Saying goodbye to?2021

It’s easy to paint a really dismal picture of last year; but what some view as isolation and loneliness, others have spun into a story of growth through self-reflection. Indeed, being alone is not the same as being lonely, and can offer a space in which to deal with one’s problems in our own time and on our own terms, without the pressure of social interaction and away from the prying eyes of societal prejudice. To reappraise isolation as positive aloneness is not to brush over the more troubling episodes of the year, but to revisit them as life lessons: what have we learned from those more desperate and agonizing moments?

No matter how one reacted to the negative aspects of COVID and other disappointments of 2021, one can still choose to focus on the positives. As Roman emperor and stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius said, “It is not what happens, but how we react to what happens, that matters.” You should not forget the negatives when focusing on the positives, but neither should you dwell on them. The positive you is stronger than the negative you. Be grateful for the opportunities you have received. As everyone from Hawaiian shamans to business gurus have observed,?“energy flows where attention goes.”

Many have used their time in isolation to practice mindfulness: the art of becoming more aware. It’s not about forgetting and hoping that the bad things will go away, but rather about finding light in the darkness. “I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams,” says Hamlet. Study these bad dreams and unpick what makes them bad. It’s not about ignoring and denying the negative forces, but about channeling the fear they inspire in us in a healthy and active way in order to overcome it.

Two years of intermittent confinement have allowed many of us to practice meditation, finding stillness and comfort in solitude and peace of mind, whether that means learning to play an instrument or to speak a new language, or even developing a new exercise routine. We all reach for the stars in our own ways, but meditation helps us all no matter what route we choose for ourselves.

We have been given the opportunity to use our time differently and examine how we react to the limits placed on us. It has made us question how much we can control the world around us. We have also questioned the so-called freedoms we have taken for granted for so long. We are now able to find new freedoms, and create new ways of being.

On the cusp of this new year, I realize how my old ways have been supplanted by a new, more self-reflective outlook on the steps I take to determine my future. There is no “normal” to return to as we say goodbye to 2021, so let’s jettison the old and welcome the new as we author the new scripts of our own lives.