A Few Lessons I’ve Learned in 2020…and beyond
Illustrated by Lucy Campbell
Sometimes, I feel like I’ve accidentally been transported into a Sci-Fi movie — watching news in horror at 6pm while eating dinner, gearing up before we leave home base, using our personal devices to zap menus and see loved ones, seeing photographs and candles lit outside local businesses who lost beloved employees, following curfew laws, hearing helicopters zooming above our homes, seeing neighborhood funeral homes and cemeteries in height of activity, watching everyone struggle in their own ways...
But truth is that this “Sci-Fi movie” is actually real and the characters are us.
With these real life script changes in the last year, many lessons emerged and continues to emerge. Some of these lessons were gut wrenching, some were simple ‘aha’ moments, and others led to more questions.
These lessons were/are still my silver linings on a tumultuous year that continues its waves into the new year.
With that said, here are some big lessons for me within this past year.
The Butterfly Effect Theory & What We do Matters
There are days that I feel helpless, but knowing that every little thing that I do matter helps me be more intentional.
I still believe that small movements we make can yield big and impactful events collectively, and that’s what keeps me hopeful, accountable, and striving my best to create intentional thoughts and behaviors.
For a fun YouTube on the Butterfly Effect Theory itself, you can click here.
Which leads me to…
Community & Interdependence
Last year, I watched so many acts of kindness. From aid to our grassroots social injustice organizations, neighbors helping elders with grocery runs, to patrons helping our local businesses get back on its feet, it was something very beautiful to witness.
And in 2020, I was on both ends - of receiving support and giving support - and saw the true power and potential sustainability of community during really shitty times.
What I’ve learned was that through loving networks, we can all help each other and ourselves to build an environment for us to weather the storms of life with much resiliency.
There’s about 8 Dimensions of Wellness (give or take from various models) for us to be healthy and whole consistently, and having a community/tribe/healthcare/etc. is vital.
We can’t do everything alone and our wellbeing & liberty rests on having and nurturing supportive networks. And the real kicker for me in 2020 was the realization that I needed to return to my own communities as there were and are so much work to be done.
Let’s face it, life’s ups and downs are much better with people who also care for our wellbeing as much as we do theirs.
Re-Imagining Money
This year made me watch, learn, participate, and dive much more deeply to try and re-imagine what life can be without being burdened by a lack of money.
When the pandemic hit, folks lost their jobs, businesses closed, hundreds of thousands were hospitalized …the impact was (and still is) that many people were unable to meet basic needs for them and their families like food and shelter.
The pandemic and social unrest in 2020 cleared away the smoke and brought up deeply rooted and ongoing issues to the forefront. If we are unable to produce or work, can we still get our basic needs met?
Seeing what I’ve seen - I don’t think so. While there were some folks who greatly benefitted during this time, the great majority of folks are not.
Could we exchange in different ways to get access to what we need and deserve without always solely having to rely on our financials? Can we exchange in a different way if we were having financial burden?
I think so.
For me, a lot of my mental care and well-being needs like support groups were met with low-cost options, or an ability for me to trade & barter my own skills for products or services became key in being ok.
And vice versa — as someone who is building up a holistic wellness business, I am looking at how I can run a more equitable and accessible model. I don’t have all the answers, but I know that there are wise solutions already out there and trying to tap into the folks who have and continues to do this work.
Embodiment
And lastly to round these lessons, I feel that embodiment plays a big and active role in the way I experience and interact with the world.
For example, I can theoretically understand concepts like systemic racism and may even know potential ways to eradicate it, but if I’m not actively aware of the role my entire self plays in this system or move about in experiencing/contributing/dismantling/healing it on a day-to-day level then am I really moving towards a certain value that I deem important? And this can be anything that we value - health, relationships, financials, etc. Are we understanding how our body is experiencing and responding to these things we care about - if not, why? (which then leads us to a deeper hole…but that’s where community, therapist, doctors, healers, accountants, coaches, etc. can come in.)
At least that’s where I am in my current understanding.
Who knows, something else may happen soon and my understanding may change.
And with that, that concludes some lessons learned…for now.
