Hey there. I see you.
How have you been these past few weeks? Holding it together, or trying? Not really?
It’s ok. Most of the people you think are holding it together probably aren’t, actually. For now, you’re here. You’re checking in. You’re still showing up, in whatever way you are. I see you, and I acknowledge the work you’re doing to keep putting one foot in front of the other, even if some days you don’t really make it out of bed.
2020. That’s it, right? Enough said. TWENTY-TWENTY is the year that came to wring us out. Whatever was actually living within us is being forced right on out. Good stuff, messy stuff, horrible stuff, beautiful stuff. It seems like nothing can hide from 2020.
And actually, maybe it shouldn’t. Maybe getting real about what we are all using our energy to either hold or support or create is ultimately going to be good medicine for us all.
While we’re working on that, many of you have watched your expectations go *poof* and disappear into thin air. No graduations, internships, job offers, travel experiences, weddings. So many moments that were eagerly anticipated, and hard-won, suddenly didn’t happen.
And also, racism. Are we finally purging that toxin from our collective bloodstream? This may be the moment. Because you’re still showing up, you get to be here for it. Here for every moment of elation, and heartache, and despair, and rage, and joy, rolling together and yet somehow still distinct.
So yes, 2020. Lately, I’ve been doing more on social media because it feels a bit more like a conversation, and interchange is exactly what we need right now. But you’re still here, and so am I. Like I said, I see you. I’m grateful to you, and inspired by you.
I see what you have given up. I see what you wish you saw coming. I see what you hope the future holds. I see your uncertainty, your fear, your anticipation, and the glimmer of hope you still have that better days are possible, and even likely.
You’re right. They are. You will be part of creating them. And it’s ok to dislike this moment, or even fully rage against it. Growth is awkward, destabilizing, and sometimes painful. You know how to breathe through all of those things, though. You know how to hold your steady, centered ground while the world swirls around you, and you know how to hold on to that place as you step forward into the unknown, as we work together in that space to envision and build a better reality for all of us.
Photo credit: Humphrey Muleba
