wifi, and refrigeration. It was like camping, only not. Again the silver linings of neighbor-helping-neighbor warmed my heart as we lived that week in community with each other.
Then on my birthday, Sunday, August 16, the electricity came on. What a gift! Certainly a memorable one. Within minutes the windows were shut and the AC was on.
The process of recovery and restoration continues and it will take until 2022 at least for us. The good news is we will have a new landscape, garage, and remodeled rooms in the house when we’re finished. It reminds me of the “Disaster Project” that I did in design school. But that’s another story.
Civics lessons
Never have I been so engrossed in the workings of our government than in 2020. And while I am not taking a stand here, I couldn’t do this end-of-year survey without a nod to the civic and political doings in our country. We are living through an intense historical time. “Unprecedented” became a drinking game. I have to laugh in order to cope. One of my favorite ads about 2020 is by Match.com. and while not political, sums it up pretty well.
Home Alone at Christmas
This was a holiday like no other, too. For the first time in my life, I did not travel to family locations during the Thanksgiving-to-NewYear’s holiday season. Instead, I made gifts and cookies. It was so relaxing for a change! We did Zoom and Facetime exchanges and I’m grateful for technology. Zoom has been a lifesaver for my relationships, affiliations, teaching, and business. Reliable broadband is a blessing, too.
So, what next for 2021?
First for all of us is to survive the pandemic. Not to be morose, but it’s a roll of the dice in how you respond to this disease or one of its more contagious mutants. At best, one could exhibit no symptoms, like Typhoid Mary, but this stuff can also kill a person. And the costs of being seriously ill would be devastating to finances in normal times. Couple that with the income and job insecurity so rampant right now and it’s a compounded misery. We want our livelihoods to survive too.
So I play it safe, wear my PPE, wash my hands, I’ll get a vaccine when it’s available, and mostly stay home. It’s been easier on me since I have long had a well established home-based office. So it was already a normal thing for me to work from home. Society has now been forced to learn about remote working, productivity, and management. For some, it works quite well. Others not so much. We may be on the brink of a tidal wave of change in how we do business, for now, and into the future.
Next is to thrive. My mamma always said, “Bloom Where You’re planted!” and that still sticks. Funny how that drawing was in my last email of 2020. I am picking up where I left off: on an optimistic note.
I am very hopeful for 2021 and the future. There will be opportunities emerge for growth in the energy and healthcare sectors among others. We must look for opportunities, acquire new skills, and adapt to the challenges ahead with creativity and a positive attitude. This great pause that we are enduring will run the gamut of emotion in human pain and pleasure before we emerge on the other side. But it will be all the sweeter when we do.
Meantime, I’ll keep working to make it a better world. Doing my small part. So far, so good.
How about you?
