In 2020 reality hit us hard. First, the pandemic overturned our daily routines, jeopardized our health and economic security, and took away lives and livelihoods. It filled our days with uncertainty and discomfort, often leaving us feeling helpless and afraid. Then, the killing of George Floyd shocked our nation and prompted widespread social unrest, a desperate cry for justice. Finally, the election plunged the country into such divisive acrimony, fueled in part by the media, that we are seriously worried about the future of our democracy.
Reality is still hitting. It has elicited the best in us: an urgency to respond, admiration for the caregivers, solidarity with those in need and for the victims of injustice. But after so many months, tiredness and a sense of rebellion are sinking in. Ultimately, the events of the past months have exposed our radical neediness and debunked our illusion of control. A deeper, truer core of our humanity is emerging: expectancy. Expectancy of a vaccine, of the end of racism, of political change or … of something else, more radical. It is this expectancy that pushes us towards the future, igniting the desire to continue to walk.
We want to move forward. But we do not want our experience of these events to be muddled by ideological interpretations. We do not want to waste the sorrow we have suffered and the lessons we have learned, as if they had been in vain.
What happened in 2020 indeed changed and is still changing us. What is the nature of this change? What are we looking for? Will life ever be the same? Can this change be a milestone in the journey of life?
Join us online via New York Encounter website February 12-14, for a weekend of lively discussions, exhibits and performances to delve into these questions and sustain our desire to live fully here and now.
