Editor’s Note, Jan/Feb 2021

So we’ve cleared 2020, what now? We’re looking at a new year, during a pandemic, what next? We’ve lost and been made over by circumstances, what have we become? 

When Diddy suggested that 2020 should have “brought the hustle” out of people, I had mixed feelings. It’s a pandemic, surely hustling is the least of our worries during times like these. At the same time, survival during a global pandemic isn’t premised on one’s health either. Our world is unequal, more specific to South African society, wealth discriminates. When South Africa was initially locked down in March 2020, limiting the spread of COVID-19 was paramount. Essentially, limiting the spread to ensure the health of the population was the primary focus of the government. However, in an unequal society like that of South Africa, where unemployment is rife, sending people indoors might have protected them from COVID, but there was little protection provided to their ability to access basic necessities. 

Fast forward to today, “new year, new opportunities,” we often think whenever new year comes about. However, there is still a pandemic at large. This begs the question, do we take a step back in reflection? To expand, do we focus on meeting our basic needs, keeping her spirits up, and leave the rest to chance? Or, as Diddy would have it, do we hustle? Personally, I started the year with the disposition that it would be amazing. From the work I do to the love I experience, I commit to this year being glorious. I commit to stand firm, to get back up when life’s circumstances knock me off my game. I don’t believe in hustle culture at its core, the idea that one shouldn’t sleep, but work themselves nearly dead in order to amass material wealth sounds like indentured servitude towards capitalism, in my opinion. 

Instead, however, I do believe that 2021 is the year we can become our best selves. We could be executing our plans better, listing and achieving objectives and goals, or any action that yields the outcome of positive self imagination and improvement. We could become our wildest dreams this year, pandemic or not. So perhaps we can still maintain the saying, “new year, new opportunities,” but I feel as if slating 2021 as the year of becoming would be more befitting.