The good news is 2021 did bring out the vocalisation of people who took their democratic right to the streets and marched and protested the decisions of the governments trying to protect them, writes Ruta Mave.

At the end of 2020 every one was keen to kick it to the curb and welcome 2021 as the year the annoying virus that sounded like our favourite beer would disappear and we could go back to our normal living.

Well, that didn’t happen, a popular meme shows John Travolta driving Olivia Newton John from a scene in Grease with the title leaving 2019 followed by a shot of John Travolta driving Uma Thurman from a scene in Pulp Fiction with the title entering 2021.

Clearly everyone is fatigued by lockdowns and restrictions and changing landscapes of distance, travel, and masks we can only hope the next scene shot is not Uma Thurman driving herself from a scene of Kill Bill – where she brutally takes the business of justice into her own hands, titled leaving 2022.

Unless you live under a rock it was hard to ignore the tragedies of the world unfolding around us. If you sat quietly after hearing and watching difficult news, if in these financial downturns you remain perfectly calm, if you saw your neighbours travel to fantastic places and buy new trucks without a twinge of jealousy, if you happily ate whatever was put on your plate, and fall asleep after a day of running around without a drink or a pill … and if you can always find contentment where you are, you’re probably a dog. It’s okay to admit frustration and disappointment and being just plain p***d off. We are human after all.

The good news is 2021 did bring out the vocalisation of people who took their democratic right to the streets and marched and protested the decisions of the governments trying to protect them. It was good to see people open up and rally together and despite whether you agreed with their chants and purpose they were allowed to do so with relatively little interference from police.

Even here we saw the resurgence of opinions in the letter to the editor with the re-introduction of the nom de plume, but also the regular posting of names to the letters stating and standing their ground.

Some decisions have brought comment on the respective ruling bodies, the anti-abortion bill in parts of the United States and the vaccine mandates in New Zealand. With this new found voice one hopes those shouting pro-life could direct their focus to include other areas like suicide prevention, or fighting poverty, curbing hunger, stopping gun violence and ending wars, you know things that would actually save human lives. Perhaps those who pressed their right to know what ingredients make up the vaccines, those who are abject to putting chemicals into their bodies will give as much discern and volume to government adding chlorine to our water, spraying glyphosate on our vegetables – you know something that no one has a choice about.

Instead of skewing statistics of Covid hospitalisations and deaths amongst the 1 per cent admitted who are vaccinated compared to the 95 per cent who are unvaccinated and are also the majority who die. How about protesting, writing complaints to the paper, and demanding a change in policy and procedure every time another baby, toddler, young child is admitted to hospital and/or dies with non-accidental injuries.

Domestic violence has increased since the pandemic arrived across all nations including ours, where is the financial support from government for agencies and people who can help families get out of the cycle of abuse? Where are the letters to the editor quoting google statistics demanding they be prolife, protect the people, provide police, health and teachers better conditions and wages to do their jobs to curb this scourge on our paradise?

2022 is the year to find your voice and make a point and create something worthy that can help others. Unfortunately 2021 did not leave quietly, it took with it the lovely and endearing actress Betty White.

She said: “It’s your outlook in life that counts. If you take yourself lightly and don’t take yourself too seriously, pretty soon you can find the humour in our everyday lives. And sometimes it can be a lifesaver.” She would have been 100 today.

The movie Love Actually opening scene is a good reminder to start this year especially with the first arrivals of tourists once again and Hugh Grant saying … “Whenever I get gloomy of the state of the world, I think of the arrival gates at Heathrow airport. General opinion states that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don’t see that, it seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it is not particularly dignified or newsworthy but it is always there, fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives. Boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends…. If you look for it, I have a sneaky feeling that love actually is – all around.”