Time to Say Good Bye 2020

“It's the time you spent on your rose that makes your rose so important.”–Antoine de Saint-Exupery

 

I have a new hobby lately: gardening.

Like many people who have started to take care of plants due to the long time staying at home, I have also started to deliberately try to grow some plants in pots. Just to spend time with some useful things, no intention to care of a large garden with lots of plants seriously.

I planted some small, easy to grow plants. Initially I chose mint and basil because they both produce fragrant leaves and can be used in food or drinks.

Every day I give time to take care of this plant: watering, weeding, picking, cleaning, noticing if there are pests or insect eggs on its leaves or just watching and taking pictures. I also read many references and learned from other people's experiences on how to grow these plants.

Both of them returned my attention well. They thrive, are lush, give new shoots that develop rapidly every day, pleasing to the heart.

This activity made me understand well the meaning of quote taken from the book “Little Prince” above. The time I spent on the plants has made them important to me, and I derive joy from what they give back in return for that outpouring of time and attention.

The year 2020 gives us plenty of time to grow new shoots like that: be it ideas, hobbies, projects, or new skills. The abundance of time during this year's limitation of movement provides opportunities and options for cultivating attention. At the same time, having lot of choices require us to focus and put boundaries so that we are not overwhelmed.

This year's situation also taught me about being patient, not panicking and remaining optimistic. When the prices of the leading stocks slid down in late March like being hit by a storm, the best thing to do is to hold on, lend a hand if you can and wait, not to fear and let off everything at the moment.

Many changes have accelerated this year. Decisions that may take years to make under normal circumstances are forced by circumstances to be taken immediately. Working from home, meeting and shopping online, carrying out daily activities with health protocols will probably continue to be the norm for the foreseeable future. These new habits are gradually ingrained to change the way we live forever.

Not being able to travel home during Eid, family gatherings took place through Zoom allowing distant and close relatives who rarely meet to greet each other. Maybe some of our memorable photos of this year will be screenshots.

We lost a lot of names that passed away so suddenly. Something like that is not unprecedented. Only now on a much bigger and faster scale. What a sad year.

This year has shown how resilient humans are to adapt to stressful circumstances. We don't give up easily, but we're not obsessive. We have power that comes from hope.

Hope is the last one to die, it is said. Like a candle that continues to emit light until the end of the wick is flooded with the last drops of oil. The flicker is weak, but it can burn the wood it stands on.

Releasing this time marker, if we are chosen to survive, there is nothing better to do than to show our gratitude, carefully selecting the focus and what seeds to plant. Hopefully the time and attention we give will make it grow into a strong tree and giving sweet fruit.

 

Happy new year, friends.