040: 2020 Hindsight

We recently cancelled our Netflix account. This wasn't done as an act of protest or anything. We're just on a bit of a Marvel and Star Wars binge, so it's Disney+ for us for a while. Although right before we cancelled our account a movie popped up that did make me want to step away from Netflix for a while - 'Death to 2020'. It features the image of a dumpster fire. It was that image that put me over the top. Bear with me while I rant about this.

Was 2020 a banner year? Probably not. Obviously everyone in our industry - and many others - had to drastically change how we are doing things. I don't want to diminish the true hardships many people faced, and some of the truly horrific things that happened this year. But I do want to shine a light on another side of things.

Over the course of the year I saw people rapidly adapt what they were doing; innovation was happening all around us. And in many cases these were things that people had wanted to do for years but kept putting it off because it 'didn't make sense'. All of a sudden when the status quo went out the window, people began taking risks. I know many people who found success during these difficult times.

We were also forced to have some very real conversations about topics we have long been pushing aside. The Black Lives Matter movement drastically changed the landscape this year, and for the better. We are now having more conversations and we are seeing actual progress being made. Is there a long way to go? Yes. But change is happening and more people are speaking up about what is needed. This includes us Canadians and our need to hold similar conversations; and see changes around Indiginous rights and racial discrimination.

So while there were many challenges in 2020, I'm choosing to see the other side of things. I truly feel that when you're of the mindset that we're living through a 'dumpster fire' of a year, you're going to look for things to prove your point. If you're of the mindset that this is an opportunity to create radical change, change that has been needed for a long time - you will seize the moment and adapt.

What really bugs me about the whole 'dumpster fire' thing is how disingenuous it really is. People lost their lives in 2020. At the hands - and knees - of police officers, to a virus, as a result of environmental destruction, and to systems that works to divide us. To try to draw a comparison between that and a problem that can be resolved with a few fire extinguishers seems utterly tone-deaf. Yes, I get the meme - but we can do better than that. In fact many people are doing better than that.

I know many of you who read this did amazing things in 2020 and that is what I'm going to remember.

~ Steve