Over recent days, I've been tempted to write about the situration in America and about Brexit, now that it has finally happened. I've wanted to comment but know that I've said it all before, Trump is deranged and Brexit is a bad deal but I've been silent leading up to the new year as I know people don't want to hear a realistic voice that can too easily be dismised as being pessimistic.
2021 arrived but the problems of 2020 didn't end at Midnight like Cinderella's curfew but rather worsened as she ignored the deadline she was given.
I was reluctant to post anything that reminded people of the reality that Trump is not inclined to leave the White House and that Boris Johnson waited until the 11th hour to sign a deal with Europe.
Everyone seemed so excited about 2020 ending but Covid-19 doesn't have an expiry date. We need to radically change our mindset back to addressing problems before they excalate and not just waiting around for the year to end. It simply doesn't work.
There is hard work to be done and storming capitals and the Capitol is not the solution unless people honestly think that revolution is the answer. Strange how Trump waited until the final two weeks of his presidency to show such leadership towards real change.
The clock struck twelve but there was no real celebration and we have 12 months to change that feeling in 2021.
I was home in Ireland for Christmas and wanted to call to my neighbours and wish them a Happy New Year but knew that the sight of a stranger, wearing a mask, walking up their driveway unannounced could alarm them.
The neighbours who minded me as a baby and that I drank with last Summer, felt too far away, for me to call over and give them a bottle of Spanish wine for their celebrations.
Should I have rang ahead and told them that I had a negative PCR test?
Brexit has the ability to isolate England from their nearest neighbours and I am not just talking about France, Holland and Ireland but of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
We have never been able to communicate better with various forms of Social Media but how many people feel comfortable approaching their Trump supporting neighbours in America, especially those wearing Civil War t-shirts?
In America, the headlines looked at the story of a woman killed by Capitol Police yet ignored that 4,100 Americans died that same day as a result of Covid-19.
This year could have been a lot different if we hadn't ignored Coronavirus on New Year's Eve 2019.
The success of 2021 will depend on what we do in 2021 and what we don't ignore or else we will have a Groundhog year, every year.
We have to build bridges and visit neighbours if we want a Happy New Year and I know I am guilty of avoiding my neighbours this Christmas when a mask, social distance and phoning ahead could have as easily resolved any concerns that my neighbours might have had.
Make the effort in 2021 and keep an eye out for your neighbours whenever you can.
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