I Know, I’m Late… But Here is What 2020 was for Me

What a bizarre, odd, strange, unusual and weird year we recently lived, it was like a slap which reminded us that our tomorrow is not as predictable as we may think.
But regarding how unbelievable the last year was, although, I experienced some unique things that I’m sure they would never been happened if 2020 wasn’t there…

I returned to blogging… Finally! After four years of absence, I decided to return back to do the thing I enjoy the most. Maybe if 2020 didn’t happen, I might delay that to another year or -worse-, maybe quitting blogging forever.
I learned to be easy with myself… Watching a movie instead of reading a book, or playing a game instead of taking an online course, is just fine. As someone told me..« It’s a pandemic and not a productivity contest, so relax. »
I experienced my limits… I finished 2 books, 2 online courses, written 3 posts, watched 5 documentaries, listened to dozens of podcasts and took further levels of a new language, all of this in just one week. However, I felt like I could do better, so, I have no excuses in the future.
I met new people… It’s a kinda of unusual phrase to hear when we talk about 2020, but I met a plenty of great people from many different countries while I was playing online games.
I saved a lot of money… No restaurants, no coffees, no travel, no friend meetings, add to that no need to buy new clothes cause I was wearing pajamas all the time… Guys, I’m rich.
I discovered K-drama and Anime… What an amazing world! It’s like falling in a black hole, and now, I can’t get out from it.
I adopted a dog… I learned that raising a pet is hard, and giving it to someone who may take care of it better than me, is even harder.
I grew up my hair… For the first time, I was concerned about the ingredients of my shampoo.
I did my first TikTok challenge (and the last) … It was a MESS, but I’ll keep it for my children to show them what kind of crap their father was doing during a historical pandemic.
I spent more time with my family… After living five years alone, I lost that « strong family connection »; to be honest, I felt uncomfortable every time I went back to my family’s house… But the last year, I chose to spend the lockdown with my family and it was the best decision to make.

2020 was hard and easy, light and heavy, sad and happy at the same time, it was the year of uncommon experiences and a very special chapter of my life. I’m glad I lived a such intense thing and I survived. Now, I hope the upcoming would be brighter.

What if the Lockdown Creates the Next Big Five?

More than 4.5 billion people were confined in the last months, making it the biggest lockdown the humankind never known in his history; and we should be proud of being part of it, because now, we have some great – and sad – stories to tell to our children and grandchildren as our parents and grandparents did.

Staying at home all day allowed us to discover a lot of things…
There are some couples who discovered that their characters doesn’t match after 30 years of marriage.
There are some parents who discovered that their baby-sitter isn’t payed way enough.
And there are some people who discovered that 24 hours is a little bit too long for a day, and they experienced the boredom at its finest after dropping out their daily life routine…

• Boredom is proven scientifically that it can enable creativity and problem-solving by allowing the mind to wonder and daydream.
• Free Time allows us to learn new things and shape new skills. And that’s what some people chose to do during the lockdown.
And the mix of skills and creativity is the perfect formula to create something new, revolutionary and big.

Honestly, I will not be surprised if I hear in the next years Google and Facebook are purchasing new startups every 15 days. And it’s neither impossible to see one of the startups becomes a giant and -maybe- replaces one of the actual GAFAM.

After every major catastrophic event, humanity prospers larger than it was before, and new giant companies see the light, Inka Mero said, “Many of today’s unicorns have been founded or built during recessions or downturns – resource scarcity can be a source of creativity and pivoting” –
But what differs today’s pandemic from the previous major events, and makes it even more promising, is the fact that today we have a limitless access to an endless knowledge, at any time and any place in the world. Add to that, the lockdown that gave us a plenty of time to learn and a dose of boredom to think.

Being a normal person is okay

Today is marking one month since the corona lockdown has started, so I judged that it is time to write about my quarantine experience after every blogger I know has done it.

Since the first days when everyone was experiencing introvert’s life, everybody – especially celebrities – started challenges: « Guys, Let’s make a challenge together, let’s read 100 books, let’s write 100 posts, let’s workout every day, let’s meditate, let’s learn a new language, let’s start new projects… ».
I was like: Yeah, this is the perfect time to do all of this, nature gave me this chance so I won’t miss that opportunity.

Then, I scheduled my next day: Wake up early, workout, read, write, learn Spanish, start my project.

The Next day: I woke up early, and… I skipped the rest of the schedule.
Same thing the day after, same thing the week after. All what I was doing is: Netflix, online games, and feeling the guilty…

Feeling guilty for wasting my time, feeling guilty for losing my muscle’s mass, feeling guilty for not writing a single post on my blog and feeling guilty when Duolingo send a notification to remind me that it’s time to go back study Spanish. In fact, I wasn’t even enjoying movies, TV shows and online games, and that’s because of guilty.

Until 3 days ago, when I decided to stop thinking about this “Let’s make a challenge together” thing. I decided that it is okay to chill, it is okay to stay on bed all time with the same hoodie all day.

And tomorrow, the magic happened!
Okay, I woke up in the afternoon, but… I started reading « Eat, Pray, Love » by Elizabeth Gilbert, which is a great book even for men. I wrote this post, so I’m feeling like any other blogger now. And at night, I watched ‘The Platform’ and I really enjoyed it.
That day had the perfect equilibrium, two productive things versus two non-productive things, and I was in peace for the first time since day one of the lockdown.

When I decided to put down that “being productive” weight off my shoulders, I became a productive person. Maybe tomorrow I will start home workout or I return to “aprender español” , but I’m telling myself:

You’re not forced to do it; being a normal person is okay.