2020…A Wild Ride

So last week was clearly the longest week ever! It was a week that encapsulated a tsunami of emotions covered in sleep deprivation.

And to be completely fair I still don’t know how to feel other than just plain tired. If I’m being completely transparent here my tiredness is not just attached to this election and lack of sleep, my tiredness is entrenched in the last 8 months of 2020!

To try to put my exhaustion into perspective the only thing that comes to mind is Disney World.

Growing up in Florida our yearly family vacation was always Magic Kingdom. Truthfully, for me there was not much excitement associated with our one-day trek to this amusement park for the umpteenth time outside of a couple of rides. One in particular being Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. While most people gravitate to Disney for the roller coaster rides such as Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain, I have never cared much for rides at theme parks specifically those that come with health and safety warnings and cause my stomach to react to chaotic motion. My preference has always been rides that move at slow to moderate speeds.

What I can say about Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride is it was filled with unforeseen dangers and suspense lurking at every turn, very similar to 2020. The start of this buggy-style cart adventure is slow and steady. Riders are whisked through a replica of a castle with extremely dim lighting and into an array or rooms with doors that close and down long hallways.

Aside from this ride having a few jerks, twists and turns there is no immediate danger like the other faster moving rides which in my mind pose the risk of passengers being ejected and in addition requires good health and a strong heart. Throughout the ride there is distinct scenery and sounds to take in, and before the ride-goer can fully digest the contents and be frightened just enough, a new scene awaits. Some of the scenes include a court room with a demented looking judge, a jail and of course the police. There was even a moment where the lights switch from overly dim to pitch-blackness and a train emerges with lights glaring through the darkness headed straight for the cart. And before the rider can let out a gasp the cart does a quick turn and it is on to the next scene change ending with what else…but a depiction of Hell, equipped with demons, pits of fire and Satan.

For me, most of this year is reminiscent to Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. The last 8 months have been filled with slow moving darkness with much unpleasant scenery, obstacles, and backdrops to take in along the way. From the deaths of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks and the shooting of Jacob Blake to name a few. We have certainly been overwhelmed with police brutality from February to August of this year alone! In addition, we’ve had to deal with the divisiveness of the country in patrician politics all at the helm of an autocratic, fascist, bigoted, xenophobic, minded leader. And charging at us with the high speed of a locomotive are two viruses Corona and racism, running rampant and headed straight for collision.

So EF Yeah, I’m overjoyed to see a changing of the guard and a new administration ready to serve “we the people!” But it will take me some time to process and embrace this change. And now, myself and so many others, must sort out the heavy emotions from the hovering residue and nurse the wounds from the trauma left behind. The last 4 years with all of its civil unrest at times have felt like a scene from Hell! Truthfully, I am mentally drained, this has been a ride that I would like to soon forget…