2021: THE YEAR OF LIFE

This year was filled with inconsistencies. We faced crushing isolation and learned that we needed each other. We missed our families and found new ways to connect. We found new ways to work. We found new ways to live. 

Some of us were lucky. We didn't lose a loved one to the pandemic. We didn't get sick or if we did, we got better quickly. We still get to work. Our parties may be tiny, but there is a nice meal waiting for us on our holy days.

Others had a year filled with loss and grief and pain. Loved ones caught the virus and got seriously sick or died. Many lost their jobs. Others lost their businesses and had to lay off long-time employees. Many don't know how they'll pay their next rent, their next mortgage, their most basic bills.

Any time I complain of not having my favorite movie outings, not teaching face-to-face, not seeing colleagues at the office, I remember what I was spared. And, as I reflect on this crazy year and think of the next one, I remember the lessons I learned.

• Love your family. Sure, sometimes we got frustrated or tired, and we wanted to see our friends, and we desperately wanted normal back. But when we lost it all, we had each other. We could hug and chat and watch TV together. We were each other's source of joy and comfort and warmth.
• Treasure animals. Our home was warmer and fuller with our animals running around. We saw them lay down, deeply satisfied, enjoying our contact or cuddling with one another. We saw them play. We can learn with our furry family members how to just live, no matter what life brings us. 
• Adapt. Many of us, from one day to another, had to change the way we live and work. We found new tools. We adjusted. 
• Be flexible. This was the year we abandoned rules, let go of strange policies, stretched arbitrary deadlines. We realized what mattered. 
• Embrace fellow travelers. We shared a crazy year together. Anyone alive today who is older than maybe 7 or 8 will remember what 2020 felt like. When midnight rings the New Year, wherever we live, we will celebrate together. We will hug through Zoom. New Year's Eve now has the feel of a brand-new package, a gift we haven't opened yet. 

Funny. As I look at my list I see nothing about "being productive," or "writing more papers" or "becoming a better professional." My list is about strengthening my bonds with fellow humans, it's about caring and living and breathing.

​So what about next year? Will we immediately forget what we went through and go back to business as usual? 

I hope not. I hope 2021 becomes the year I choose to embrace and treasure life - just being alive. I hope I remember what mattered. I hope I remember to breathe. 

Happy New Year, fellow humans. Happy Year of Life.​