Dumpster Fire

A good friend of mine dubbed year 2020, especially this end of it, a "dumpster fire." I have to say I agree. The sociopolitical, economic, even physical climate of the world is pretty stinky right now. Crises just keep coming, getting worse, even. Merriam Webster defines dumpster fire as, "an utterly calamitous or mismanaged situation or occurrence." "Utterly" seems like an absolute word, and maybe not all of 2020 was bad. People may argue about how everything has been handled, but I am sure I could not have managed all these crises any better. So yeah, "dumpster fire" is a pretty good way to describe 2020. 

My friend and I cannot be alone in the way we feel about 2020. In searching for 2020 Christmas ornaments, my husband and I actually found a dumpster fire one. (Yes, we sent the ornament to the friend who first used the term.) It led me to research the term and think more about specific analogies between this year and the fire. A dumpster fire has a putrid stench as it burns the refuse within. Like a dumpster fire, negative news has started to make life smell pretty bad. That stench can color the whole of my day. If I want to avoid that, I have to avoid the area. Similarly, dumpster fire smoke clogs the air, making it hard to see and breathe. COVID and political stress are the same, seeming to infiltrate almost every interaction I have. These, along with other things, have made it hard for me to focus on joy and celebration. A dumpster fire is often difficult to put out because of both its location and its contents, but it's important to put out for the same reasons. And maybe that is where the analogy breaks down. I don't know about you, but I feel like I've been running around trying to put out fires for most of the year, and it's not working. I'm exhausted. I'm testy and irritable and anxious. I am starting to wonder if continuing to try to put out this dumpster fire of a year is the best idea.

Dumpster fires burn up some bad stuff. This year has had plenty: COVID, racial injustice, death, and political unrest. I've tried to remain positive, control the burn. Maybe it's time to let the year burn, because some things need to burn so we can be rid of them. Also, I am not a firefighter. As long as the fire is burning in the dumpster and the owners know, it's not mine to manage. Maybe I just need to leave the issues alone, care about the people, yet not try to put out other people's (or society's!) fires. I enough have trash to root out of my own life. Maybe I need to focus on that.

Positivity has its place, but so does sorrow and grief and even (healthy) anger. This year has held a lot of those. So feel your feelings, friends. Acknowledge the fires. Throw into the dumpster what needs to burn and then put it behind you. The year might be a dumpster fire, but life is so much greater than a year, and we need eyes to see it.