Quarantine 2020

“Be strong now, because things will get better. It might be stormy now, but it can’t rain forever.”

Oof. 2020. Amirite? Let me start by saying that it’s been a long time since I’ve really written blog posts consistently. This is something I’ve always wanted to continuously do, but always found a reason not to, whether it be not enough time, not enough inspiration, fear of judgement, whatever it may be, but here I am and as I look back through some of my prior blog posts, I realize how much I’ve grown and that it is something to be proud of.

2020 has beat me up and torn me down, as I’m sure many of you can relate to. I think there’s a general feeling of what’s next, what do I have control of and how do I wake up each day and make the day count. People across the world are dealing with unimaginable hardships and dark times. It’s like there’s a dark gray cloud full of rain sitting right on the surface of the earth, and we just can’t seem to get a break (except I love the rain so maybe not the best metaphor haha). But you get my point! There seems to be this inability to find common ground, a polarizing effect happening across the country and although I don’t intend to use this platform to speak on my views, I will say this: I believe that we should be doing everything we can to stop the spread of Covid-19. Wear your masks, social distance, make good judgement calls, and do it for not only yourself, but others. I believe that Black Lives Matter. I don’t think all lives can matter until black lives do and we need to be working together to ensure that our black brothers and sisters live in a country where they feel safe, protected, and have equal opportunities. I support LGBTQ+. Love who you want to love, be who you want to be, I support you and believe that every human should have equal rights regardless of gender, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, career, economic status, or anything else for that matter. Humans are humans and deserve to be treated as such. Sex trafficking is an enormous issue that needs to be tackled and paid attention to. The horrific stories I’ve read this week have continually broken my heart and we must speak up and do something about it. And finally, I believe that God is good, and He is always faithful.

With all of that said, please make sure you are taking care of your mental health. It seems that every morning, I wake up, roll over, look at my phone, scroll the socials for a little bit and wish I could roll right back over and wake up without the nightmare that is 2020. Nobody is built for isolation, no one is built to fight these issues on their own, no one is made to figure out how to grieve family members that have passed, protest immense issues, postpone weddings, cancel graduations, give birth by themselves, deal with being laid off from jobs, or anything else, without their support system close by. But here we are, all of these things and more making up the day in and day out of 2020. We are facing a reality that seems unimaginable and to be frank.. quite shitty.

So what do we do…? Well, I’m not entirely sure. I’ve had my own fair share of breakdowns and cry-fests. To be honest, I go through weeks of intense motivation and inspiration, then weeks where it’s hard to even get out of bed. But we are doing it and getting through each day and that’s a win in itself right?

We can do this. We WILL do this. Someday we will once again join in song and dance and laughter and love at restaurants, churches, amusement parks, museums, airports, concerts, shows, heck even parking lots. Someday we will appreciate traffic, and wait times at restaurants, lines at Disneyland, a simple hello from a stranger at a grocery store and so much more, that we used to fully take for granted. We will get through this with the hope and knowledge of what’s to come and how much more beauty there is to see in the world. We will get through this knowing we have so much to do, to change the world, to make this a better place for our children and those that will learn about the year 2020 in their history books. I think if we play our cards right, we can use 2020 to propel us into a future where we never take things for granted again, fight for what’s right, go after our dreams, never settle for less, and have so much more love, empathy, compassion, and grace towards others than we ever thought possible.

I’m focusing on the good. And I’m realizing that life is short and we have nothing to lose. I challenge you to think about how 2020 is changing you for the better. I know it’s hard to see sometimes, but if we look for the good, the good gets better.

Sending so much love to everyone. We WILL get through this.

xoxo,

Maya Keiko

“We can do hard things.” – Elaine S. Dalton