To 2021 and All That You’ve Taught Us
Dear 2021,
You were a tricky one. A year of highs and lows, of promise and hope. But in many ways, a continuation of your predecessor. In fact, we’re not really sure what to make of you. But as the clock approaches the end of one year and the beginning of the next, we’d be remiss not to look back and examine your lessons, the ones that shaped us. After all, time will carry on. The calendar will change, you’ll very soon become a thing of the past, but those memories will stick around.
2021, despite all of the change we brought to ourselves and to our school, you’ve reminded us that it doesn’t matter where you go or what you do because you take yourself and those things with you in life. The ones that you know just aren’t quite right. Well, you can’t outrun those. The pieces of ourselves that we wish we could adjust– they don’t heal themselves, they have to be taken head on. And so 2021, you reminded us that the most difficult conversations you can have are the ones we have with ourselves and they need to occur more often. Awareness continues to be that bridge connecting the real and the ideal. 2021, you brought new people into our lives and you walked some people out. There’s a tendency for us to want to hold onto things we should let go of, as though less is somehow a negative. But what we came to realize is that when you’re authentically you, your circle adjusts itself accordingly– you attract the like-minded. You widen the gap between which that serves and that which does not. And so 2021, thank you for helping us take another step into ourselves, to see what it is that matters and to distinguish between those things and things that don’t. Thanks for helping us see with some clarity what’s worth holding onto and what needs to be let go of, even when it hurts in the short-term.
When you dance without the music for years, you will eventually hear the sound. When you spend your days running in the rain, you start to cherish the feeling. It will eventually all make sense and 2021, you reminded us that there IS in fact an eventually. You were a hand on our shoulder reinforcing that our “eventuallys” are in fact worth it. And of course, we will always have a ways to go, but all we needed was to hear that note or tune to remind us how precious the symphony sounds. 2021, thank you for those notes.
2021, you pushed us to our limits at times, but in doing so gave us a chance to surpass them. You took things away and that ultimately left a space for what we truly needed. You left us stranded and in doing so, taught us that when our head is up, we will always find our way home. You reminded us that in a world full of constant change and evolution, to cherish those few constants. Our family and friends, for always pushing us forward and picking up the phone when we need them. Those little things that we learn with time, are anything but little. You reminded us that anything worth keeping is worth fighting for. So 2021, thank you for giving us the courage to continue fighting, both when we want to and when we don’t because that at the end of the day is what it’s all about.
Well, 2021, to wrap up, let’s be real… After 2020, all you had to do was NOT be one of the most catastrophic years in human history and you’d be an upgrade. As someone once put it talking about college, all you had to do was show up and smile and you’ll get a C. Given the difficulty and the challenges on the surface, a C is a fair and accurate grade, BUT, and this is largely because of you, we now understand that the most important things don’t make themselves known on the surface. We find value when we peer behind the curtain and underneath it all, 2021, you were a brilliant lesson in resilience. A 101 on how to manage when the road before you feels longer than it should be. When your expectations don’t meet the reality on the ground, you demonstrated how much power is contained in one’s ability to move forward into that abys. As much as we love for the writing of a new chapter to be problem free, smooth sailing, blue skies, and grassy fields, sometimes it’s harder than that. Sometimes we have to fight harder for those endings we hold dear. So 2021, thank you for not only reminding us that those things exist, but that even on our worst days, we’re capable of moving towards them.
We would like to thank all not only who survived 2021, but those specifically who helped US survive. We wouldn’t have made it through this year or the any of our previous without you. Now it’s our turn for us to help you. Whether you’re looking for a new look to kick off the new year with or a new career to kick off a new life path, we’re here for you. Check us out and as always, let us know if we can help you with any questions. We appreciate each of you more and more every day.
