Can This Year Get Any Worse?
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Trick or treat? This spooky season really did deliver. You’ve all heard the news by now, the Prime Minister announced on Saturday, on Halloween of all days, that the U.K. is going into a national month long lockdown this coming Thursday 5th November. All I could think was damn, Halloween wasn’t messing around this year. So many mixed emotions, for so many different reasons. What else is the rollercoaster ride that is 2020 going to throw at us?
I had an entirely different newsletter planned for this week, but life happened and suddenly there are other topics I feel more compelled to write about. As the impending lockdown is all that's on my mind at the moment, and all anyone is talking about, it seemed only right to vocalise my thoughts here. Yes we knew it was coming, but that doesn’t make the fact that it's now here an easier pill to swallow.
Many of our lives have changed dramatically in 2020. We’ve suffered loss on an unimaginable scale; whether that be our friends or loved ones who have passed, we’ve lost jobs and have had to take sudden career pivots, some of us have lost our homes, our incomes, and all forms of stability we once held near and dear. Dreams have been put on hold, paths have been derailed, and suddenly it’s a fight for survival. Whoever comes out of this still standing is lucky to come out of this at all.
Now I don’t mean for this to sound all doom and gloom, I’m just trying to be realistic. I’ve struggled with looking on the bright side of life this year, especially when it seems as if there's no end in sight. It’s crazy to say, but throughout all of this I’ve seen small glimmers of hope, and it's this that keeps me going. A sense of community has been reinvigorated; were supporting each other more, checking in on one another, unlikely friendships are being formed, independent businesses are being championed, local heroes are being given their time in the spotlight, people are finding creative ways to occupy their time and the help each other out - and for me these changes are what it's all about, this is the silver lining we can take away from all of this mayhem and chaos.
One way or another we're going to get through this. We may come out of this battered and bruised, we may come out of this feeling slightly deflated and in a state of despair, but we will come out of this. Stay strong, stay hopeful, keep pushing. And if you want a good old chinwag, a shoulder to cry on, or just someone to complain and rant and rave too, my virtual door is always open.
Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram and Twitter to see more of what I’m up to, and I’ll see you same time same place next week!
Catch you soon,
J’Nae
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING:
- With the upcoming US election, this New Yorker article shone a light on one of President Barack Obama's most challenged legacys in the White House, trying to reform American health care. If you think the results of the US election won't affect you because you don't live in the United States, you could not be more wrong. Pay attention.
WHAT I’VE BEEN WATCHING:
- Deaf U is a new Netflix series that I’ve binged-watched, it follows a group of students at Gallaudet University, a private university in Washington DC exclusively for the deaf and hard of hearing. The goal with this show was to break the mould and stereotypes surrounding deaf people, and we follow several Gallaudet students as they try to navigate the complexities of teenage life.
WHAT I’VE BEEN LISTENING TO:
- I love the idea behind Oenone Forbats podcast Adulting, it attempts to figure out all of the things and scenarios in adult life we were never taught in school, but things we wished we learned about.
WHAT’S CAUGHT MY EYE:
- I’m always here for a motivational quote I’m not going to lie, and the aesthetic of subliming.jpg on Instagram is a look we can all get behind.
ON MY BLOG:
- Side note on my blog, you can always visit and have a look through my content at jnaephillips.com, but I’m currently undergoing a bit of a makeover so lots of new goodness is coming soon!