2020 started off promising.

New year, new opportunities.

It was a time for celebrating a new decade. Where flying cars aren’t actually a thing.

I watched the countdown from my mother’s living room.

Enjoyed some soup joumou to honor Haiti’s Independence Day. 

Booked my trip to Puerto Rico to attend the Afro Nation Festival. And planned to ring in chapter 30 with a table full of loved ones at a rooftop bar in the city.

Life was good.

February came along and my body felt a little, off. Was it the flu? Stress? Dehydration? Whatever “it” was, kept me in bed longer than the seasonal cold. I took a couple ginger shots, Netflix and chilled, and I was back on my feet within 12 days like nothing happened.

And then it began…

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today confirmed the first case of 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in the United States in the state of Washington. The patient recently returned from Wuhan, China, where an outbreak of pneumonia caused by this novel coronavirus has been ongoing since December 2019. While originally thought to be spreading from animal-to-person, there are growing indications that limited person-to-person spread is happening. It’s unclear how easily this virus is spreading between people.” – Press release from the CDC.

Panic mode started to set in.

The world went into lockdown.

People started getting sick.

Hospitals were running out of ICU beds.

Medical face masks, hand sanitizer, and toilet paper all sold out within days.

4 weeks became 4 months. With no true end in sight.

The next season of our favorite show got delayed.

Concerts turned into Instagram live.

Work meetings became a family affair.

We started wearing more and goin’ out less.

By July 2020, the world watched as the United States experienced three main challenges — the COVID-19 pandemic, nationwide racial injustice, and a messy presidential campaign. Crises within a crisis. The social contract Americans once held in high regard was broken.

I started having an on-again-off-again relationship with quarantine.

I hated staying in, but was grateful for saving money.

I couldn’t travel, but at least I was safe.

Our mental health was tested. 

Our patience was tested. 

It was hard to find motivation in a time of heartache. 

I thought all of my plans were going to crumble and almost gave up on it all.

However, quarantine humbled me these last few months.

I valued time more.

Loved harder.

Worked smarter.

Kept an open mind to the idea that everything will fall into place at the right time.

After all, I was still able to move into a new apartment just shy of my 30th birthday. I started a new job remotely. I finally launched my new website. And most importantly, I’m healthy.

2020 didn’t change what we remember as “normal”. It redefined it. 

Those new opportunities you wanted are still here. The road is just paved differently. Don’t stop now because it isn’t what or how you wanted it. Accept it for the reason that it’s something you didn’t know you needed.

A hard circumstance can turn into a blessing in disguise. You just have to get up and walk through that door.