As I look back on the last year I can’t help but think about the old adage, “careful what you wish for.” My family had planned for a change. I wouldn’t say it is what we had wished for, but it was a well thought out path for our future. Even when a pandemic hit, we still managed to do our best and continue on that planned (and now rocky) path.
As that was happening voices were rising who have historically been held down. It was scary and inspiring. Plus, we were experiencing a brutal election. Complete civil unrest. Friends hating on friends. Complete strangers hating on each other. While all forms of media leading us down a path of separation. We were literally being told to stay home, all the while being fed news that made us dislike most of the outside world.
I believe that a lot of where our culture stands now started with greed. Greed that digs down to the urgency of power. We started with reality tv that damaged how we look at people, making them seem less human. They were now entertainment. Then, newspapers and media followed suit, giving us the biggest headlines because we weren’t reading it if it wasn’t easy entertainment or some kind of crazy car wreck situation. Everything bigger and more dumbed down, it now has to be eye-catching and skimmable. Corporations making loads of money for the least amount of effort and cost. All of this culminating in the boom of social media, making people we don’t know even less human. More divisiveness egged on so corporations can keep making more money and gaining more power.
Now, you don’t have to agree with me and there is WAY more that goes into all of this, on the surface level this is how I see it. This is what my mind thinks about too often to count. It’s cool if you don’t agree. We all have different perspectives and experiences. What I do hope for is that we remain as precious as our individualism makes us, but more and more of us strive to be a working-together society.
Collectively we are smart and can get on a more positive path if we demand it. The bottom line doesn’t have to be the most important. We don’t have to be a “cancel culture” and a “me society.” At least not in our own little corner of the world.
Even though not everyone planned on change for 2020, it’s what we got. What I glean from this last year is hope. Slowing down is something to be appreciated. Maybe you were able to reconnect with the people that mean the most to you because you had to make hard choices. It could be that you got more time with family, whether you wanted it or not; and if you are lucky, you now realize that’s what you needed. Possibly, you realized you possess great resilience that you hadn’t needed until now.
There are so many that have suffered and dealt with great loss, it is real sadness and anguish. I truly hope that one day the people who experienced loss and sadness will one day be able to look back at 2020 with new meaning.
We have no idea what comes next. That is the true excitement in a new year, for me. We don’t have to wait until the new year to have a different frame of mind, but we are here. Isn’t today a great day to aspire to something more?
Well said. Your kiddos are blessed to have you and Gil guiding them, helping them to see that fear & greed pull all down. Love, Bev
Aww, thank you! What a wonderful comment. Love you!
Thanks for your thoughtful post. Social media has completely divided us and numbed us out even more. Capitalism can be such a problem because it feels like survival of the fittest. I’m ready for and working towards a more collective, collaborative, community driven society. Hope that is the paradigm shift that comes out of this, and not just all fear of one another & more competition & division. Cheers to 2021!!
Hear, hear! I hope that your collective, collaborative community is thriving sooner than later. We could all use some of that in our neighborhoods/lives. Thanks for the comment, Rachel!