12/31/2020
Here we are, on the eve of a new year.
The last day of an historical year.
A year like no other I’ve ever seen.
As I look back, 2020 has felt like an awakening.
The starting of an evolution.
When I can look at it from this last day of the year, I can see the bigger picture.
But let’s face it, it was hard.
And it is in the hardest, darkest times that we learn the most.
This idea comes up a lot in my office.
This year, it was universally hard.
So much pain. So much isolation. So much struggle. Lives lost. Businesses lost. So much changed.
And yet, as humans, we also adapted. We evolved. We rose up. We pivoted. We demanded more. Truths came to light. We learned to do things differently. We learned we had to open our eyes and see more clearly.
Evolution is hard. And painful. And change is scary. Humans acted out of fear this year in so many different ways. We hurt one another. We turned on our fellow humans.
We go into 2021 far from a united species.
And still, I believe in us.
I believe in each of you reading this today.
I’m sure your life has been hard in many ways this year.
And I hope that it’s also held joy in places as well.
Many of you joined me in learning how to do the work we used to do in the office through a virtual platform. Counseling, workshops, support groups. We’ve done it all without being in the same room together.
And it has worked.
Much better than I anticipated.
But not for everyone. Some of you have taken a break until we can meet again in person.
Which I hope will happen by mid-2021.
I can’t wait to be back.
I can’t wait to have people in my office again.
Until then, I’m just going to be hanging out in the corner of my bedroom. Seeing clients, running workshops and support groups.
I’m going to mostly remove social media from my life again. It’s not a healthy place for me. And I find myself much calmer and happier without it. I’ll check in daily but am returning to my “no scrolling” rule.
I continue my daily yoga practice (today is day 354!) to keep me connected to my body.
I’m returning to more mindful eating after about six weeks of allowing myself to enjoy ALL the eggnog. 😁
And I’m trying to pick up a new hobby of slowly remodeling my house. This will be a forever new hobby but I’m changing my self talk and believing that I can still learn new things, and that my brain CAN be crafty.
I wish for you to find the things that YOU need to help you connect with your body and spirit in the new year.
At the end of every year, I take part in a goddess reading. My 2021 Goddess is Cybele. She brings to me a message that says, “This is a year of catharsis, and Cybele is here to guide you through to release.” I feel incredibly ready for that release. 💜
None of us know what 2021 holds. If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that we have no control. We can lay the best plans, but the universe has its own that we must follow, regardless if it derails all our own plans. I LOVE a good plan. I LOVE the idea of believing I can plan my life. And I also know it’s not reality. So, instead I’ll take each day as it comes, but you better believe I’ll be looking for that catharsis along the way.
Please know that I’m still out here if you need support through your own 2021 journey. I’ll be hanging out in the corner of my bedroom with my laptop. At least for part of this year and then hopefully will be back in the office again.
My schedule is very busy but I’m trying to get people in as fast as I can.
Having said that, I AM taking a week off in a week. I’ll be “out of the office” (which means, just keeping my laptop closed 😉) from Friday, January 8th through Sunday January 17th. I’ll open that laptop up for work again on Monday the 18th.
My “baby” turns 19 the week I’m off. I have honored the fact that 2020 gave me more time with him. As he prepares to head to finish off his last two years of college away from home this fall, I will hold on to the extra time I got to have with him in 2020. For that I am incredibly grateful. This time last year I was planning for his big 18th birthday party. He told me it was “the best birthday ever”. I look back on that party a lot and am so grateful we had that day in 2020. His 19th will be much different but we do birthdays big in this house and we’ve done them pretty well throughout the year, in spite of not being able to go anywhere or do anything, so we’ll still do this birthday well. 😊
I hope you can reflect upon your own 2020 and find some pieces of gratefulness in the midst of an incredibly difficult year.
I wish each of you a peaceful transition into the New Year. May you hold 2021 gently and not expect too much of it this year. Ideally it will bring some healing, and some return to a life we once knew. But we’ll never be the same. We wouldn’t want to be. Let 2021 bring you it’s lessons. Know you’re continuing to evolve and grow. And that you can do hard things.
From my heart to yours, I wish you a blessed New Year. 💜