Well, I intended to blog regularly in 2020. Maybe I would not be successful at blogging every day but I was hoping to blog weekly at least. So I did blog. On January 5, 2020. And then, well, life happened and I never blogged again all year long. What happened was 2020. Travel, socializing and life as we all knew it came to a standstill. A sweeping global pandemic entered the picture and not only took so many people from us, but took away our sense of comfort, freedom to move about and live our lives as we wish, and normalcy of schedule, habits and traditions. The year took me away from my co-workers and office and relocated me and my work to my couch, my dining room table and my home office to carry out my clerical responsibilities. And I’m one of the lucky ones fortunate enough to get to continue doing my job, unlike so many out of work. For me personally, 2020 also meant the loss of someone really important to me, my dad, and its huge, life-changing impact on the lives of his wife and daughter ever since.
I planned to blog yesterday in honor of the 1-year anniversary since my last blog. Then I decided to write a few paragraphs today. And now I sit with the TV on nearby showing Trump supporters storming the U.S. Capitol building and driving the members of both houses of Congress into the tunnels and cloakrooms nestled inside the building as they attempt to protect themselves from potential danger and violence.
As of this writing, Maryland has sent state police in to finally assist an emaciated and overwhelmed Capitol police force. I find myself experiencing so many emotions – anger, distress, sadness, and awe at the audacity of protesters kicking in windows of the U.S. Capitol and storming through the hallways and into members’ offices.
I will continue to watch the news as you probably are right now, but I wonder what will happen as evening approaches. Will they remain and hold the building hostage or will law and order be restored? What message is this sending out to other groups for taking action into their own hands? And how is this demonstration of complete anarchy being perceived by the rest of the world, the people we align with in business, in scientific research and in global matters like the environment, world economy and human rights-related developments impacting all of us?
Has the U.S. just turned a page to a new, much darker chapter? I wonder and I fear this greatly. ~ C. Kuhn
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