Blessing in Disguise
At least, glad it finally passed, and grateful that we were survived
I had a conversation with my cousin four days before New Year’s Eve. I told her that 2020 is like in the blink of an eye. Then she simply replied. “Well, at least, glad that we will survive this year. Let’s just be grateful for that.”
It is undeniable that 2020 comes with a lot of adversity, both from the economic, environment, and health. On the environment side, we might be heard about the toll of massive weather changes in some countries which cause a forest fire, floods, hurricane, and drought. In addition, on the economic and health problem, which were the two mainly correlated issues that suffocate us at the beginning of the new decade caused by the COVID-19.
Yes, the pandemic still occurs and sadly it mutated into more contagious, and it might be ended in the unforeseeable future since some people still believe that COVID-19 is a conspiracy and other foolish mindset and misunderstanding about how social distancing works. I assume that they will not believe it until they experience it. I did, of course not as the victim of the disease, but some of my co-workers and my parents did. Indeed, it punches me right in the face when I found out that they got COVID-19, and it still leaves me puzzled how did my parents get that ‘assassin’ assailed their lungs.
Do I think that 2020 is a miserable year? I would say, not really. For me, personally, it is more likely a blessing in disguise. There are a lot of changes in my work life since March 2020, exactly when the first case reported in Indonesia. We forced working from home (WFH) and did most of the interviews for the main topic of the magazine I work for via telephone or video conference.
In spite of that, the fantastic thing is the plan which two of my co-workers and I desire to develop my office’s social media, especially Instagram, that been postponed for at least a year, finally got an approval from my superior. After around 6 months of hard work, we got a contract with a company to promote them on our Instagram account. If I am not mistaken, that contract worth about 2049 USD and our followers skyrocketed more than 100% than in 2019!
Another thing that I feel grateful is WFH itself because I have more time to exercise and study. On October 2020 and December 2020, I took and finished two courses about sustainability as well as a virtual bike charity program for Indonesian Heart Foundation. The main reason why I did the virtual bike program because I want to live more healthy and environmentally friendly by cutting my carbon emission. Oh! Also, the good thing that we can ‘appreciate’ from this pandemic is world carbon dioxide emission drop by 7%! Which is the biggest drop ever recorded.
I am completely aware that some people might not experience and enjoy the same thing as I did. Some of them maybe still suffered because of losing their job and so do the animals at some zoos who experience difficulty in food stock. Nonetheless, on this year, 2021, I do really hope that this world will heal immediately and bring peace of mind to every human on earth and comfort for the animal and environment itself.
