Rebalancing life

2020 will go down as annus horribilis.

It was a year where many of the things we take for granted were stripped away in quick succession in response to the virus. Some have suffered the loss of loved ones and many more have lost their jobs. Before the end sadly many more will be impacted in a process that will stretch into 2021 and beyond.

Hopefully for many at least though it will have created a pause from normal behavior and a chance to consider what we value most in the world.

Sitting in government imposed isolation with my wife on Christmas day certainly reminded us of what mattered - family and friends. A sense of lingering loss like a missing limb on a day which is normally all about loved ones, shared time and memories. This is what most felt in 2020 - a sense of profound sadness and loneliness left by the absence of the ones we love most in the world from our lives. An emotional hole which was capped off by being forced to spend Christmas alone as well.

For me that sense of loss reinforced a feeling that I have had for many years  - overconsumption. That consumerism has made us forget what is most valuable in life and replaced community and love with simply accumulating more stuff which most of us simply don’t need. Both my wife and I felt it as we gently unwrapped our gifts from each other - a sense of borderline foreboding, more stuff that we really didn’t need or want and that we would need to do something with.

But beyond that there was a sense of guilt that we had so much and had spent so much money that others needed more. With exploding food bank use and working poverty after ten years of austerity it felt sick to have spent money on things neither us really wanted or needed. Money which for us was in many ways almost irrelevant and yet for others would have made their Christmas - it filled me with shame to be honest.

I grew up in a family which had not been well off. My mother had struggled especially in our earlier years though we had been warm, well fed and most importantly loved. That upbringing has shaped my worldview to this day. I am lucky to earn a decent wage and I pay my taxes with a sense of pride to help others in our society - to give back to a country which helped my family when we needed it. Looking at our country now and I am happy to pay more to help those in need as I really don’t need more.

That is why I hope that the Covid19 crisis will make more people pause and think about their lives. Take a moment and realise that they need to spend less on stuff and more time on people. The accumulation of junk imported from China does not make a meaningful life. No one passes on from this life wishing they had spent more time shopping. They wish they had seen their loved ones and seen the world - this is what more and more people have realised.

So let's look for the silver lining in this dark period, let’s take a moment and think about our lives and our society and begin to rebalance them. Let's help ourselves and help others by sharing and remembering what is important in life - love and community.