“Many imaginary switches have been flicked in 2020. Some good, some bad – to put it lightly. The Earth has spoken through a deadly virus, vicious wildfires and storm surges, that human-induced climate change is an existential threat to our own species as well as almost every other species on this planet. Never has there been a year so packed with messages as to this point. Whether we heed the warnings or not will determine our fate, however the year 2020 is a pivoting point for the issue of climate change.

Social and racial inequality was another key point of the year 2020. We will look back at this year as a year of extremes. On one extreme, racial injustice was brought to the light in a way previously unimaginable. BLM is now common knowledge among even moderately political folks. On the flip side, alt-right groups have been given a voice, and thus highlighted the previously submerged racism that is still rampant in our society. Overall, the issue of race and equality hit a peak in the public eye in 2020. When we look back, we will either see a society that moved towards equality or away from it after this extreme spark of awareness.

Perhaps more than anything that will be remembered in the year 2020 is the psychological dimension. The year begun with a president who had destroyed the notion of ‘truth’ and already lost the trust of most of the nation. This foundation was then built upon by an unprecedented deadly virus. Without good leadership, people were left with financial stress, fear of their / their loved ones’ safety, and an unknown future. The trauma that was collectively experienced in our nation and the world in the year 2020 is likely some of the most severe in history. The economic strain on the middle and lower class, not to mention the long-term effects yet to be endured, are and will be debilitating for years to come. Young people have to attend school online during their formative years. People of all ages have lost physical touch, platonic intimacy, and social gatherings – all of which are instinctual for humans. Racial injustice ensued through it all, leaving the black community ungrounded and further disenfranchised. The president has threatened to ignore the election results, the republicans are blatantly cheating the election, and the right-wing militias are armed guarding polling stations. All this is under the umbrella of climate change, the most existential threat in our species’ history, with record-breaking events at every turn. The trauma is strong in the air, and we are breathing it in every day. The year 2020 will be remembered as the birth of modern collective trauma – an energetic wave that will flow through our national and global society indefinitely.”