2020: crisis and turning point
2020 has been a year of crisis in which “negative changes in the human or environmental affairs, occurred abruptly”.
2020 has also been “a turning point, a decisive stage in the progress of [all things]”. This is actually how the word crisis has been first used, when it co-opted from Greek.
In spite of the terrible human tolls, crises seems to be the primary way for individuals and for the society at large to move beyond the current state of affairs:
* Crises are on one hand so disabling and destructive, and on the other, open doors to growth and development, according to behavioral health experts;
* Disasters helped humans to advance their civilizations, according to some historians.
So what changes did 2020 bring for individuals, and the society at large?
2020, a personal turning point
For many 2020 meant personal and economic losses, fome some all at once. I have been privileged not have been touched by any major loss yet, and despite having experienced hard times before, I had never had such a dark time as I did in 2020.
I intend to share my own 2020 experience as, even if I am OK, I was lucky enough to start a new professional adventure and even to take time to recharge before that, I have been struggling, and still do, even accepting that it is OK to struggle.
Even before COVID hit I was running on fumes without realizing it. The last few years of family heath roller-coaster, the ever-new experience of parenting a very energetic (and sweet) 2 years old boy, the emotional and physical toll of the uphill exhilarating battle of building a company that would fix US healthcare, the intoxicating experience of a total home renovation, and the finite energy that comes from being an aging human, all came to a head with an unexpected urgent appendicitis surgery in January.
In the weeks after the surgery I realized I needed the space to recharge, so I laid out a plan to do so and find a new professional adventure. Then COVID hit.
What helped me before proved to be too hard to embrace with the increasing childcare needs, the unsettling social/political US environment, and without the freedom and time to go places and meet other humans, the loved ones in particular.
While trying to stay on course as if nothing material happened, I had to accept that everything in fact did change in 2020.
I needed time to heal, I needed enough self-compassion to accept not being OK, and to ask for help from family, friends, and professionals.
I had to make the hard painful choice to put my “oxygen mask on first”.
I, my mind, and my aging body, needed to recover from the work and life stress, from the unexpectedly long physical debilitation post surgery, and the impact of all the above on my ability to sleep and to recharge.
2020, a collective turning point
The unfathomable changes each of us experienced individually in 2020, and the exponential pace of our technologies, have hastened the need to face the social and economic inequalities cemented by history.
The shift to e-commerce and remote-work accelerated the global transformation of millions of middle-class retail jobs into thousands of hourly paid, low benefit positions, at great risk of the imminent automation.
The finally embraced digital delivery of personalized services, and in particular healthcare and education, stretched the digital divide, and health and educational equity with it.
As 2021 comes upon us, would we want, and be able, to direct our societal structures — national and local governments, employers and service providers — to put these issues at the front and center?
Would we able to have a serious conversation about the real status of human rights within each country?
Would we be able to have a serious conversation about universal basic income?
Would we be able to make the sacrifices we need to to live by our values?
All views are my own.
