So has 2020 really been that bad? Well, I can tell you it's to the point that having an upbeat attitude or even thinking that the pandemic is not so bad is seen as traitorous by many. It’s hard to be balanced on the issue. Instead of the caricature of an angel and devil on my shoulders arguing each of their cases, it is a different scene for me. I am tasked with the celestial role, met instead by an imp on each shoulder: shame for attempting positivity when the year has been so bad for others and guilt that the truly bad things happening to me haven't yet crushed me. Maybe it's not COVID that has made me feel socially isolated--perhaps it is that positivity is no longer culturally en vogue.

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