Gone and go to hell. Finally over. This is how we spent 2022. How is the new one received? People’s emotions are mixed. Of course, everything is incomprehensible, uncertainty scares: what lies ahead, and what will happen next? But the thing that oppresses the hearts, of course, is hope. And pure, pure, without any cynicism. It couldn’t get any worse, that’s what we thought in 2020. Now we know what you can do. Yet we believe in the best. Fools, right? Or is there a basis for this belief? There is. And the fundamentals, oddly enough, come out of this dreadful, confused 2022.
I’ll start remotely. I’ll tell you about my hopes from last year and why I didn’t lose them. And I must say I had special plans for 2022. And the confidence that everything will come true. These expectations were, of course, absolutely unreasonable. Previous years clearly showed the motion vector. Covid, the economic crisis in the world, the aggravation of many social problems, the military and political exacerbations near the borders, the threat of stronger and more exacerbations (remember, then Armenia, then Belarus, then Kazakhstan, the smoldering Donbass). Nothing contributed to optimism. Yet I believed in the best. And not just on the principle: “As far as possible, at least something good should happen. purely statistical.” There were personal reasons, shall we say?
After all, a person does not go through life with everyone on one broad road, he brings either a bright future or an abyss. He wanders on his own paths, gets into his own predicament and manages to find his innermost sunny joys even in the valley of sorrow and sadness. That’s how I was going. About four years ago, I found myself in another predicament. I had to get out somehow. He gathered his thoughts, then drew a plan with great force, rolled up his sleeves – well, we’re going. The next three years turned into a kind of crazy walk. I had a lot to make up for in order to go from a big minus to at least zero.
I did. More or less. I reached the finish line in January 2022. I could already see my sunny meadow. I saw it, you know. So, despite all the gloomy prophecies, I believed that everything would be alright. No, I did not believe – I knew. And that’s why I’m in a hurry, so suddenly I’m on the last move – a hurricane, an earthquake, a tsunami and a meteor shower. Yes, it is impossible to say that it is not a harbinger of anything. And I wasn’t expecting to pass as the smartest – I just had to go and I went. As well as many others. Rowing in turbulent rivers, reaching the light, climbing mountains. Movement is like life. And then, again, force majeure.
But everything flows. The shock passes. And the man… is taking lessons. Man opens the world in a new light. And the person seems to be learning to see again.
And what has the past year taught us? What has been revealed to us besides the ancient truth that this world lies in evil? After all the events not only in the last but also in the last few years, is there anything to give hope for the future? There is!
In the last year, people have become the main value. Not for everyone, but for most. People began to devote more time to their families and friends to help each other. I remember the end of February, March (and then it went nowhere, that’s the point): calls, messages, meetings. And what dialogues!
– How are you?
– I’m holding on, are you? Need help?
– It’s hard, but I’m doing it. See you?
–Of course!
Not like before:
“Maybe we can meet at the cafe this weekend?”
– Oh, here is the bottleneck, an urgent project. Come in a week.
Two months later:
– Hello, well, it looks like things are working out, maybe in the movies?
– Damn, I have two part-time jobs on the weekends and you’re coming on holidays on your next business trip?
Within three months:
– There are free tickets to the theater.
– Oh, work again …
Work is no longer seen as an insurmountable obstacle. Either they began to devote less time to it (what’s the point of plowing if everything is growing faster than the rise in wages?) or people have learned to change the schedule (reporting can be delayed, but meeting a friend is a negativity). Or at the expense of something else, there is now time for what really matters. And by the way, for what?
He began to make fun of less difficult problems. Something completely strange has begun to happen in our country in recent years – people are full of psychology and it’s so awful that they turn off the light. Everyone rushed to defend boundaries, gauge the toxicity level of their closest relatives, deal with childhood traumas, discuss whether likes on social networks signal abuse (we agreed this is in orbit). I got hair. The man calls her for a date and says he can’t do it with drooping eyes, he has a session with a psychotherapist, he needs to find out why he’s still alone. Or a 40-year-old patient asks his retired mother for money to get an education in order to confront a brutal narcissistic mother.
And now, somehow, suddenly there is no time for new ethics, harassment and abuse. First, it’s strange to suffer over bullshit when it’s unclear what will happen tomorrow, when thousands of people’s lives are turned upside down. Secondly, it is completely incomprehensible how social and family ties can be dispersed today, when it is not known how little a neighbor can help cope with despair, fear, helplessness, and how much invaluable support is available to one’s attention, a kind word, just an extra. hour. I’m not talking about the more important mutual aid. Chasing “awareness” and “happiness in the moment” when the foreign company arrives, ready to close all of her daughter’s credit cards (or, in the flow, I’m mixing it up), she suddenly turns out to be a “toxic mom.” she has closed the Russian branch where she works.
No, some still manage to be stubborn. The year, of course, gave new reasons. Now we have positions, parties, an ideological struggle. But, you know, it’s getting less and less. Are you tired folks? Or realized that the world started in their own home. Being able to stay on your side without brutality. Everyone’s hopes and aspirations are more or less the same now. And this hope is better than bad despair. Moreover, this year probably everyone still has hope.
I am definitely entering 2023 with hope. I don’t plan, but I certainly won’t let despair enter my life. I responsibly declare (remember!): I will resist to the end.
What about the sunny meadow? Will he? When? I don’t know, but I know something else. Why did I go there? And why in general people can’t go past the stick and go stick forward. Then relax to arrange a break, gather your closest ones, set the table, talk about what’s important and be quiet, dream of the good. Here we are. Everyone is not where they want, they are gathered at the wrong table. That’s the point – we humans still have each other. And finally we learned to appreciate it. So everything will work out.
The author expresses his personal opinion, which may not coincide with the editors’ position.
Source: Gazeta
Dolores Johnson is a voice of reason at “Social Bites”. As an opinion writer, she provides her readers with insightful commentary on the most pressing issues of the day. With her well-informed perspectives and clear writing style, Dolores helps readers navigate the complex world of news and politics, providing a balanced and thoughtful view on the most important topics of the moment.