Who even was I back in January 2020? Can any of us remember back that far, to a time before we experienced this past year? I certainly can’t.
I am a changed person. Surely that’s been true at a few pivotal times in my life. Overall, I am more or less the same girl I was at age five – even my diet hasn’t much evolved from that age if I’m honest! My values and principles remain the same, and I take a fair amount of pride in the fact that my personality and passions have been consistent throughout my life.
Appx. age 5 and already way too cool for 2020
But there are still those defining experiences in life which have left me changed in core ways. Studying abroad, for example, shaped me permanently, and I returned home never to be quite the same again.
2020 has been that sort of pivotal experience for many of us. In an onslaught of both public and personal challenges and upheavals, I can’t imagine I’m the only one who looks back to January of this past year and can’t even recognize myself or my life.
All of us have our own unique stories to tell of 2020, and I believe they are probably like snowflakes – no two are exactly alike. The combinations of health concerns, financial losses, job changes, schooling adjustments, racial experiences, political interactions, and isolation levels are varied and endless. My own version includes the most terrifying family health scare I’ve ever faced, and that, coupled with the events in the world around me, led to a profound shift in my personal priorities, which will forever remain changed. I am not the same person I was.
So here I am, 2021. You’re brand new, I’m brand new, and I’m not quite sure where that leads us. Let’s find out …