For me, 2022 was the year of “togetherness”.
Johannesburg, South Africa (05 December 2022) – The other day I asked you to give me a phrase or name for 2022 and the answers were so interesting.
Some were hopeful, others incredibly sad, some barely holding on, while others spoke of resilience, growth, decision-making, exhaustion, compromise, torment, heartbreak, patience, understanding and learning.
I was asked what my answer was and I said that for me, 2022 was the year of perspective. After a horrid couple of years, we were forced to look at the world through a different lens. A harder lens. A kinder lens. A lens that we didn’t ask for but one that we were learning to navigate.
But I want to change my answer.
I think my phrase for 2022 is togetherness.
The years before were so incredibly tough. Do you remember how quickly it all changed and how weird it got? And the weird just got weirder. And then we got the sads, and then we all got angry. We stayed angry for the longest time – I mean, there was sads in between, but we were all angry. Some of us are still there. We all had to deal with a loss of normalcy, loss of incomes and loss of loved ones. The world shifted, and we all kinda lost our balance.
All of a sudden, we were picking sides and pointing fingers. For the vaccine. Against it. Agreeing with the regulations. Pointing out how ridiculous they were. Losing loved ones. More sadness. More anger. Laughing about roast chickens. Crying about cigarettes. Cheering for the frontline workers. Screaming about TRESemmé. Loving the family meetings. Hating them the next day.
It felt like we were constantly being asked to pick a side when all we wanted was for it to end. All of us. That’s all we wanted.
And then it did.
Well kinda, the South African government are still publishing stats (but most of us have muted that media WhatsApp group). Hard no.
I digress.
We all wanted the same thing. And that brings me to my point… we found strength in each other. In our togetherness.
Living in South Africa is not for sissies. We got through the Cofifi but then remembered that we still have some of the worst crime stats in the world (and violent crime at that), we have disgusting amounts of corruption, really kak leadership and, and, and… it’s a lot! But we somehow get through it together.
Because we truly are stronger together.
Yes, perspective is everything. And the way we see the world depends on how we look at it. I’ve realised that there were never any sides. Not really. I don’t think sides actually exist. That’s things made up to divide us.
We gotta remember our togetherness.
So my advice this morning is to look at your world differently. See our togetherness. Seek out the things that we have in common, look for our differences. Find the things that we are all striving for, fighting for and making happen.
The world is a tough place, but we’re in this together friends… and that’s how we get through it. Together.
That’s it.
Togetherness.
Okay. Love you. Bye.
by 