Some periods of time require new beginnings and sometimes, we ourselves need a fresh start. Maybe both is relevant at the moment. One year of corona chaos is enough, this matter slowly needs to come to a conclusion. And it is apparent that we cannot continue the way we were, that everyone has to change something so that humanity can survive on this planet. We have been playing the roles of producers and consumers for long enough. We have enough, enough weapons to blow ourselves up 100 times over, enough clothes for the overpopulated world, we have drugs coming out of our ears and polluting our rivers, enough cars being stockpiled and all of this rubbish needs to be removed before we can begin to produce again. We have exceeded our limits, we have taken way more from our planet than we have given back. Now we need to find balance, we need to give back, to poorer people, to the damaged environment, we need to plant trees, protect animals, love each other, repair damage caused by war, repair and balance damage to nature, pay back debts…
My grandmother sometimes told me about the post war period, how they slowly emerged from chaos and started to feel solid ground under their feet again. This is our task now as well, even if we didn’t go through war, the warning shots were loud and clear. We people can act differently, we are not bad people. I think about images of the floods, people came together, everyone organised help, came up with ideas how to organise help. We need this spirit of new beginnings for the year 2021. People have come through many difficult times and learnt from them. We can overcome crises. If we also learn how to prevent crises in future, we won’t need all this suffering any more.
All that said, let’s dare to believe in new beginnings, let’s roll up our sleeves and get stuck in with 2021
Photo: Gianina Vlaicu