Silver Linings of 2020

Guess who’s (finally, over a week in) back blogging for 2021?! Now, if you follow me on Instagram, you will have seen my New Year’s Eve post. In that caption I talked a little bit about the bright spots and silver linings for me in the mess that was 2020, so I thought I’d  discuss those silver linings in a blog post here too. Don’t get it twisted, this post isn’t me ignoring the fact that 2020 was hell with an extra sprinkle of awful for the majority of the world and the majority of the year.  This is just more of a personal post to hopefully change things up and stop me being in that mindset of “if things are terrible now, they will always be terrible”, reminding myself there is always light in the darkness. To quote Albus Dumbledore: “Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light”. So I guess this is me turning on the light when it comes to my view of 2020.

Made It Into National News & Radio

Let’s start with (I think) the most exciting silver lining. I made it into the national news AND radio! Firstly, I was the lead quote and photo on a BBC Business News article where I discussed my struggles finding employment as a disabled person in the midst of the pandemic . Then I was LIVE on BBC Radio 4 speaking about the positive impact that a fully accessible rail system would have on me, and specifically on my ability to find  employment. As I said, these opportunities were really exciting and I feel like these are opportunities I wouldn’t have had the experiences or time to take if I had not made the move to Birmingham and been in lockdown with no reasons to say no to these opportunities. One thing I have taken from this is that I should just take such opportunities because what’s the harm in saying yes?

Moved Into My Own Place

As I eluded to above, I also moved into my own place that was not student accommodation. I actually wrote a blog post of this process detailing my experience of house hunting whilst disabled and the things I had to consider too. Admittedly, making the big step mid pandemic and leaving myself locked down mostly alone in a city I didn’t  really know was not my best idea. But living with my parents throughout lockdown 1 really solidified the fact that I needed my own space, plus I just started thinking “If I don’t make the move now then when will I?”. I would have just kept making excuses to stay where I was.

Now Live In A City I Adore

I now live in Birmingham, a city I love. It feels like home. I feel comfortable here. I didn’t even feel this comfortable in London, which  is weird considering I lived there for 4 years compared to having lived in Birmingham for “only” a year whilst completing my Masters (more on that in a minute). Obviously given the current situation, I have not seen anywhere near as much of the city as I would have liked since I made the big move. But I have plenty of Birmingham content for you to check out whilst we’re in lockdown, and I’m excited to get exploring again when it’s safer.

Masters Degree

Now about that degree. Yup, I now have a first-class MSc degree (aka Distinction) in Cognitive Neuroscience from Aston University.  I actually wrote a whole blog post on my experience as a disabled student completing this Masters degree. I’m not gonna sit here and say it was easy, because it wasn’t, even before the pandemic kicked off. Add to that universities closing, learning becoming remote and then having my exams changed (with my practical exams being dropped completely and all exams going online) PLUS completing my dissertation online with no in person access to my supervisor for feedback. With all of that going on, plus my personal situation with COVID as a high risk person with shielding family, completing my Masters was DIFFICULT. And I’m not saying that as a ‘woe is me’ moment or because I want your pity. I’m just acknowledging it for the difficult situation was and acknowledging the fact that I. DID. IT. and damn that needs celebrating.

Solidified Friendships

This whole situation has helped to form better friendships and become closer to certain people than I would have been without the lockdown and my move. Who am I kidding, this entire section is just a big shoutout to Lizzie, so all hail Queen Lizzie, saviour of my sanity. Lizzie and her two university flatmates were my support bubble when I first moved to Birmingham as someone who lived alone (so they were the only people I was allowed to see) and that really solidified our friendship. Obviously I adore her but I don’t know if we’d have spent this much time together or be as close as we are if wasn’t for my move and the restrictions. So thanks 2020 for one of the loveliest girls I’ve ever met and a new best friend.

Grew The Blog

This was most likely because the lockdown gave me more time to write posts, promote them and engage with the blogging community, but the blog grew more than I could have ever thought possible in 2020! It was viewed in 31 more countries and had 4,649 views from 2,041 visitors compared to 1,464 views from 871 visitors in 2019. I also hit new daily and monthly blog view hits. I also did more blog post contributions and started collaborating with other bloggers on blog posts for my own site, such as my collaborations with Alex at The VI Critic, Hope from The Hope Chronicles, and Artie Carden. These collaborations also lead to friendships beyond blogging, which have kept me going throughout restrictions, such as my friendship with Alex (whose blog you should definitely go check out over at The VI Critic !).

So there are my silver linings for 2020. Do you have any silver linings from the past year that you’d like to share? Perhaps my fellow bloggers have already written their own version of this blog post that they’d like to share?

Stay Invincible!

Em (Invincible Woman On Wheels)