8 Things I Didn’t Learn in 2020

It was a weird year.

Originally posted on That Damn Optimist, a newsletter of long-form writing on culture, tech and a little bit of hip-hop.

Being the paragon of enlightenment that I am, I’ve written a grand total of two articles reflecting on years past.

One was 19 lessons I learned in 2019, which was like 15 lessons too long to be digestible. Another was Some Random Dude’s Top 10 Books of 2017 which, though technically accurate, made it sound like I read far more than 10 books that year and need to cull my list like it’s the damn Pulitzer Prize.

(What happened in 2018, you ask? Probably not much.)

A successful actress married some man with ginger hair and it was a big deal, it seems

But today is the last day of 2020. And it seems only right to reflect on this unusual year in an unusual way.

So here goes.

8 Things I Didn’t Learn in 2020

1. How to stay cool, calm and collected through a global pandemic

I shot into 2020 roaring with excitement, gliding on the high that comes with discovering the promise of freelance life, like it’s some secret the universe (or, at least, most educational institutions) have tucked into the far corner of the pantry.