2020. What a difficult year full of strife, hate, division, lies, anger, loss, loneliness, stress, busyness, boredom, struggle, and pain. Last year was full of looking to social media for distraction, only to leave feeling worse – more lonely, more depressed, more inadequate. Last year, we spent more time at home and less time with other people.

Last year, all the shit hit the fan.

I look back at 2020 and sometimes it feels as though it lasted forever because of the monotony of doing the same thing every day and waiting and waiting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. But sometimes it feels like last year went by in one big blur because of the same reason – every day looked the same. The last unmasked, carefree event I attended was swing dancing last March. Since then, most of the days have been spent at home, sewing and thinking and sewing some more.

Finally, after all our anticipation, 2021 has arrived. But we’ve still got waiting to do. We want our lives to go back to normal; we are tired of waiting. But I hope we can also learn from last year and take those lessons learned into 2021 and beyond.

May we remember just how important community is.

May we learn to love one another better.

May we appreciate the beauty we see around us instead of taking it for granted.

May we realize the benefit of taking things more slowly, instead of running from one thing to the next.

May we remember just how bad 2020 was and not wish to repeat it.

May we see every human being as worthy of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

May we remember the fallen, sick, and wounded.

May we help the homeless and downtrodden.

May we take joy in the process and not just focus on the product.

May we open ourselves to love.

May we forgive one another.

May we look past the differences and focus on the similarities.

May we trust science.

May we have people in positions of authority who are trustworthy and upstanding citizens of the world.

May we not take travel for granted.

May we bring people into our homes.

May we get to know our neighbors and value our friends.

May we have a life full of art!

May we find better ways to support the less fortunate, the gig workers, the food servers, the medical professionals, the students under piles of debt, the underpaid and undervalued.

May we value every single person, everywhere.

May we not tolerate bullying.

May we enjoy good conversations at small tables with people not from our households.

May we have life in abundance.

May we remember that sleep is vital.

May we continue the creative endeavors we started.

May we not go back, but only progress forward!

Read from the beginning: https://soarwithlaughter.com/2014/09/02/soar-cloud-high/