We Did It!

By Anna Wagner, OCPA Equity and Inclusion Chair/Senior Coordinator, Student Leadership Development at The Ohio State University

Well, y’all, we did it. We somehow accomplished the impossible and made it to the end of 2020. As the year came to a close, my partner and I looked at the goals we had written up and posted in our kitchen (yes, we left them up all year - we were optimists) and reflected upon everything we had hoped last year would be. It wasn’t the most pleasant reflection we have every done, but it was important for us to spend time moving through the muck of the last year and find what good things we can also take forward with us into 2021. This is not meant to be a toxic positivity pep talk – in so many ways 2020 was a truly awful year for everyone. The long and short of 2020 is that it was a year of grief and loss: a year of lost experiences, lost time together, and so many lost lives. However, as we sat and reflected, we tried to spend some time thinking about what else it was.

For our household, 2020 brought changes in career, in health status, and so many lost celebrations with loved ones. It also brought new babies in the world, a renewed focus on health and wellbeing, and a lot of quality time together that we hadn’t had before the world forced us to slow down. There are definitely things we are ready to “get back to normal” on, such as returning to the work we prefer to do, being able to see our friends when we want, and drinking a craft beer or two in a taproom. There are also some things I don’t want to return to, such as the culture of “I’m so busy” that allowed me to put my health in the back seat in the face of my career and social life. That health reset was my “good thing” I found in 2020, and I don’t want to let it go in 2021.

I have noticed a lot of people posting about how we just need 2020 to be over. I agree! But we also know that 2021 won’t magically erase the challenges of the global pandemic, the economic crisis, or racial injustice we have been facing. With vaccines starting to become realities, there is a tiny pinprick of light at the end of this tunnel, but we can’t rush there any faster than we might have wanted to rush to the end of 2020. In the face of being asked for sustained, continued patience, something that has worked for me in 2020, and something I want to commit to (we are not making a single resolution this year) is figuring out how to survive in the mess that we are currently in and looking for the moments of celebration.

Essentially, life is messy. This past year has perhaps been messier than most, but the same skills of resilience, creativity, adaptability, and community building that help us navigate most mess can also help us as we continue to face what has happened and what is yet to come. My challenge to us all, as we go into this new year, is to choose, rather than resolutions or goals, a general mindset of growth. Where do we want to continue to grow and stretch this year? What lessons has the last year taught us that we can use in the future? What has been instrumental in our survival this year? How can we make sure that our lives align with those people, habits, and values that have allowed us to survive?