Time for a new year, a new calendar, and hopefully, some peace and joy for all. My calendar at work was still on the March page, a strange sight when I went to go clean my office in December. It felt like time was frozen, and in some ways, it has been.
In other ways, time has gone too fast. Too scary, too sad, too hate-filled.
This past year has taught me a lot of lessons, and I think will make me stronger going forward:
- When people show you who they are, believe them. Maya Angelou was right. I am done making excuses or rationales for people or organizations that reveal their abhorrent behavior so clearly.
- See the good people and embrace them. I think we have taken the good ones for granted for too long. The others may be louder or more dramatic in their words and deeds, but what are they really accomplishing. I am looking for the people that say and do good.
- Fear makes people do irrational things. COVID is scary. The world is scary. I get it. But we need to find ways to keep ourselves grounded and centered in the values that matter.
- You always have a way to bring change. Even the smallest things, words, deeds, thinking of somebody by sending a link, can bring about change. I saw it in my students on a daily basis. They helped each other, supported each other, and we grew from being together in our Zoom classes. We chose to embrace the good.
It is not naive to think the world may be very different after all we have been through. The dead will not come back. The angry ones need a place to vent and heard. I have chosen to align my energies with being a force for good. I want to amplify the efforts of others, continue to do my passions, and maybe, just maybe, find us in a place where people are smiling and laughing together again.
Time to fire up a new calendar. Let’s go.