And Thus, 2020, I Bid You Adieu

Today’s the day. Midnight will arrive, fireworks will be lit, and we’ll say farewell to 2020. 

Does it mean anything? Not really. As we discussed on Drive thru HR last week, January 1, 2021 won’t be much different than December 31, 2020. We’ll still be in the throes of a raging pandemic. There are several l-o-n-g weeks before the new administration takes over in Washington DC. Global issues of injustice and inequality won’t magically evaporate.

Yet, for some reason, I always get a sense of hope on the 1^st of the year. It’s akin to the start of a new school year when I succumbed to feelings of dizzying happiness merely by stocking up on clean and shiny new folders and notebooks with hundreds of blank pages. 

And I, personally, feel the urge to get back on track in this coming year. Crack open those notebooks and fill them with, well, something. Anything. Because as I’m sitting here reflecting on “what I’ve done in 2020” I feel like I’ve wasted the entire year. My accomplishments appear incredibly marginal next to all those things I had hoped to do and never finished.

My 2020 accomplishments

1. Survived a global pandemic
2. Completed a deep clean and purge of closets, bookshelves, pantry and kitchen cabinets
3. Managed Eddy von Schooling through onboarding and cultural assimilation

Things I Wanted to Do in 2020 but Never Did

1. Far too many to list

I’m not complaining. Fortune was on the side of the Schooling family this year and we’ve done our small bit to assist those who have experienced tough times in 2020. As the saying goes here in the south…#blessed.

I am, however, disappointed in myself. Why have I not been able to shrug off the brain fog that has enveloped me for months? Why has 2020 been the year where I’ve been able to plan but then seemingly never execute? Why have I not learned to play the piano or bake bread? Why did I lose all joy in writing? Why have I been exhausted and tired and in bed, for months, no later than 10 PM, when I do absolutely nothing?  

I don’t know the answers to these questions but I do know that as of tomorrow – January 1^st – I intend to turn to a fresh sheet of paper and start anew.

So welcome to 2021.

And GTFO 2020.