Okay, I think we can all benefit from a pep talk about now so “chin up”. While many of us could probably benefit from a personal trainer cracking a whip under our butts on a chin up bar, that is not the direction for this motivational diatribe. Nope. I am talking about the pages on the calendar turning to a new year and waking up in much the same altered reality that we had hoped to leave. Welcome to another new pandemic year…”chin up”; “keep going”; “we can do this”.
If 2020 were a marathon, congratulate yourself for making it across the finish line. Well done. Not everyone made it and for those souls we mourn, we hope that their blisters have healed, and pray they have found peace. As far as marathons go, it was an abominable route without a clearly posted map; give yourself a hug and take a breath. You earned it. When you heard the starting gun and ran strong into 2020, no one told you it was going to be an ultra marathon and you were going to have to run it with a blindfold on. No one told you that the marathon was an ultra game changer with hidden detours and black holes that spiralled in on itself to become a cruel assault on all our senses. No, and… they did not tell us that 2020 was just the endurance test for 2021 either…
Not that I was naive enough to think that with the dropping of a ball in Time Square, we could wake up out of the Covid nightmare and breathe a sigh of relief that it was all just a dream. Well okay, to be totally transparent, there was a small part of me that held hope, after all, it worked on the set of Dallas in the 1980’s didn’t it? You could say that life is not a movie script but there have been times over the past year that I watched in horror as scenarios played out that made the big screen look small. No need for details…you have all been privy to the same news feeds as me I am sure. If 2020 did nothing else, it opened our eyes to the fallible nature of humanity and the need for another operating system.
I’ll confess that I am a little bit thankful to 2020; that for a time, a pandemic stopped us in our destructive tracks and gave us cause to pause and observe our mindlessness. I could feel Mother Earth’s pulse in the early days of lockdown and she was sighing with relief as we.just.stopped. We stopped everything non-essential and for awhile we saw signs of hope; signs of regeneration; signs of healing. But with hope, also came the reality of loss. So much loss…
We lost our compass, our direction and our distractions. We lost our false sense of security and we lost the illusion of predictability. The pandemic has not only ripped through the thin veil of fabric that shrouded us from the rawness of reality it has highlighted the impermanence factor big time. Therein lies the unrest. We are not permanent; we are vulnerable. None of us are getting out of this life alive. We now find ourselves navigating stormy seas without an anchor and there are no familiar ports to berth in.
Nobody likes change especially when it is forced upon us. We have had to change the very way we show up in the world to socialize, work, play and shop and there is no telling what the long term effect this has on our conditioning. Fighting change can be as futile as trying to pull your fingers simultaneously out of a finger trap – the more you fight it, the more restricted your world becomes.
So I want to thank 2020 for bringing the gifts of patience, reflection, contemplation and appreciation for the simple things this life has to offer. While I miss the ease of gathering with other humans and group hugs, I take this opportunity to explore and relax into the solitude of oneness. I don’t have to hug you to feel connected and yes, we are all in this together.
Sending you all a big cyber hug and lots of love. I don’t know where 2021 will take us, but I am lacing up my running shoes and prepared to face the course with courage, compassion, open eyes and an open heart.
Desiderata
Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.
— Max Ehrmann, 1927
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