We made it!!
The end of 2021 - the second year of living in a COVID-19 world - and we made it.
Despite December not feeling like “the most wonderful time of the year” with news of the highly contagious Omicron, more restrictions, school closures, medical and health staff shortages and community services stretched beyond what anyone could imagine possible - we did it.
Last year was difficult for many. There were challenges, suffering and loss, but in between, there were many great and positive experiences that maybe wouldn’t have happened in easier times.
Our communities became closer, more caring, more kind and collaborative
We stretched our innovative and creative muscles even more than we thought possible
We continually found better and more efficient ways of doing our jobs
Remote work was established and is being refined to enable people to still do their jobs
We have become more mindful and appreciative of people who do the jobs that keep life functioning for us
Most of us have come to recognize and value the importance of family and friends
A couple of years ago, my new year’s post was about the origin of the month of January.
“January, the first month of our calendar year, was actually named after Janus, a Roman god of doors and beginnings. Janus had an interesting characteristic: he had two faces. With one face, he looked back over the past year to review his mistakes and his successes. With the other face, he looked into the future to make plans for the new year, and to consider what he needed to do to experience success.“
It’s important to review the past - the highlights, the challenges, the things we learned, the people we met and the ones we lost, but it’s even more important to look forward to new opportunities and experiences.
This pandemic has raged on longer than we hoped, and it seems to have taken its toll on individuals, families, business, government, health systems, and community services. It has caused a great sense of overwhelm and discouragement for many.
COVID-19 has not, and will not bring about the end of the world. It has been rough, but we are more resilient and stronger because of it and it won’t stop us from doing the work we are committed to - protecting women and children from violence and abuse.
We might be tired, but somehow, some way, we will find the resolve to dig down even deeper than we thought we could to keep moving forward and like Janus, we look ahead to a better future and make plans to experience success, where different may be our new normal.