Features and blogging

Writing a blog to mark Christmas is usually one of my annual treats, but this year presented several problems, the main one being: who wants to mark a year like 2020?
I thought I could get around it by doing something different like writing a letter to Covid – but that seemed twee and ridiculous. Then I thought about scripting a poem but I’ve done that before, and this year it also seemed pointless. No need to make a business thank you because I’ve already done that on LinkedIn, and on Insta I’ve just completed my 24-day Advent Tips sprint. So what’s left to say?
A half-empty stocking is what I’m tempted to recount, if I’m honest. The biggest gap in this year’s stocking is Dad, who now stays in the west country while we ‘visit’ him via Zoom. All this while the other dad gets over a mild bout of Covid at our local and hardworking hospital (not actually mild and he didn’t get over it: the worst family C-19 casualty as it turned out).
If I were to continue with a minor-key ‘12 Days of Christmas 2020’ we could focus on the friends who’ve lost their jobs, and those who struggled to keep their sanity. And that’s before we’ve got on to the litany of human losses this year presented us with, and not just from Covid. One in particular has been such a sharp, young wrench that none of us is anywhere near close to comprehending it. So I can’t say this year has left me with many hearty things to chat about.
I’ve got through it all relatively unscathed so I can be grown-up and use that polite term – disappointed. If I really wanted to go the distance with 2020 and show it how nice people behave, I might be able to draw up a list of thank you notes for the salvaged trinkets that have made my stocking half-full:
• Most of my family remaining healthy and happy (we’ll take whatever wins we can).
• A business that has stayed upright through the whole mad rollercoaster dash (thanks, lovely clients).
• A Zoom account that’s made the world small (dear friends, I’ve loved all our chats).
• A couple of cats who have finally started playing together (violently, but we’ll take that).
So with 2020 firmly on the naughty list, I’m ignoring the bad behaviour and raising a bucket of mulled to everyone near, far, loved and lost. Merry Christmas x