As we enter yet further lockdown restrictions, and the spectre of a fractured version of Christmas hovers just a few weeks hence, this is going to be deeply unfashionable view – but I think there has been a lot of good in 2020.
It has been tough and at times tragic; the economy hit harder than ever before, a novel virus that has caused unprecedented grief. I am not dismissing that, but I feel personally that it is time to reflect on some of the good that has inevitably emerged from a terrible situation, and consider how I can learn from it. Here’s my Top 5;
1.My health. Back in March when lockdown was announced, I was put in mind of a quote from one of my favourite movies; “Get busy livin’ or get busy dyin”. Shawshank of course, this was the phrase that our hero Andy Dufresne used to propel himself to freedom and start a new life. It has helped me every day to leave the house, go for a run, hop on my bike, go to bed early, shut my laptop and breathe a bit deeper (and I haven’t even had to crawl through a pipe!). Don’t get me wrong, I really miss my team, my colleagues and friends across the industry but I know I will have more energy left in the tank for my Christmas break than I have had for the last 18 winters, exhausted and crawling over the line after another ill-advised three week binge.
2. A return to nature. Birdsong was talked about a lot in spring, and that’s lovely and all, but what I have really enjoyed is the ability to be out and about – in the park and garden. With my kids or on my own, we have played endless football, learned the subtleties of Aerobie, welly-walking through the mud, nature walks in the undergrowth or teaching them to ride their bikes. I never thought I would spend so much time in the park that it actually felt boring, which by June it did a little. What a great problem to have! The traffic levels have slowed but the CO2 in the atmosphere is still rising enough to make the planet uninhabitable in 100 years. With an eye to the future, it feels like we can pick up where Greta left off in February with a burning platform of action now and reducing CO2 to less than 350 parts per million. Our industry’s biggest contribution to climate change is travel – on that basis, we must have made a dent this year.
3. Reconnecting with my family. It turns out we really like each other, but may have been a little too busy going places to notice. My wife, my daughter, my son and I have all developed some key life skills; to listen a bit better, not talk over each other quite so much, to stop bossing each other around when it suits us, apologise when we know we’ve been grumpy or rude and to try to have a bit more of a giggle. I am not going to pretend we never get these things wrong, but spending more time together has definitely helped me find a calmer rhythm and reserves of patience and good humour I never knew I had. Stop. Breathe. And get out the Dobble…
4. The growth of trust. We can’t really see our colleagues like we once could which means that presenteeism is not what it used to be. Oh yes, you can still turn up on Teams, lean into the camera, ask a question so everyone knows you’re there, then go about your internet shopping. And guess what, that sort of behaviour sticks out like a sore thumb! But I think more people are having to simply trust that the people they work with are doing their work and not slacking-off. You cannot look over someone’s shoulder in this remote world, and thank God – that is a micro-management habit born of fear and we have quite enough of that knocking around at the moment. From now on, we’ll have to treat each other more like grown-ups by seeing what we create, not what it takes us to create it.
5. The fight against racism. To my mind, one of the most moving and special things about 2020 is the fact that finally, the fundamentally good and decent people who make up the majority in society are pulling together to stand against racism like never before. Through learning, acknowledgement and action, we are all duty-bound to show those who appear to not know better that it can no longer stand. The many deaths that have triggered this higher level of awareness are beyond awful, so to allow the issue of racism in our society to slip back off the radar like it seems to have done so many times before would be a further tragedy. Here is to more honesty, decency, openness and goodness in 2021 and beyond.
God bless us everyone – and a Happy New Year!
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