Celebrating Your Silver Linings when Everyone is Struggling

Because these days, there are still silver linings worth celebrating.

I'm reaching some milestones I want to scream into the void out of pure happiness. But with everything going on around me, it doesn't feel like a time to celebrate. Seeing the people I love struggle to make ends meet doesn't make me want to shimmy and do a happy dance.

Seeing people struggling to find full-time work makes sharing my new role on LinkedIn feels... wrong. It feels that, despite the happy times coming my/our way, there is a perpetual narrative about the hard times. Which is fair! After all, we're going through the worst pandemic of our lives. It's put a giant pause/cancel on major moments--I know people who have canceled their wedding, couldn't celebrate their baby shower or bridal shower, and lost their job.

But--I also know people who got engaged, discovered that they're due and started new jobs. These people do not announce those happy times--it feels like they're bragging or they're rubbing it in everyone's faces. But is it? Why aren't we celebrating these silver linings? Isn't a happy moment or milestone something worth sharing?

These days, all I see on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn (you name it) are posts about struggling business owners, deaths in families, and people losing their jobs. But when I see a post about a small business opening up again (while adhering to the law), or a person graduating and starting a new job (virtually), I can't help but crack a smile. Finally. Some good news in all the noise.

Now, celebrating these moments are not cause to throw a party and put yourself (and everyone around you) at risk for getting sick. That's a whole other issue (cough, people of my hometown, yeah I mean you). These pieces of news and these milestones are cause for sharing. For now, that means virtually. Celebrate in person when it's safe to do so again, obviously. So on the note of sharing good news, I'll start.

I'm graduating on June 8th. I move in with my boyfriend on June 9th. I start working full-time on June 15th. There are so many good, moving parts around me and I am happy. For the first time in a while, I am very happy. I'm scared for the future, duh. Who isn't? But for now, I am happy and I wanted to share.

My hope is, in sharing my bit of news, others will understand it's okay to celebrate right now. It's okay to have a silver lining. It's okay to be happy even though some people are not right now. It does not invalidate your feelings, and it doesn't make them any less real.

With that in mind, of course my heart goes out to those struggling. I understand the difficulty of keeping up appearances when everything sucks. Whether you feel sluggish/unmotivated, worried, or confused--all feelings are valid. And those are also worth sharing.