The last part of festive photos and my thoughts looking ahead into the New Year.
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Thoughts for the New Year
In my previous post, I focussed on thoughts regarding the world at large. Here, I want to focus inwards at our personal struggles.
2021 is the beginning of a new decade in our lives. Some of us have left home towards college. Some of us have graduated and are entering the job market. Many of us had planned new beginnings in personal life. Some crossing our 30s and others 40s. Some saving up for home-ownership, others for retirement. And many travelers planning to cross several new destinations off our checklist. But these things did not quite pan out in 2020.
For many of us, who are marginalized in other ways, such as struggling with employment, housing or having to stay with toxic families and relationships, things have gotten only worse. A lot of us are subconsciously blaming ourselves. We feel a lack of control and agency, like on autopilot. We sense a regression back to problems we already thought we overcame.
But this has happened before. In thee 1970s and 1980s many countries in the world were in an escalating Cold War conflict, and the Nuclear threat loomed over all of us, threatening to wipe out humanity – and yet – people were expected to carry on with our daily lives.
An effective way to deal with this is kindness – both towards ourselves and the world at large. Not any kindness – but radical, present and engaged kindness. It is the same kindness that in 1970s and 1980s that de-escalated the Cold-War and saved our world from an all-out Nuclear Winter. Here, kindness is not passive – involving bottling up our emotions, but rather active – giving them space and engaging with them.
We must give space to ourselves to heal internally, and this healing will flow outwards into the world. I end with this cute picture, in hope for the next Christmas to come.
