Being Thankful in 2020 (Happy Holidays)

Let’s just acknowledge the elephant in the room; 2020, at large, has been a dumpster fire, one at a scale that hasn't been seen before in the majority of our lifetimes.

January started the year with the impeachment of a sitting U.S. President, only the third time that has happened in our nation’s history, meanwhile, most of Australia was on fire which resulted in the death of over 3 billion native species of Australian wildlife. In February, the World Health Organization named a recently discovered illness that originated out of Wuhan, China, Coronavirus Disease 2019, or “COVID-19” for short, and within a month they announced that COVID-19 had reached the level of a global pandemic, and we began to see lockdowns in countries all across the globe. Fun fact, April was also the month that the Pentagon released declassified videos of UFO’s. At the end of May, the country was introduced to a man named George Floyd, and in June the civil unrest surrounding his death poured into streets all across the United States. July saw COVID-19 mortality rates rise to over 600,000 globally, and in August those numbers had jumped up to 800,000. September saw BLM protests reach their 100th consecutive day, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg passes away from cancer, and a decision surrounding the Breonna Taylor case was made only a few weeks before the country’s first Presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. With the cold weather of October, it seemed that the efforts made to fight the coronavirus in the United States were fruitless as domestic cases began to rise, with increases in outbreaks surrounding every major holiday. Here in Idaho, we were listed as the second worst state in America for coronavirus cases in November. While neighboring states issued mask mandates, we saw protests at the homes of local officials demanding that personal autonomy not be infringed upon. Lastly, following the results of a historic presidential election, our nation has been reported to be at the most polarized we have seen in our short history as a country. Like I said, 2020 has been a dumpster fire.

Did reading that paragraph give you an anxiety attack? Writing it certainly did.

Revisiting this year was a sobering realization that I had already forgotten many of the gigantic events of the year simply because this year didn’t ever seem to let up with the disappointments. Businesses closed, we distanced ourselves from loved ones, we started wearing underwear on our face, and worst of all, I found out that I have a gluten sensitivity so anytime someone mentions brioche I want to cry.

As we enter into this holiday season, many Americans have made the decision not to travel to be close to their family because of COVID-19. To some, Thanksgiving seems like less of a holiday to give thanks, and more of another canceled plan that has fallen victim to the “Year of the Pandemic.”

I’m calling bullshit.

Perspective is a beautiful thing. It allows you to focus on the things that allow growth as opposed to staying fixated on that which stifles it. It would be very easy to complain about how I didn’t get to take my annual trip to see friends and family in Washington during PAX, or how the Coheed & Cambria show that I bought meet and greet tickets to months in advance got canceled. Like a lot of you, I have a long list of things that life vetoed away from marking off the list. But in contrast, this year gave me chance to do things I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do otherwise.

2020 is the year that I had 2 dedicated months to spend with my wife, and unlike many couples, it actually strengthened our marriage. 2020 is the year that I learned to break unhealthy habits and started focusing on the things that were more important to me. 2020 is the year that I focused on personal health goals, including the diet that I never wanted to be a part of. 2020 is the year that my moral compass was both challenged and fortified.

On a day to talk about the things we are thankful for, I’m personally grateful for a lot. I can still work, I can still pay my bills, I work with a great team of people, and I am able to make a career out of one of the most fun things I know. But beyond all of that, what I am most thankful for this year is the ability to experience humanity’s innate drive to persevere. This drive is what pushed us to come up with a plan to maintain the shop’s ability to do the thing that we all love doing, despite what the world was doing around us. It may seem like a simple act of cutting hair to some, but for us, it’s so much more. It’s the human connection we make with one another, both between the chairs and behind them. It’s the conversations and disagreements with barbers and clients. It’s the laughter and the pranks. It’s our stewardship of a community with individuals that care about each other, despite political differences and personal views.

For this Thanksgiving, I hope you can take a brief moment to recognize the positive things that 2020 has provided for you, and that you can share those experiences with the people in your life that are the closest to you.

Stay Healthy,
Stay Happy,
Be Well.

-Chris