The Great Reset: 2021 Brings Us Full Circle
It’s here — 2021. Whether you are aware of it or not, the past year has torn down our “normal, ” destroying and devastating the governments, cultures, and modes of operation we’ve been used to for decades.
Now, we are left with instability, distrust, and a deep foreboding of what might come next.
So, what is next?
That is the one question filled with both the crippling fear and the unshakeable hope that humanity will rise, driven by its better nature, or succumb to its darker, self-centered, destructive tendencies.
You’ve seen vestiges of it already, and more will come, I guarantee it.
In business, the focus will be on rebuilding relationships, creating teams, and chartering a course that provides a believable, sustainable vision for the future of commerce as well as individual career development and meaningful collaboration.
In politics, you will see more bombastic rhetoric, calling upon God, family, and variations of nationalism, challenging you to pick the side of good and righteousness over evil.
In art and culture, you will see messages that are stark, loud, and in your face. Old archetypes will emerge as a cleansing force in music, literature, visual arts etc. as new creatives attempt to make sense of the chaos all around them.
A friend of mine, Eric LaBreque, recently shared that he heard people’s post-pandemic wishes, which reminded him of what Prisoners of War (POWs) might say in their notes and letters to home.
By surviving the past year, we are all POWs in some form or fashion. We are all projecting our hope, while worrying about the unstable events that still play out before us.
The entropy around the globe reminds me of the 1971 movie, The Birdmen, where POWs attempt to escape from a Nazi prison, singing the song, Die Gedanken sind Frei, an old German tune from the 19th century.
These lyrics are sung by the soldiers who have chosen hope over their current, dire incarceration:
(GERMAN)
Die Gedanken sind Frei
Die Gedanken sind frei, wer kann sie erraten,
sie fliegen vorbei wie nächtliche Schatten.
Kein Mensch kann sie wissen, kein Jäger sie schießen
mit Pulver und Blei: Die Gedanken sind frei!
Ich denke was ich will und was mich beglücket,
doch alles in der Still’, und wie es sich schicket.
Mein Wunsch und Begehren kann niemand verwehren,
es bleibet dabei: Die Gedanken sind frei!
Und sperrt man mich ein im finsteren Kerker,
das alles sind rein vergebliche Werke.
Denn meine Gedanken zerreißen die Schranken
und Mauern entzwei: Die Gedanken sind frei!
(ENGLISH)
Our Thoughts are Free
Thoughts are free, who can guess them?
They fly by like nocturnal shadows.
No person can know them, no hunter can shoot them
with powder and lead: Thoughts are free!
I think what I want, and what delights me,
still always reticent, and as it is suitable.
My wish and desire, no one can deny me
and so it will always be: Thoughts are free!
And if I am thrown into the darkest dungeon,
all these are futile works,
because my thoughts tear all gates
and walls apart: Thoughts are free!
So, in the coming days, as you try discern left from right, and fake news from the truth, it’s important to know this — Your thoughts are free, and despite what any group, government, or organization tries to tell you, YOU are smart, well-balanced, and clever enough to sort things out for yourself.
As Napoleon (Dynamite, not Bonaparte) once said, “Just follow your heart. That’s what I do.”
