The year of the Metal Ox is about to begin. It was as if everything happened and faded in a single blur. Recalling all the past dalgona coffee tutorials, trending dance routines, cooking and baking recipes; and the evolution of TikTok itself, all wrapped into one, served as our mediator therapy for all the physical, mental, and emotional trauma that we’ve been through the past year.
All of these came off in a snap—not to mention that the only oxygen that we could freely breathe our noses into without the ruckus of wearing a mask to protect ourselves from are the indoor plants that we grew to call the newest member of the family. One way or another, several netizens could agree to be labeled as a certified plantito or plantita. From good soil to seedlings, and fertilizers, we are all waiting were for a pouring rain to cleanse our unfiltered souls with, too. Every so often, we think of a way to at least fill the void that has been creeping down our throats as we try to accept the fact that we are evolving and adapting to this new normal set-up. It was never easy. And it will probably take us years to entirely digest the reality that we are in right now. But we have zero choices as of the moment as we are yet to discover a possible cure for this seemingly unforeseeable pandemic crisis.
What are we most anticipating in life? Is it the pages that we flip in every chapter of our book? Is it that familiar aroma of coffee that we prepare at three o’clock in the morning to surpass the level of emptiness in our chests? Or was it that old savage song that we get to hear once in a while which reminds us still of that one heartbreak that ruled out our lives as if it was meant to stay that way for a long period of immeasurable time? Maybe it was that silence that we get to embrace once in a blue moon, was it? Nonetheless, what makes life so meaningful after everything that we’ve been through is that we’re still here. We are still patiently waiting for a time —ours to uplift an hour or two of our lives someway.
It’s past four in the morning and what better else way to start up and juggle through these old strips of notepads but to reminisce and calculate the time and opportunities that we’ve lost along with our unmotivated selves. What were you supposed to do in April? Were you able to work out on a new routine, last May? Did June push you to get in touch with an old lover? How was July and its unpredictable rings of packages and surprises? I bet Taylor Swift’s August made your heart sink into pieces, did she? Was it September when you realized that you should get back on your past hobbies? Or maybe October was a mess enough that you chose to declutter your man cave, instead? What changed your entire perspective in November? And now that it’s December, were you able to fulfill that three long pieces of a bucket list that you created on the first of January? Whatever among the months it may be, we’re all going through that same old miserable fit.
I guess that we are most vulnerable at 3 AM. And while we’re at it, go grab that pen and paper, still. Pour your soul into it. Write your heart’s dilemmas, misfortunes, and tragic wishful closures. We all deserve a break from every single negative occupant that has been living rent-free in our minds lately. While we demand a vaccine that should reach every single Filipino regardless of their socio-political hierarchy; while we are fighting for basic human rights, freedom of speech, mass testing, and for an incompetent government to finally step down from their bloody shed thrones, it is also ideal for us to fight for our welfare and mental stability. For the year of the Metal Ox, we need to steel ourselves. We are all fighting different battles each day and we deserve to protect ourselves from the harms of burning ourselves into the idea that there is a must to hustle as if there is no tomorrow. You have to protect your sanity and inner peace at all costs. If muting, blocking, or unfollowing an old friend or a close relative would guarantee you a safe space in your social media platforms, then so be it. There is nothing wrong with protecting oneself from the negatives of the internet if it’s already taking a toll on you and your mental health, too. If you’re living in an area where you could no longer see yourself to grow into the person that you’ve always wanted to be, then leave. Leaving doesn’t always mean that you are incapable to handle the situation but it only shows how capable you are to save yourself from dodging unworthy bullets in your life. Were you hesitant to publish that story that you’ve worked hard for several months already? Or are you scared of the unsolicited judgments that you’ll get once you’ve released that song track? Well, 2021 is here for you to say that you should click that enter and go button immediately. Life is too short and unpredictable at that—2020 made us realize that. You have to decide now for yourself and yourself alone.
The Year 2021 is the year for us to guarantee ourselves that whatever life may throw us into, we will be okay. We will be Ox-kay for the year of Ox. We have to be okay. And we have to stand as firm as the metal year that we are about to ride on for us to brace ourselves for the real battle that we are about to hop into the streets—2022, the year of elections.
