It was Hard to be a Human in 2020

It was harder than we could have imagined. It was hard for people in different ways. And while ours is not a role to compare, I want to remember this. 

We may not ever learn how hard it was for each of those around us, or those we cross paths with in the future. They may never realise how hard it was for them. We're still learning to acknowledge these things, to speak of them with trusted people, to say them out loud, and to understand and do the things needed to help us heal.

But I'm proud of you.

I'm proud of you for getting up every morning. for getting up the morning after you didn't get up, and for the full spectrum of motivation and action levels you had this year. I'm proud of you for showing up, whatever that looked like. 

I'm proud of you for asking, for listening, for teaching, for realising you spoke too loud, too soon, too much, too ignorantly, and stopped, and course corrected, and didn't beat yourself up (too much).

I'm proud of you for trying, for reading the room, for shooting for the stars and acknowledging the progress made by getting to the ozone. For giving up your talents, your love, your time. Or not. I'm proud of you for understanding when it was time to let go.

I'm proud of you for starting again, for your bravery, for opening up, for sharing - your stories, your skills, your trust, your smile. I'm proud of you for being the first, the second, the third to share these, because the world needs them and the way they grow exponentially.

I'm proud of you for resting. You are so needed. 2021 will need you, and everything you are able to give, including the knowledge of how much that is.

And I'm proud of you for being. Because is there a gift greater than that for the world?