What a time it is right now, October 2020. Think back to January of this year, or a year ago…did you conceive at all that the world would be anything like this? When the global economic shutdown occurred in March, everyone entered uncharted territory…but I don’t think anyone expected the tide to go the way it has. The Presidential election has ensnared the collective mindshare of the American public. We are still in fragmented stages of economic lockdown. Civil unrest has further divided the populace. And here on the West Coast at least, fire and weather has contributed to the conflagration in heartbreaking ways.

In whatever way you can, I think it’s important for everyone to make a note of October 2020. We have developed and strengthened spastic attention spans, but it really does seem critical to remember how it is right now. Some of these things will get better, and some will not go away. In California we will put out the fires and rebuild our homes and communities. But the conditions that made them possible will not go away. In fact, they will only get worse. We will create a vaccine that eradicates the coronavirus. But we must remember, and learn from, how poorly we handled this pandemic. Racial injustice will not automatically improve; we must continue to fight for equity for all humans.

So it comes down to this: what can you do? With so many serious, complicated problems facing our species, what can one person do to affect any of it? A very simple offering: Do not despair. Do not forget what October 2020 was like. Do not be content to make a living and watch football the rest of your life. Remember how the world is now. Think critically about our innumerable problems. Educate yourself. Have productive conversations with others. Write letters to your representatives. Join organized protests about causes that speak to your core. Vote. The answer, when faced with what to do, is to not shrink away, to not ignore, to not give in to helplessness. It is to act. To strengthen conviction. To strive for better.

Because the real purpose of remembering October 2020 is to gauge yourself, to reflect on how much you’ve contributed, from then, to whatever is “now." How have you lived since then?