2021 - A New Direction

I join you in ushering in the New Year.  2020 with all its implications, will remain forever etched in our collective memories.  Responses to our common global pandemic have exposed the good, the bad and the ugly of local, national and global issues. The ‘bad’ systemic inequities surrounding  - social & economic development, immigration/migration, healthcare, education, global trade, environment, elitist manipulation - can no longer hide in the shadows; the ‘ugly’ faces of hate, racism, unbridled nationalism, intolerance, gender violence, religious prejudice, political partisanship - to name a few, are all unmasked and solutions demand our individual and collective attention.

I choose to reflect upon the ‘good’. Instead of finding some solace in the notion ‘misery likes company’ I choose to embrace the view ‘Where there is no vision there is no hope’. With HOPE our fellow human beings from around the world are speaking up against racism; renewable energy hit record highs; the selfless acts of front-line workers are GLOBALLY honoured; estranged family and friends reconnected through ZOOM or Facetime; youthful entrepreneurs are finding practical solutions to environmental and agricultural challenges and much more. 

One word - ‘reflection’ - has permeated all our lives.  How we now consciously and deliberately choose to CONSULT, PLAN AND ACT together is our greatest opportunity.  Nestled deep and rooted in our hearts are fundamental truths bursting into flame and self evident.  We are ONE human family; we all live on ONE planet; gender equality is fundamental to healing our species;  unity-in-diversity is a global imperative; our neighbourhoods now embrace the planet.

One act of accompaniment - lifting up another ‘to be of service’ - flows from the virtue of empathy. Empathy and LOVE open our hearts to the principle of the 'Oneness of Humankind'; empathy and love gives us the strength to be resilient and patient in the face of tests and difficulties; empathy and love provide us the grace to focus on the needs of others.

2021 sets us in a new hopeful direction after the disruption of 2020.  My thoughts and prayers are with all those individuals and families who are struggling yet give comfort to one another; those communities rocked by disunity yet rise in protest to inequities and those institutions who entrusted with public service find a renewed meaning to ‘serve’.

Thank you to all those who have touched my heart over the last year.  My thoughts are with you as you march forward, with confidence and enthusiasm, into this new decade.