The year 2021 continued on the course that 2020 navigated us towards. We sailed through uncharted territory: we navigated through rapids, stormy seas, disease-infested swamps and challenges unknown to our generation.

Children's childhoods have been stolen, the grim reaper took many much too young and the weak and elderly became prime targets for an invisible killer. And then there were the wind-still periods, periods of inaction due to an absence of wind to set our sails to.

This led to uncertainty, anger, depression and all sorts of weird conspiracy theories – desperate grasps at something to make sense of the world around us. Perhaps the biggest challenge has been to manage the mental impact of the pandemic.

I sense a strong yearning for "less interesting times" – a return to normality. There is ground for careful optimism as the virus seems to be losing aggression, people are slowly coming to their senses and leaders becoming more thoughtful and balanced in their approach.

We all went through a learning curve. Our president performed well on the stage of world leaders during these challenging times. May 2022 usher in a sense of calm and normality.

Dawie Jacobs, Sterrewag, Pretoria