2020: I’m coming for you!
Here’s my annual entry containing personal musings and observations. This time on the year to come.
As I continue to search for new thinking and ideas, these thoughts occurred to me for 2020. I hope you like them. But if you don’t, that is OK.
1. Practice Tolerance. The whole concept of Empathy is just too large for me to wrangle. Tolerance feels like a small bit of Empathy. I’m not St. Francis of Assisi. I don’t walk around in robes with birds alighting on my palms. I’m likely annoying sometimes. Tolerance is something I can wrap my head around. It’s something I can practice starting now. Someone talking too much? Not seeing the issue? Not paying attention to you? Avoiding clarity? Skirting responsibility? Practice tolerance — think; ‘this person has a whole life that I know nothing about. They could be dealing with cancer, or divorce, a mental health issues with their kid, or their own. Or maybe they are wondering how they will pay the internet bill this month.’ Stop dining on your own judgements and listen with care. You may learn something.
2. Stop Reading Books with F*ck in the Title. One day, an editor woke up and thought, “we’re going to call the book What the F*uck. Reader research indicates that f*ck is the new ‘sex in the ice cubes’ or ‘Jesus is on the toast’ idea. We’ll sell a million!” That worked for a bit, but, like many new products, the books did not have a unique point of difference. At that moment, every other editor in town started adopting f*ck as their go-to for book titles. Please let this sad state of affairs pass and let us hope that editors return to self-respect and to admiration for the English language.
3. Put an end to Perfect. I have spent a lifetime searching for perfection in myself and my work. I’ve been obsessed with organizing and orchestrating. In 2020, I’m calling a stop to this silliness. It’s driving me and everyone around me mad. While I look good in Smart and Curious, I look exhausted and anxious in Perfect.
4. Look into Their Eyes. This is not about mesmerizing or hypnotizing, although if I ever get that talent, I will be taking my Lear jet off to Nova Scotia to see the total eclipse of the moon. This is about taking a moment to pause, breathe and really be, with intention. To hold another person in your gaze is to share something so important and so sublime it is worth cherishing. Please don’t forget this (I say to myself), there is so much to learn and so much to celebrate from absolutely every person you come into contact with. Look them in the eye and pay them the grace of not looking at your phone, not making your ‘to-do’ list in your head, and not thinking ‘maybe today is carb day for lunch’. Time is so fragile and so lovely. Spend it wisely.
5. Articulate Your Values. An old idea that is having a renaissance, now in the context of Social media, Climate Change, and Urban Hustle. We are at risk of getting numbified. Remember what you value and the beliefs you hold dear.
On January 3, I renewed my library card. Read more books. In 2020, I will stop using single use plastics. Take care of the planet, there’s only one Earth. Do one small thing now. Then do another. Be militant about saying no to things that make you feel ‘heavy’. No more bad-friend dates for me this year. As for consumerism, no more silly purchases. Reject all items that don’t make you feel Glow. Part two of the death of perfection is to live with discomfort. Sometimes, stewing in awkward will help to get to the next big thing. Trust that dichotomy and breathe.
Buy all toilet paper at Costco (OK that one may be a stretch) ;)
Published By Wendy Walters, January 2020
Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.
