Every year at the end of December, we take the time to reflect on the previous twelve months. Aside from atypically bad spells, we have enough “good stuff” to balance out the bad (or at least come close to offsetting some of the bad) most years. We say “good riddance” to the outgoing year, and start thinking of ways that the new one will be an improvement. We gather with friends and family to say goodbye to the old as we laugh, sing, dance, and party our way into the new. Unless, of course, it’s the year 2020…
Longing for the Past
This year is obviously different. Instead of the usual New Year’s festivities, there will be very few celebrations, parties, or large gatherings to take part in Thursday night. Everything that does take place will be smaller and more subdued. And more people than ever will choose not to do anything special at all to commemorate the occasion. Even worse, countless millions will think of loved ones they’ve lost this past year, including those that succumbed to the insidious coronavirus that devastated the globe in 2020. It’s only natural to feel the weight of the loss that 2020 brought into our homes, our places of work and play, and our collective worlds.
People Need People
There is much to mourn over, to be sure. But there is also much to feel proud of.
For one thing, we have learned how much people need people (click here for a discussion why). Shortly after the lockdown of March 2020 began, we parents quickly began to realize that we needed to do something to mitigate the impact that the forced isolation was having on our families. We scrambled to organize Zoom playdates (or “hangouts,” as my middle schoolers tell me, because the term “playdate” isn’t cool to use with tweens anymore, or so I’m told), birthday parades, graduation drive-bys, and more. When we provided opportunities for our kids to see each other, they began to feel that sense of connectedness that had begun to fade away.
To add to these efforts, dance schools and other extracurricular organizations invented creative ways to maintain the bonds with their students (see Keeping the Connection for some activities our studio created) while they were physically apart. Teachers, parents, and others who work with children recognized and responded to the kids’ need for human interaction; perhaps our greatest triumph this year was providing opportunities for them to connect to each other when they couldn’t physically be together.
Lessons in Gratitude
Because we were forcibly denied things that we had historically taken for granted, the word “gratitude” took on a whole new meaning in 2020. Before this year, did you ever think that you would hear your child ASK to go to school? Mine began to realize how much they actually missed being in class with a live teacher and seeing their friends in person. So when my girls’ school opened in September, they knew that each day they were allowed in the building was a blessing. When in-person dance classes resumed in the spring, they were overjoyed to interact with their dance family once again. As I write this, they are in a rehearsal session for a competition routine that may not see the stage for months; while they know competitions may be postponed or canceled, they’re happy to roll up their sleeves and get to work. In a word, they are grateful.
Bye 2020
Let’s face it: 2020 was a raging dumpster fire. We are more than happy to cast it aside, and hope for better times ahead. Feeling anger, resentment, regret, and other negative emotions has been acceptable in any other year before this, so it’s natural that we experience them as we show 2020 the door.
But let’s not forget the lessons we’ve learned this year. Rather, let’s head into 2021 with our newfound wisdom and gratitude, and a conviction to make it the best year yet.
I am always grateful to move into new year, but you are so right this year it’s been even more exciting to see where we are headed!
You are so right that 2020 taught us a lot of lessons in gratitude. My kids are still distance learning, so the few times we have had drive-by visits from friends, they are grateful! We are looking forward to enjoying the company of friends and family this year. Simple pleasures.
Love your perspective. I try to maintain an attitude for gratitutde too!
If there is one thing 2020 brought, it was an awakening of sorts. Being grateful for what we have is definitely one of them.
This past year was a doozy. It’s good to be able to find the highlights.
Yes hoping 2021 is a better year for all!
Great perspective and a reminder to keep gratitude in check always. I am hopeful for things to be a bit more normal this year!
Yes! Looking ahead only works if we remember where we’ve come from and what we learned while we were there.
I am looking foward to moving on too!
2020 and hopefully not too much of 2021 will not be forgotten! And hopefully the rest of 2021 we can all heal from what happened. So important to have gratitude for the little things and all things. I will say, the best thing of 2020 for me was being home with my family. The rest was crap, haha <3
We HAVE learned a lot, and hope that we carry some of that as we move as far away from 2020 as we can!
So true. We learned so much this year about what is truly important. But let’s get the heck out of 2020!
We are all looking forward to a new journey! Thanks!
2020 was definitely challenging. We are still home and distance learning and homeschooling. And one thing I really enjoyed in 2020 was the amount of time I got with my kids. We’re usually so busy and I’ve loved the slower pace and time to connect. We’re planning to figure out how to hang onto that as 2021 looks up and vaccinations go out and life begins again.
Focus on looking ahead, right! Not over your shoulder at what was left behind!
Amen! Bring on 2021 and don’t look back.
Normally an optimistic person, this year really got to me. Slowed my momentum big time. But, yes, looking to the future with hope.
Love the first pic – 2020 going up in flames!
2020 was hard but I wouldn’t have started my business if it didn’t happen!
I’ve decided that I’m not making any New Year’s Resolutions this year, just being grateful for the things I have. I guess 2020 did that to a lot of us.
It’s so important to focus on the positives, even when they seem so slight compared to the raging dumpster fires!
I definitely believe the gratitude piece is a great “side-effect” of 2020!
We can only move on and not look back!
Here’s to a better year filled with lots of dance and gratitude!
Rather, let’s head into 2021 with our newfound wisdom and gratitude, and a conviction to make it the best year yet.
I did get a lot of ‘newfound’ in 2020. I am better for all of them
It was definitely a differnt kind of year, although not a bad one for the most part. Travel plans changed. We all stayed home more. And, I was blessed with a new grandbaby, one who had been longed for for many years. And my blogs thrived. I learned and grew. And gratefully, all of my family members remained healthy. I’m cautiously optimisitc for this year as we continue in a pandemic. We are learning to care for our health in ways we never thought about before COVID.