Why 2020 shouldn't be the year we all write off – its lessons are too important

While it has been filled with uncertainties and hardships for many, it has also brought with it some vital life lessons

Many people will want to write 2020 off, but it's a year in which we've been forced to re-evaluate many important things. Unsplash

It’s safe to assume that 2020 has not been the year that anybody had planned.

No holidays. No weddings. At times, no leaving the house. People have lost jobs, homes and, at worst, loved ones to a silent and invisible killer. One that just a few short months ago, no one could have imagined.

Over the endless stretch of days into weeks into months spent at home, many of us have, I’m sure, declared 2020 as a write-off. The year we won’t count. The one we will try to forget. A chance to hibernate until we are ready to start over come January, pretending like it never happened.

But no matter how hard we try to erase it, 2020 is a year that will stay firmly etched in our memories long after the midnight streamers of December 31 fade. And so it should.

Yes, it has been full of worry and uncertainty. But it has also undeniably brought with it a host of lessons and truths that many of us so desperately needed to hear, and new perspectives that have the potential to last a lifetime.

Coronavirus has ground us all to a halt, offering a mirror to reflect on what is truly important. It's been a very real reminder that, when all is said and done, nothing is more valuable than our health and that of our families.

It has forced us to re-evaluate the people we look up to most in society, shifting our focus to praise those who over the past few months have risked their lives to keep us all fed and cared for, rather than those who fill our social media feeds.

Front line workers are gracing the covers of international fashion magazines, real estate formerly reserved for supermodels or the rich and famous. The impossible beauty standards these publications previously championed are instead being replaced with the beauty in every day.

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  From left, Quacy, Quintan, both 12, Milo, and Quacy Jr, both 16 hold placards as they walk in the rain after attending a Black Lives Matter protest in front of Lafayette Park, near the White House, Washington DC. AFP

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  A man reacts at a memorial for George Floyd following a day of demonstration in a call for justice for the black American who died while in custody of the Minneapolis police, on June 5, 2020, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. AFP

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  A protester participates in a demonstration during a storm in front of Lafayette Park next to the White House, Washington, DC. AFP

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  Demonstrators attend a Black Lives Matter protest to express solidarity with US protestors in Sydney. AFP

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  Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, second left, takes a knee during in a Black Lives Matter protest on Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Canada. AFP

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  Protesters take a knee and raise their fists during a 'Black Lives Matter' demonstration in front of the Brooklyn Library and Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn, New York. AFP

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  Youths kneel with placards reading 'Black Lives Matter' in front of riot police officers blocking the way in Athens during a rally against racism and police brutality and in support to the protests in US. AFP

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  People hold banners during a Black Lives Matter rally in central Seoul, South Korea. EPA

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  A man holds a placard in solidarity with thousands of people marching during a Black Lives Matter protest in Brisbane. AP

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  Protesters wear masks during a rally in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter demonstration on June 6, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. Getty

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  Aboriginal elders conduct a traditional smoking ceremony at Town Hall during a 'Black Lives Matter' protest on June 6, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. Getty

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  Demonstrators are seen in the rain wearing protective face masks during a Black Lives Matter protest in Verulamium Park, St Albans, Britain, following the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis, on June 6, 2020. Reuters

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  People hold placards at a Black Lives Matter protest to express solidarity with US protesters, in Melbourne on June 6, 2020. AFP

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  Activists hold placards as they attend a rally in support of the 'Black Lives Matter' demonstrations in the US, during a march in the Myeongdong district of central Seoul on June 6, 2020. AFP

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  Activists hold placards as they attend a rally in support of the 'Black Lives Matter' protests, during a march in the Myeongdong district of central Seoul on June 6, 2020. AFP

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  A placard reading "black lives matter" is seen in a car during a communal conference of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) at a drive-in cinema on the site of the former blast furnace Phoenix West in Dortmund, western Germany, on June 6, 2020 amid the novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. The conference aims at preparing the local elections in September. / AFP / Ina FASSBENDER

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  Protesters chant and hold placards during a 'Black Lives Matter' march on June 6, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. Getty

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  A young child attends the 'Black Lives Matter' march with her family on June 6, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. Getty

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  Protesters gather at a Black Lives Matter rally in Genoa, Italy, on June 6, 2020. EPA

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  Demonstrators wearing protective face masks attend a Black Lives Matter protest in London's Parliament Square on June 6, 2020, following the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis. Reuters

The coronavirus slowdown has also provided a captive audience for the Black Lives Matter movement sweeping the US and the world. These extraordinary circumstances have allowed for vital voices to come through and be heard, loud and clear, taking away any chance for people to feign ignorance.

The time that people might usually spend meeting with friends, travelling or playing sport has been used by many to reflect, to educate themselves, to listen. It's to truly understand something that until now, knowingly or not, many have turned a blind eye to. Individuals, big name brands and even governments have pledged to be better. It’s a conversation that, finally, everyone is taking part in.

So yes, 2020 might not be the year we all had planned. But those plans will have their time, and when they do, will be all the more sweet for it. Instead of writing this year off, we should be writing this year down. Documenting it, learning from it, recognising the unique opportunity it has handed us all to grow together and change the course.

While normal might be what we are craving, it’s hard to imagine normal ever being the same again. But if the new normal comes with little more understanding, empathy, and appreciation, then perhaps this is the year we’ve all been waiting for.