Lost. Lost In Translation. The Lost Boys.
Lost Highway. Land Of The Lost. Lost Horizon.
The Lost World. Lost In Space. All Is Lost.

Every one of those versions of Lost was more enjoyable than the Lost Year of Coronavirus. Even the TV show Lost, which was maddeningly bad by the end, was better than 2020.

So now that we’ve lost an entire year, let’s look back and forward.

What have we Lost?

We’ve lost a lot of friends and family. Over half a million in the US, two and a half million globally.
We’ve lost the ability to gather together.
To share a meal. To get a drink. To experience a musical. To see a band. To dance the funky chicken.
To kiss, to hug, to shake hands, to high five.
We can’t see faces anymore. You pass someone on the street, they could be an old friend or your ex-girlfriend, you can’t discern. Approach at your own risk.
We’ve lost sense of time. Is it Tuesday or Sunday? Morning or afternoon? January or June?
To travel. Can’t go out of the country. Can’t even leave your state. For a while you couldn’t even leave your home.
Visit Grandma? Mom and Dad? What are you, nuts? Do you want to kill them? Stay put. Sit. Roll over. Good human.
We’ve lost school. Developing our key clique. Laughing in the lunchroom. Pushing a bully. Raising an actual hand. Throwing stuff on a school bus.
We’ve lost weddings and funerals and birthday parties and graduations.
We’ve lost our sanity. Multiple times. Sometimes multiple times a day.
We’ve lost our familiar routine. Our commute. Face to face meetings.
We lost our sense of normal.

Amid so much Loss, what have we Found?

We’ve found out that being in prison is no fun. At least we’ve got Netflix and a bathtub.
We’ve discovered the thrill of lunch, as a lodestar for breaking up the day.
We learned how to use Zoom. And to teach Grandparents how to Zoom.
We learned that if you stare at four walls long enough they do talk back. And with a French accent.
We found ourselves cooking more, to at least comfort our bellies.
We found that sweatpants don’t judge you, mainly because no one else can see that you’re wearing them.
We found that having a dog to walk and feed and get your ass up and outside might just save your life.
We found that, shit, we took a lot of things for granted. I mean, A Lot.
We found that people still like to help other people.
We found time to read books again.
We found ourselves addicted to ice cream. Any flavor. Especially Ben & Jerry’s Boom Chocolatta Cookie Core.
We learned that alcohol is your quarantine friend until it isn’t.
We found time to think. To reassess. To change.
We found that we can work from anywhere.
We found that we still like to work with people face to face most of the time.
We found ourselves baking. So much bread that we’re basically skin covering yeast.
We found that screens are amazing tools until it’s 3AM and the magical blue glow has you wide awake.
We were reminded why all the homeschooled kids were weirdos.
We learned that the Roman poet Sextus was right: “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” I long for people whose company I don’t even like.
We found that we are mentally stronger than we realized.
We found that if you’re healthy, stop complaining because you’re alive.
We found that we will get through this.
We found that 2021 will not be lost.

Mark Noonan, Founder – Farewell Project
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