One (or, millions) could argue that 2024 started on October 7th 2023 and that that specific year has never ended since.
I’m not a sentimentalist for dates, years, counting time. Maybe that’s how I get away with being 40 something and feeling like the world just started (again).
A world did just begin, in earnest. Because another world died that day. It’s a dramatic thing to say but we’re all feeling a bit weighty lately aren’t we. I grew up light years away from the kind of year we’ve had. The kind of months that have passed since. The revelations we’ve endured, the emotional beatings they’ve wrought.
Some things I’ve learned:
- So many classically western people outside this pain-laden paradigm are incapable and/or unwilling to peer deep inside it. Surface level is safe. Discomfort must be avoided. Maybe it’s uniquely American? Mustn’t be uncomfortable. Mustn’t be required to admit misunderstanding or paradigm shift.
- We need to inoculate against getting comfortable. We’ll never be comfortable; living is constant movement. Sitting around will only make the inevitable shocks worse.
- Antisemitism is not what I thought it was.
- Exhaustion is not what I thought it was.
- Grief is not what I thought it was.
- I am really, really concerned about the young people/education/critical thinking skills/journalism.
2024 was the year I reckoned with the heavy, pregnant cloud of ‘what if’ and ‘so that’s what grief looks like up close’.
Wow, 2024 was the year I finally understood what antisemitism isn’t. And very much is.
2024 was a year of feeling powerless even in the most powerful of moments, or headlines.
This year was a pile-on.
This year isn’t over.
Whadya got: