5 Questions for 2020 by Jana Richards

You don't need Mr. Grinch to tell you that 2020 Stink, Stank, Stunk. Now that it's in the rearview mirror, perhaps I can look at it a little more objectively.

Rather than make resolutions for the upcoming year, my friend Janet has for several years now looked back and taken stock of the year that just ended. She has five questions she asks and I've decided to steal her idea.

Best Lesson of 2020: 

This is a good one. I think my biggest takeaway from 2020 is not to take anything for granted. Things can change on a dime, and we will have to change with it. We discovered this year that we are far more adaptable then we ever thought. My other lesson learned: keep a good supply of toilet paper in the house.

Best Memory of 2020:

No question, it was the day of my daughter's wedding. Not the lead up to the wedding; that was very stressful and there were times when I didn't know whether the wedding would come off at all because of tightening restrictions, and you know, Covid. But the wedding itself was wonderful. Definitely my best memory of 2020.

Best Buy of 2020:

I'm not sure I got any great bargains in 2020, but one thing I did get very good at was buying online. I had never bought groceries online before, but now I do it quite routinely. Like everyone else, I bought almost all of my Christmas gifts online. I had a few failures, but most of the time, it worked out okay. 

Best Read of 2020:

I'll be honest. 2020 was not a big reading year for me. When my gym closed in March, I stopped listening to audiobooks and I haven't picked up the habit again. I've read some fiction on my Kindle and in print, but a lot of what I've read this year has been non-fiction for research, the craft of writing, or the business of writing. I'm currently working on work-in-progress where characters have faced sexual assault in their pasts. I wanted to read a survivor's story so I picked up "Know My Name" by Chanel Miller. Chanel was the young woman who was found being sexually assaulted behind a dumpster while passed out on the campus of Stanford University. Until she wrote this book her identity had been concealed, but she decided she wanted to tell her story and claim back her name. She tells how the assault affected her, her family and friends, her boyfriend. She's a stunning writer.

My Hope for 2021:

My hope is that everything goes well with the vaccinations and that everyone who wants to get vaccinated (I'm hoping that's nearly everyone) can get vaccinated quickly. I hope we can soon hug each other again without fear. And I hope that we, and especially the people in power, learn that we must protect our elderly and appreciate workers who aren't able to work from home: the doctors and nurses for sure, but also the people in grocery stores, and people who drive buses and deliver our parcels. Where would we be without them?

I still have goals I want to achieve in 2021. I want to write at least two books this year and get a handle on some of the business aspects of writing. I don't know if I'll be able to get back to the gym for a while, but I want to continue to make walking part of my daily routine, even on the coldest days of winter. 

Can you answer my five questions? Or have you decided to concentrate on the future rather looking back?