2020 Roundup
What a year it was… one I will never forget. Phrases like unprecedented, social distancing, virtual event, lockdown, and “can everyone see my screen?” dominated our lives. Who knew that face masks and lanyards could become fashion pieces?? But in some ways, it feels like it was necessary. Lessons learned the hard way…
Goals
I started 2020 with a few personal goals. Traveling. Reading. Investing. Health & wellness. Rewarding myself with an LV bag. And then the pandemic hit. Traveling went out the window – although I did manage to squeeze in one vacation beforehand. As did the investment goal, with house prices skyrocketing in Toronto (city dwellers opted to move to the ‘burbs – jumped the gun IMO. We will have to return to work eventually). I have not given up on these goals… just delayed them for the time being.
Mexico 2020
But it was not a total loss. On the plus side, the pandemic probably allowed me to read a lot more (I think I am up to 10 books). At the same time, I probably watched way too much Netflix. Health & wellness was more up than down so I feel pretty good about that too. And I did get myself the LV bag – life is too short not to enjoy it along the way. (Plus, I found it on consignment in excellent condition for a great price!)
Work & Blog
My finance job took a lot out of me, given the circumstances. No industry was immune, except perhaps grocers. But I learned a heck of a lot – about markets, recessions, and managing my team remotely. I am grateful that the nature of my job allowed me to continue to work throughout. As I often say, I would rather have the stress of my job than the stress of not having a job. We even managed to have some fun virtual events!
At-home content creation
I had some fun creating content with at-home photoshoots, allowing me keep the creativity going and to wear some of my new pieces, even if just for a short time. I re-branded my blog in the summer – yay! I am working with a great marketing team, styling fun photoshoots together and doing my very first collaborations with Boa Boutique and By Tocca! Looking forward to more opportunities in 2021. P.S. If you follow me and/or I follow you, please don’t hesitate to reach out!
Photoshoots
News & Events
At the start of the pandemic, I was watching and reading a lot of COVID related news. Too much! It was overwhelming so I cut back, keeping up to date but focusing on other news. P.S. I subscribe to Apple News+ and came upon the magazine The Atlantic, which I now read regularly. Highly recommend! Very deep insightful articles.
The #BLM movement was thrust into the forefront – and thank goodness for that! Way WAY overdue IMO. Since the spring, I have been reading, watching documentaries, making donations, and joining my company’s (new) diversity council. I am trying wholeheartedly to educate myself to become an ally to the BIPOC community. A few things lit this fire under my butt, not the least of which was that horrific video, but also messages with my black friends to whom I want to say thank you! Can you believe I have known these women for 30+ years, and we have never spoken about race?!
Lessons Learned
Most important on this list: GRATITUDE! With all that sucked about 2020 (sorry, no better word for it), I tried to find the silver linings. I am thankful for my continued health and well-being; for my job, sometimes just for the distraction; for the technology that allowed me to connect virtually with friends and family.
Hopefully, we as citizens of the world have learned from the pandemic and how to deal with it more swiftly and effectively next time (and yes, I believe there will be more of these in future). But more importantly, I hope we have learned to be respectful and kind to one another. We each have our opinions. Let us agree to disagree but act in a manner that is best for the many rather than the self. [Sidebar: this is not easy for me to say or do, given that I am a very liberal person and grew up in a society with a strong notion of the individual. But I am also very logical and willing to make short-term sacrifices for this to be over ASAP].
With respect to BLM, I have learned a lot, especially what I did not know that I did not know (if that makes sense). I have been under the false impression that we were living in a post-racial world – I mean, there was a Black U.S. President after all – but I was wrong. Talk about the luxury of white privilege… My commitment has not wavered.
Looking forward to a better more normalized year in 2021