The Fainting Goat in Us

[I started this post in August, the title and the first two paragraphs belonged to the summer me… Now I want to ask my summer self, “remind me, what are we trying to say with this title?…]

I feel incredibly guilty for not writing (what’s new?! Even more so now as it’s end of November). One would think that the world we are living in is providing us over-thinkers with lots of materials to put our minds to work, the reality is, for me at least, it has been too overwhelming and paralyzing for my mind.

We experienced lockdown life for three months in New York City - Winter ended; Spring has sprung and very much gone; Summer heat has gone and did a cameo in early November.

This year has finally come to an end yet it is undeniable that 2020 will have a lasting impact on the way we live, how we interact with each other “social distance, six feet apart”, how we work (the role of conference room booker can be officially eliminated - will it? Time will tell), how we travel… do I need to continue?

I guess what I wanted to say back in the summer is that in times of uncertainties, people find comfort in actions, but 9 months later, we’ve all been responding to the pandemic a little bit like the fainting goat, with the exception of a few scientists who are racing to develop a Covid vaccine, there remains nothing concrete to be done for the rest of us (yes - mask wearing, social distancing, hand sanitizing, it isn’t nothing-nothing).

Being one of the fainting goats myself (which is also my excuse for not writing) in the midst of this overwhelming change that was thrust upon us, I hesitate to put pen to paper on anything. Truth be told, spending 12 hours a day staring at a computer screen has not been the most inspirational as well.

Though we have not been able to overcome this greatest challenge for our generation and the world since World War II, I remain hopeful that the world has a way of correcting itself, perhaps it’s been too long since the last time things were being truly “corrected”.

I can’t wait to welcome 2021 and to get out of the fainting goat paralysis, unfazed.