Reflection on the Year 2020
No one could have predicted what an epic shift 2020 would deliver I will not focus on the negative aspects of the year. Enough of that I say. I will be focusing on our internal power source. It goes without saying that I am not alone in wanting this year to be over! But at the same time, I am a realist. At the stroke of midnight on 2021 COVID 19 will still be wreaking havoc. It will not mysteriously disappear, and we can't pretend otherwise. That said, it has been my longtime belief that how we deal with adversity builds character.
I am going to write about how I was able to keep my sanity and gratitude in spite of the loss of seven immediate family members in this past year alone. It is all about perspective.
As we go into the New Year will you behave as you did in 2020? Are there lessons you have learned? Will you be a better version of yourself? To answer these questions it is helpful if you reflect back on the year as I am doing now. Look at what you overcame and how you came out at the end of the year more determined, with more strength and with a clear perspective. Focus on what you have achieved, not what you have lost.
When was the moment you first realize that "the new normal" would be a description for something that was anything but normal? Stupid words sprinkled our everyday life, diminishing our freedom. Words like "new normal," " pivot," "uncertainty" and "social distancing." WTF!
Like most of us, it was in March, and COVID was tightening its grip on the world. Public places began shutting down. We were asked to socially distance to protect those we love. We adapted to the restrictions, albeit with some resistance. But on the whole we complied. Eventually, weeks turned into months. Now we are approaching the one year mark. We had no idea how long it would last. However, I did know nevertheless that a pandemic was going to change the lives of millions of people globally, and unfortunately some did not make it.
Let me tell you a story
I survived a pandemic when I was a toddler, In the early 1960s I was personally struck by a different global pandemic, polio. Although a polio vaccine was developed in 1955, before I was born, I got infected, I suspect because I lived in a northern Indigenous community and I had not yet been vaccinated. I have little memory of that period of my life. Fortunately for me I recovered. Like many polio survivors it made me resilient and gave me an indomitable spirit and maybe a little stubbornness, which probably stands me in good stead. :)
From all historical accounts it seems that the human population is reacting exactly as it did in previous pandemics. As with COVID, polio was caused by a virus. Panic was all-consuming and because it struck children, and as a result all swimming pools, playgrounds, and schools were closed. Hygiene became important, it was widely believe that the virus was spread through feces because of unclean hands. Fear and panic swept across the country's like wildfire. The World Health Organization rapidly worked to develop a vaccine. It was like today's COVID-19. Humans are a complicated lot and in previous pandemics we behaved out of fear and panic.
Speaking of which, much of the same reaction is taking place today. An avalanche of fear and panic has taken over. In the earlier pandemic there was a resistance to wearing masks too. And then too, usually well-behaved folks began a frenzied buying spree. This past year, for some reason toilet paper disappeared off the shelves. This was anything but normal. The next nine months was like living in a movie and we were the stars in our own drama.
As far as I can tell there is no hero to save the day. Only a malicious character who told unbelievable tales and created division, fear and hatred among everybody including families. The deadliest thing he did was to question the science to address the virus. This will go down in history as the deadliest pandemic to face man. And the worst possible person was there to mishandle the pandemic.
The American election of 2020 created a much-needed diversion for a short time. it was short-lived diversion, and the countries around the world prepared for more shutdowns and restrictions.
I did what I usually do I made up my mind to get through this. I had to watch my reaction to what was happening. And to be a cause in my own life. In other words to take action for my own happiness and sanity. What helped me is taking Being a Leader Leadership course at the beginning of the pandemic. This course provided me the tools to put into action what I already knew, that it is important to do something for others that is bigger than myself. I created and produced a podcast to start a national conversation on the impact of colonization on indigenous peoples. The last podcast was on Decolonizing Adoption.
And I registered for courses and, as an enthusiastic reader I read a number of books on challenging historical periods. The first book I read was The Great Influenza an account of the Spanish flu in 1918, The Children of the Holocaust by Helen Epstein, Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E Frankl. Frankl's main point is that when one found purpose and meaning to their life it generated happiness and a reason to live and thrive. These books speak to the triumph over horrific and unspeakable trauma. Hubby led me to the writing of Italian Holocaust survivor and scientist Primo Levi, what an extraordinary writer! The common thread that helped people survive and perhaps thrive in these horrific events is their perspective. Frankl's point is when one found purpose and meaning to their life it went a long way to create happiness and a reason to live. These accounts speak to triumph over horrific and unspeakable trauma. It is within all our capacity to overcome trauma.
As a longtime meditator, I know that you cannot simply tell your mind not to think of stuff. Our minds are naturally prone to streams of thought. The primary goal in meditation is to notice when you have started going down a rabbit hole of thoughts and gently bring yourself back to your focus. Most times it is your breath over and over again. An important skill in meditation I have learned is to accept and not change what is going on internally, to view it with curiosity and to notice it without judgment. Meditation is a form of mental dexterity.
To navigate the pandemic I looked to my Indigenous history for lessons of the past like adaptability.
to survive one must adapt. This was especially true to people living from the land. Adaptation leads to creativity, growth and survival. I often reflect on how my Mom who had 16 children did it. The resilience she must have had. I manifested my mother's inner strength and resilience and move forward. My mother lived in a similar tent as in this image when she was first married. She recounted a story of when she moved into the log cabin my father built just as the first snow was falling.
Finally, my last thoughts on this. I mistakenly said there were are heros to save the day, but it goes
without saying it is important to acknowledge the men and women working in the health profession, nurses doctors, frontline workers. People who in spite of the danger go to work every day so that we can be safe they are the heroes in this pandemic. Like my lovely niece pediatric nurse, Presley.
I leave you with these words: strength, happiness, gratitude, being blessed, and adaptability. Let these be your words for 2021.
Merry Christmas! :)
