2020 - The year that seeped into every pore of our being.
By: Matt Baetz
Tags: Love, 2020, Inspiration, Self Improvement, 2020 Presidential Race

2020 was challenging and inspiring. It was heart-breaking and joyous. It was both unique and utterly repetitive. And it was all of those things on both a global and a personal level.

I think of the Golden Gate Bridge in my adopted home of San Francisco.

At one moment the bridge was the site of normal rush hour traffic.

The next moment it was the site of a brave coyote venturing out further than usual because traffic had a ground to a halt as a result of COVID lockdowns.

Months later, in another moment that will be forever etched in the minds of those who bore witness, it was the site of a historic protest march in support of George Floyd.

I hope that the tragic murder of George Floyd, not to mention all of the other innocent BIPOC who have been murdered in this country, and the protests that followed, will forever be remembered as an ignition point for a seismic change in the way our country and the world confronts the issue of racism.

(Just this morning I began reading a book recommended to me by my sister by Ibram X. Kendi, How to be an Antiracist. I highly recommend it.)

The year in politics has been focused on so much that I’ll just say briefly that it’s hard to believe we went from a Trump impeachment vote and Biden barely surviving the Democratic primary with a clutch victory in the South Carolina to where we are today with Trump refusing to admit defeat and Biden just weeks away from being inaugurated.

As I said though, 2020 wasn’t just a year for massive global change, but also personal change.

Last week my father, who has been a widower for 4 years now, sold his home. He moved into it with my mother in 1977. I was born in ’78. Take a look at the photo. It’s vital to point out that they never had a gardener or landscapers or a lawn mower. They had each other. They built the house. The created that space. They tended the land. I don’t hesitate in comparing it to the Secret Garden and while it may not have been as violent it had a pulse just like the Overlook Hotel. It was home. And although I believe him when he says the time is right to say goodbye, it doesn’t make the sting any less painful.

Monkton, MD

As you can see from that picture it was this beautiful house nestled in a little forest. The pond in the foreground didn’t exist when they bought the land. It was a marsh area with several springs that regularly flooded the woods. So my father, with his zero experience digging ponds, dug that one. To say it was wonderful growing up with a pond in the backyard would be a severe understatement. But the pond was just part of it. The real blessing was two parents who broke their backs giving us everything we could have ever dreamed of having. Thank you Mom. Thank you Dad.

It wasn’t the only friend we would say goodbye to this year. Just a few weeks ago we lost my best friend’s father, Bud. I think I spent as much time at their house as I did at my own growing up. Bud was a kind, hilarious, gentle giant of a man. I always looked up to him like a father and I can still hear his laugh. Years after leaving high school I started doing standup comedy and I think a big part of my training as a kid on what was funny and what wasn’t had it’s roots in Bud. Thank you sir I’m a better man for having known you.

And so it was that 2020 seeped into every pore of our being.

On a personal note, I did something this year that I have never done with as much vigor. I wrote.

I co-wrote a screenplay called the Fort Hood Three, a historical drama based on a true story about three racially diverse soldiers who in 1966 stood together and publicly announced their refusal to fight in the Vietnam War.

That screenplay reached the Finals of the 2020 Page International Screenwriting Awards.

I also wrote a comedy feature called, Dollar Van. Inspired by Beverly Hills Cop and Friday, Dollar Van tells the story of two Brooklyn Dollar Van drivers and the adventure that ensues when an injured white undercover cop seeks refuge on their van.

That screenplay reached the Semi-Finals of the 2020 Screencraft Comedy Festival.

I wrote a half-hour comedy series inspired by my own life called, ‘He’s with Me.’ It’s the story of a successful woman and her recently laid-off boyfriend as they navigate societal norms about who the breadwinner should be.

Just yesterday I learned that I did not make it to the Finals of the Screencraft TV Pilot Festival. But I did make the Semis. Top 250 out of 5000. Not bad.

Inspired by AppleTVs The Morning Show I wrote a spec script for that series entitled, Fallout. I used it as a submission piece for entry to the Warner Bros Writer’s Workshop.

I also started a short film called, Sissy, co-written by my wife. I began work on a Spaghetti Western inspired film called, The Daisy Gun. I started another about my mom entitled, Dying Together. I started another drama about an attempted assassination, One Shot. I wrote a film inspired by the classic song, Stagger Lee. I also wrote copy, scripts and content for Team Whistle, AT&T5G, McDonalds, PayPal, and NetOne.

The search for a more permanent job resulted in test copy for an additional list of brands and companies including Sees Candies, Manscaped, Verizon Media, PayPal, Wells Fargo, and Super7.

Although I wasn’t ultimately hired by any of them I am getting quite good at getting to the third round of interviews with companies only to be told I’m not a good fit.

I’m writing all of it out in hopes that it will inspire you to do the same. I hope you’ll take a minute between all the news intake, the COVID updates, the political and social unrest to look directly at yourself in the mirror and take stock of what you managed to accomplish during this insane year.

Some nights I don’t sleep. I worry. And I stress. And I drive my blood pressure through the roof. And I forget to as Bing Crosby says, count your blessings.

We all need and should do this from time to time I think. Especially in a year like 2020. Where we’re being tested at every turn. Our health, our beliefs, our politics. The pressure can be daunting for everyone, but that doesn’t mean the opportunity to improve is lost.

So I’m curious, what is it you’ve accomplished this year? And don’t be modest. Let me know in the comments.

Happy New Year!