There is no denying that this  year has been challenging. It started with the Australian bush fires, locusts swarming across east Africa, Covid, with many countries in lockdown, murder hornets in USA, countless events cancelled all over the world and even more lives were lost.

Instead of reflecting on all the bad things that have happened this year I would like to look back on the good.

So, what good has come out of 2020.

I, like so many others, started a new hobby, some have been crafting, painting, cooking- I have been cross stitching, and I am very much in love with my new hobby and it is something that I will continue to do for years to come. As a bookworm I have also found that I have had more time to read, I like to read to escape and I have been doing so a lot this year and as a result I have been enjoying books that I otherwise would not have had the chance to read.

With the UK going into lockdown in March parents were asked to become teachers, extremely stressful as it is not a role for which I’m  qualified, but with schools offering immense support it was something that we soon got used to. I even came to enjoy it, I enjoy reading books with my children and like to hear what they have been up to at school, so we had great fun finding new ways to learn maths, and phonics. I spent a lot more quality time with my children, and it is something that I will cherish.

I started doing something that I have not done for the best part of 20 years, writing letters. I found an online group for international pen pals. I really enjoy send and receiving letters from many different countries, making new friends, learning about different cultures, celebrations and recipes for traditional dishes.

With the lockdown I found myself missing my parents and sibling immensely, we all live within a 5-mile radius of each other, yet we have gone months without seeing each other, so we started a weekly virtual quiz, we would start a group video call and have so much fun, it was something that I would start to look forward to, we did become slightly competitive what with a certain family member who continued to win despite everyone else’s best efforts. It was something that we have never done before, and I feel that it has bought us closer together as a family whilst we were forced to be apart.

So, I implore you not to look back on 2020 with a sinking heart but as a year that forced us to change our way of life. Even the simple task of popping out for some milk and bread has changed: mask check, hand sanitiser check, 2 meters apart well I try. Neighbours looked after neighbours, strangers became friends, families reconnected. We learnt to adapt and grow during a time where it would have been too easy to moan and focus on one’s self.

So, let us see what 2021 has in store for us with positivity and courage.