I joined a teleconference call early the other morning. In our ritual morning greetings, I posed the question, “How are you holding up?” The expected and usual “fine” or “living the dream” responses, however, are not what followed. I listened as my teammates and colleagues unpacked the personal feelings they were enduring. And as more people joined the call, and ultimately the discussion, we realized the burden and stress everyone was carrying. No one was “fine.” We engaged in a real, meaningful and helpful conversation.
2020 was remarkably trying. It started with a pandemic that sent the entire world into quarantine. A ripple effect followed including unemployment, political chaos, homeschooling coupled with work-from-home orders, and — worse — significant numbers of deaths. We’ve also seen a human rights movement that has culminated from years of injustices, a presidential election that broke voter turnout records, and in some cases, financial reversal and natural disasters that have decimated entire communities.