What a year 2020 has been...
Earthquakes
Tsunamis
Cyclones
Floods
Volcanic eruptions
Massive forest fires
Unprecedented pandemic
Economic crisis
Social disharmony
Terrorist attacks
Armed conflicts and hostilities
A truly abysmal year, but thankfully, we survived...
We have also been spared much worse eventualities (so far), such as:
Solar storm
Nuclear war
Asteroid impact
Blazar
This has made me realise that our humble existence is an underappreciated facility.
This year seems to be a massive experiment in social engineering.
While coping with a sudden disruption in commercial activity leading to a brief spell of global socialism, we saw hijacked, outsourced and sponsored protests fuelled by social divisions and insecurities.
Personally, I experienced a complete collapse of my reward mechanism throughout this year, resulting in low motivation levels for prolonged periods. I couldn't even find the motivation to post much on social media.
It made me realise the incompetence of reward-oriented work.
Happiness (being home after 5 years) was in stark contrast of sorrow (loss of friends and family), effectively flattening any emotional upheaval.
From the yogic perspective (सुख-दुःखे समे कृत्वा), this was certainly an educational year but was devoid of satisfaction.