Here’s to 2021

2020 was difficult. 2021 will be difficult.

There is no universal switch that turns off the residual damage and chaos of a previous year (or years) when the clock strikes midnight. Many like to believe that a new year means a new them, but the opportunity to change, evolve, and grow is inside of us at all times. No turn of the decade or century required. While goals and opportunities can align with a specific year, a new you is always right around the corner if that is what you want.

Key words being “what you want”. Do not allow the country’s or others’ need for “a return to normalcy” make you feel that you have to shed the figurative and literal skin you may have put on during a global pandemic and social uprising. Who you became is what got you through and that is someone to cherish.

Kimmiechanga wearing a white, pink, and black bomber jacket with a gray "Happy New Year!" tank top, holding a festive 2021 cupcake

And the old “normal” looks a lot different depending on who you talk to. I personally like the new levels of accountability people, industries, businesses, etc. are being held to. I raised my voice in 2020 in ways I never would have seen necessary in January 2020. I was marching in the streets against police brutality, shouting the names of and demanding justice for so many of my brothers and sisters senselessly slain across the country; I spoke out against disingenuous displays of solidarity at my workplace; I called out hypocritical celebrities on social media; I pushed back on those who sought to disorient me as they flailed about and struggled to adapt to a new way of working and managing. I love who I have become and I am thankful for the slowing down of the world around me to truly appreciate it.

Here’s to realistic expectations, kindness, and unwavering resolve in 2021!