Happy New Year!
I don’t know about you, but I woke up this morning feeling just a little bit lighter energetically. We still have many difficult days ahead while the pandemic continues, but THIS YEAR we’ll eventually have some relief. YAY!
I usually post my end-of-year reflection in the final days of December. But something held me back yesterday from hitting “send.”
The truth is, it feels uncomfortable acknowledging publicly that 2020, while challenging, also offered fulfilling opportunities on several fronts. My personal situation is in stark contrast to the deep pain, suffering, loss, and loneliness so many others in our country and around the world continue to face from the pandemic and the economic, social, political, and racial tension that mark our times.
But my rituals are what kept me grounded and moving forward with mindful responses last year. I will honor that awareness by following through with this “taking stock” exercise, which has been a powerful ingredient of my personal and professional growth strategy for many years.
So with that explanation of my “tardiness” with this annual report, here’s my look back…
The Power of Rituals
In the midst of the extraordinary uncertainty, unrest, and upheaval of 2020, it often felt like the only things I had control of were my personal rituals. Along with my meditation, journaling, and other daily mindfulness practices, this end-of-year reflection is in that category.
For several years now, I have taken the final week of December to re-read all of my journal entries and blog posts from the preceding twelve months. I do this both to check in on how I did with meeting the goals I laid out at the beginning of the year and to see how I’ve grown during this particular slice of my life journey.
In 2020, the growth lessons were more important than the goals outcomes.
I guess this is always the case, but more than any other period I’ve lived through, 2020 required us to let go of so many things: expectations, notions of normal, and goals we may have set in the “before times.”
“We practice [mindfulness] in order to cultivate a sense of agency, to understand that a range of responses is open to us. We practice to remember to breathe, to have the space in the midst of adversity to recall our values, what we really care about—and to find support in our inner strength, and in one another.”
~ Sharon Salzberg, Real Change: Mindfulness to Heal Ourselves and the World
My personal and professional growth showed up as agency — the empowered, values-based action that Sharon Salzberg points to as an outcome of sustained mindfulness practice.
More morning meditation offerings, a relatively graceful shift to online mindfulness and emotional intelligence training (including Search Inside Yourself), establishing an antiracism learning group, new partnerships for World Bank Group trainings, and experimenting with a virtual art show and food bank fund raiser are some of the most impactful, purpose-aligned endeavors that 2020 inspired.
I am humbled by how the journey has unfolded this year and am deeply grateful for the trust so many of you have placed in me during program facilitations and other shared spaces along the way. Thank you for your support, your personal mindfulness work (which, in my book, is a form of community service), and your continued curiosity on our shared path.
My wish for you is that 2021 brings greater ease and a deeper sense of safety, wellness and optimism for you personally and for the collective.
MY 2020 GOALS — Report Card
In keeping with my end-of-year accountability ritual, I can’t leave without a quick check-in on my goals report card. These goals were set in early January, before we had any idea that our world would turn upside down.
- Expand the 30-Day Mindfulness Meditation Challenge circle. Check! Our geographic participation ballooned this year to include Alaska, Washington State, Oregon, and Canada (FUN!). In addition to meeting my goal of offering a special edition 30-Day program to accommodate folks in the Pacific time zone, I also added more 15-Day Meditation Refresh programs in response to requests for continued daily practice support. Shifting to an audio-only Zoom platform further enhanced the community experience. (Our first 15-Day morning meditation program of 2021 begins on Monday, January 4, at 7 am ET. Check out the details and register here to join us!)
- Weekly Gratitude Note. – I got off to a good start on this, but must admit that I only made about 50% of my goal. I’m giving myself a “good enough,” especially in light of the many hours of additional work I took on this year (including producing new notecards!).
- Feature five mindfulness change agents over the course of this year’s blogs. – Though this didn’t look exactly as I had expected, I’m going to check this off as a YES. See posts about Luis Schwartz at the World Bank, Michelle Lopes Maldonado’s and Toussaint Bailey’s antiracism initiatives, and my post about how our morning meditation program participants translated their practice into skillful responses in the midst of the pandemic.
- Bring Search Inside Yourself (SIY) to more companies and organizations. – YES! We dove into teaching SIY virtually with great success. Interested in joining a training individually? Check out our upcoming program here (the Early Bird price expired on New Year’s Eve, but if you’re reading this post I’m happy to set you up with that discount. Just shoot me a note!)
- Devote more time to hone my photography craft and market to health and wellness spaces in particular. – I did hone my craft on my own when my Canada workshop was cancelled due to COVID-19, leaning into new perspectives and new ways of seeing. I did NOT market much, however, since health and wellness spaces had bigger issues to deal with this year. This part of my purpose work will unfold in its own time.
- Attend a silent meditation retreat to deepen my personal mindfulness practice (annual goal). – My residential retreat was cancelled due to COVID-19, but I attended a virtual and deeply nourishing retreat with my Search Inside Yourself teacher community.
- Organize my writing. – Did start using Scrivener as a writing tool (part of this goal), but was too deep in the messiness of 2020 to think about new book ideas. Letting go of this one for now!
- Strengthen my immune system through better nutrition habits. – Didn’t do great on nutrition (but HAVE stayed healthy and COVID-free so far, knock on wood!). Like many people, I succumbed to a lot of comfort food eating during lockdown. I’m bringing mindful self-compassion to the changes my body has undergone and will reboot my nutrition and exercise habits in 2021.
- Reduce my plastics use. – This is another goal that COVID-19 impacted, starting with when we couldn’t use reusable bags at the grocery store. I will reset this intention in 2021.
- Dedicate time to get out the vote this November! – DONE! Yahoo!!
And that’s a wrap! 2020 is now FULLY in the rearview mirror! Big exhale.
Thanks for being my accountability buddy in my annual goals envisioning practice. Stay tuned for 2021’s aspirations, which I’ll let percolate for a couple of weeks before announcing.
Perhaps you’d like to consider adding more journaling to your life so that you, too, can harvest your personal wisdom nuggets at the end of the year. If so, check out my new journal designs (I fill about four a year)!
In the meantime, ONWARD TOGETHER!