the leaning tower of 2020
The Leaning Tower of Pisa has stood for centuries.
Built starting in the 12th century it has survived world wars, plagues, disagreeable governments, shoddy construction and even earthquakes.
To this day, even as it sits on unstable ground, it continues to stand in all its angled glory.
Before this year, the Leaning Tower of Pisa was a popular tourist destination (remember being a tourist?!) with travellers from all around the world coming to marvel at how a tower so significant in size and on such an angle could stand for centuries. When I visited Pisa a few years ago I, too, admired the iconic Tower and after learning more about its history was reminded that, despite the best laid plans of engineers and architects, things do not always turn out as intended.
I feel like the iconic Leaning Tower of Pisa is a metaphor for this time in our lives. Nothing about this past year has been what any of us expected. We find ourselves leaning in directions we never thought possible. There are arguments about how best to proceed as the ground we stand on shifts daily in pandemic-land. There is constant worry and fear. And yet, we are still standing. Maybe not at the angle we had intended. But we are still standing.
For many, 2020 looks nothing like we thought at the start of the year. Plans have gone up in smoke. Sometimes we feel like a spinning top. And, the fear is real that if you move in one direction everything else in life will topple around you. If there is any lesson to be learned from the Leaning Tower of Pisa it is that the ground underneath us never really has been stable. It has taken a global pandemic to expose this reality to most of us. Prior to this year many of us took for granted places we could go, activities we could do and people we could see. I know I did.
There has been nine months of lockdowns and partial reopenings. Nine months of watching the daily case counts while working from home and online learning. Nine months of cancelled holidays and virtual events and distanced visits with loved ones. And now, after nine months of day-after-day uncertainty we have come to realize just how fragile the world we had built for ourselves really was. We are starting to finally recognize how far from vertical the proverbial tower of our lives had been leaning.
Amidst all the chaos of 2020 there has been one amazing gift: clarity. Getting clear on who you want to spend your time with, getting clear on what you want to spend your time doing and getting clear on what is important to your life. Living in the present and learning to be okay not knowing what the coming weeks and months might look like. Maybe I am the only one who feels that way but I suspect not. In pre-pandemic-land days the daily buzz of life obscured the fact that the Tower of our lives was, in many cases, leaning at quite an angle. We had figured out ways to prop it up but this year has shown us how fragile it all can be.
For me, pausing to consider what is good has enabled me to realize that I have everything I need irrespective how unstable the ground beneath me seems. Things I had planned may not look remotely close to what I thought they would look like. At times, I have had to squint super hard to see the good that is there. But I am choosing to focus on possibility. Focus on optimism. Focus on hope.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa is still standing after all these years. It has needed help to support it. It has taken creative thinking to keep it from tumbling down. But it is still mostly upright in all its iconic glory. As we head into winter with darker, gloomier days ahead and the ever present threat of a sneaky virus, I know that I have everything I need in life to keep putting one foot in front of another regardless of how unstable the ground beneath me seems.
We all do. It is up to us to keep moving forward.
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