Silver Linings: Gratitude in the Year of CoVid

“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.

“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
― Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring

2020 has been a difficult year for everyone. Leave it to something like a deadly pandemic to bring the entire world together against a common foe. We at RunPee totally expected an alien invasion, incoming asteroid, or genocidal incursion by intelligent machines to do that. But then, we’ve seen too many movies.

We hope it doesn’t seem inappropriate to make light or be grateful for Plague Armageddon, but even in the darkest hours, we can still light a candle. And like Samwise Gamgee, Hobbit hero, be grateful amid the fumes of Mordor:

There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.

– JRR Tolkien, The Return of the King

Here are some things to be grateful for in this midst of this terrible year. Please help us add to this list in the comments section, and help others find hope too.

The CoVid ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ (AKA, what we’re grateful for in 2020)

The world will break your heart ten ways to Sunday. That’s guaranteed. I can’t begin to explain that. Or the craziness inside myself and everyone else. But guess what? Sunday’s my favorite day again. I think of what everyone did for me, and I feel like a really lucky guy.

-Pat, Silver Linings Playbook

• People spent quality time with the people in their households. It might have been a long, hard, slog, but those of us with a household of more than one can be grateful for lots of (if forced) togetherness.
• We’ve learned to cherish our family and friends, realizing they can be taken away at any time.
• The Internet kept us connected and sane. Online features like Zoom let us be close to loved ones, while safely distanced. People posted funny quarantine memes. There are hopeful videos of entire cities, serenading the world from their balconies. We can stream endless movies, to stave off loneliness, despair, and boredom. (See, movies are important!)
• We’ve cleaned, organized, decluttered, redecorated, fixed stuff, and gotten to all those little nagging tasks we’ve been putting off for years. Pat yourself on the back, peeps!
• We had to be super creative to keep ourselves amused, day after day, in small spaces. Awesomely humorous videos emerged, showing people in their homes doing wacky things — because bored minds do strange things.
• The environment started to heal. The planet appreciated humanity being stuck at home. We have cleaner air and water. Endangered species started to recover. It only took two weeks into the quarantine to see Earth’s other creatures emerge into the light.
• We’ve had a major life time-out. We don’t know when normalcy will return, but we’ve had time to learn new things, stretch our brains, or at least catch up on those Netflix shows we’ve always wanted to binge.
• We’ve been forced to learn new ways to destress and stay healthy. It’s been hard, and a lot of us gained the CoVid “19”, but we’re trying to do better — or at least thinking about it. With the New Year just around the corner, the time is perfect to put some of those nutrition, fitness, gratitude, meditative, and creative skills to use. Take the time to practice and perfect what’s important: taking care of ourselves.
• We’ve learned to appreciate front line and essential workers, those putting themselves out there every day — at huge risk — to keep life going for everyone stuck at home. Take the time to thank your doctors and nurses, the people at the pharmacies, food service employees, postal employees, Uber drivers, infrastructure workers, and anyone else you can think of.  They kept society intact and saved countless lives. Again, it’s about gratitude.
• Also, and this one should be obvious if you’re reading this: let’s be grateful for our lives. We must grieve for and honor those who died, but even more, remember that every easy breath you take is a gift. Cherish your health — your very existence — and that of those you love.

RunPee is grateful too…

Here at RunPee Towers, we could have been depressed about the near total movie blackout. Instead, we doubled down to do something we’ve never otherwise had the time to do: review indie and limited release films that otherwise would only have a tiny audience. As many as we could get our hands on!

With blockbusters on hold, and theaters mostly shuttered, people have stepped up their streaming habits — and it’s nice that there are so many fresh new movies to watch.

The benefits of reviewing indie and limited release films are threefold:

1. This helps/encourages small movie houses all over the world to keep on keeping on. #IndieLove

2. Movie fans can find some real hidden gems to enjoy and share!

3. RunPee found a worthy new category of entertainment to write about. We’d love to continue to cover small production films in depth when the big releases and tentpole movies return. (Someday…)

And we’re thankful for you, faithful RunPee Fans. Hang in there, peeps! This too shall pass.

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More movie quotes to offer hope in a dark time:

Hope Is The Only Thing Stronger Than Fear.

-President Snow, The Hunger Games

In a dark place we find ourselves, and a little more knowledge lights our way.

-Yoda, Revenge of the Sith

There should be no boundaries to human endeavor. We are all different. However bad life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. While there’s life, there is hope.

-Steven Hawking, in The Theory of Everything

We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another, as if we were one single tribe.

– T’Challa, Black Panther

Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, when one only remembers to turn on the light.

— Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban

One last helpful note: RunPee Urinologist Dana Simone published a beautiful Gratitude Journal this year, to help people find hope. Please help her (and help yourselves) by checking it out:

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