The impact of this year will be felt for years if not decades to come. Whilst there has been hardship and loss there have also been whispers of wisdom when we’ve found the time to listen. Here are some of the lessons we are grateful for this year!
The Challenge of the Global Pandemic Has Forced us to Ask What is Important?
With the advent of a novel coronavirus, Mother Nature sent a clear message to the world – Go to your room and think about what you have done! We did. In fact, we’ve been in and out, but mainly grounded for about 9 months now and like all good groundings – a bit of space and time offers both perspective and reflection. Perhaps we are left wondering whether the busiest of lives are actually the most rewarding and fruitful? When the vaccine comes and the doors reopen, will we want to leave so often, and who have we become in the process of all of this? For me, the importance of family, dog, friends, meditation and nature have been the focus. What about you?
Remote Working Technology Works
In the Covid-inspired Zoom Boom we have accelerated our embrace and acceptance of remote working by perhaps 3-5 years. Technology that was around but under-utilised has taken a leap forward and is likely here to stay. Yet there are many questions left unanswered that will be very interesting to observe as 2021 leads on:
Working remotely works great when we are all remote but falls apart when some of us are at home and some in the office… can Phygital (mixed physical/digital) upgrade to solve this problem and allow for a seamless flow of connection and communication across the divide?
What happens to CBD areas when there is a significantly smaller population to service in offices, restaurants, entertainment etc.?
What happens with all of the excess office space?
Where do we really want to work – and are international borders relevant any more?
A Mass Concerted Effort Can Rectify a Monumental Mis-step
I do not pretend to be a political expert but I can say that Donald Trump will never be held up as an example of a Conscious Leader. He leads without awareness, compassion, integrity, capacity or excellence and appears to be driven exclusively by childish whims, tantrums and delusions. A man so unfit for public office and so fragile in character that he has determined himself to be the originator of truth to protect his ego-personality. Thankfully his election to the Presidency jolted generations of voters into action and for only the 11th time in history a sitting US President will be ushered from the White House after a single term. Here then is hope, that even when things appear to be breaking and degrading, that something new, something stronger is arising.
We Have Found Ways to Be Happy With Less
I don’t know about you, but when the second lockdown was announced, there was a part of me that thought: Oh that’s nice – we’ll have a quiet cosy time in! Perhaps due to my advancing years or having lucked out with a handsome man and loyal Labrador to hunker down with – even when there’s less going on – we have found ways to have fun and our relationship has grown stronger and more resilient than ever.
Travel, Connection, and Real Life Interaction are Priceless
AND – even though we’ve found all these new ways to connect and communicate and work and play and learn – we have also realised just how precious human touch is, how important human presence is, how healing human communities are, and how much joy is possible when we come together in real life. This life is a gift and when we shake ourselves free of the busy brain and come to our senses, we realise that it is also a miracle. Our time apart this year will I believe stay with us as a deeply embodied lesson that teaches us to appreciate who and what we are. It also has the potential to inspire us to create an even more connected and harmonic future as we learn how to weave wellness and conscious excellence through society, business, and government.
By Neil Seligman
Keep going everyone. Here are some thoughts I had earlier in the year about keeping positive and energised this winter: 5 Ways Mindfulness Can Help You Stay Positive and Well Through the Winter of 2020
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