I dunno about you, but still to this day, seeing the word “pandemic” as a thing that actually happened in our lifetime feels surreal to me.

Like, it still seems like an apocalypse thing that happens in movies... and yet, it happened IRL. It was such a massive disruption on micro and macro scales, that forever jarred people’s lives in a way very few things can — including, for many people, losing their lives.

Who knows what this year holds? Perhaps the meme-ish trope of wishing for “precedented times” will come to pass. Or maybe we’re in for another wild ride — either way, I’d like to think the shared experience of living through a global catastrophe has made us all at least a little more resilient, adaptive, and kind.