A Short Letter to 7.6+ Billion People

Mark McKinney
Written by Mark McKinney on
A Short Letter to 7.6+ Billion People

What a bizarre time to be alive, isn’t it? So bizarre, in fact, that someone published a site called 2020sucksbecause.com (now offline) as a way for visitors to anonymously post how 2020 has hurt them. It was an opportunity for people from around the world to vent and let off some steam.

While important to vent and document the catastrophic effects of COVID and quarantine, venting can become a slippery slope. So, I thought, why not flip the script? Why not create an outlet that allows others to share how 2020 has helped them do, build, fix, launch, understand, or accomplish something?

Recording and understanding the world’s grief is crucial. Still, it’s also crucial to record and understand the way humans, despite extreme constraint and loss, can overcome and be better than ever. I know these encouraging stories exist — they just needed an outlet.

Thus, 2020helped.me was born.

The aim of this site is to help visitors to either find a silver-lining or be inspired to create one themselves. It’s an opportunity for you to be inspired AND for you to inspire others. To me personally, that concept is incredibly encouraging — the idea that your contributions to the site could be just the thing someone else needed to hear. Your story could be the impetus of bettering their 2020 and their life.

By browsing posts from people around the world, I hope you begin to understand and adopt a new mindset — the one that unifies contributors and pushes them through to the other side. It may start very small (like trying a new skill for the first time) or it could be a giant leap (taking a look at who you are and making some long-needed changes). Regardless of that first step, as long as you are honest with yourself and making progress, it’s the new mindset that matters. Make that mindset firmly yours and fiercely defend it from all opposition.

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On his 80th birthday, American poet, Robert Frost, summed up everything he learned about life in three words: Life. Goes. On. Therefore, the best way through is to fight with it, not against it — be an active participant in it however you can.

2020helped.me is not the answer for everyone. But, starting with you and people like you, we can find answers together.

That’s why I made 2020helped.me.


“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” – Søren Kierkegaard                            

Mark McKinney

Mark McKinney

Hey there, I'm Mark. I graduated with a Master's from High Point University in North Carolina where I studied Entrepreneurship and Strategic Communication. I'm currently a Technical Solutions Engineer at Permutive.