Resolutions and predictions are seasonal activities I typically avoid. This year, what with everything, I find myself peering into the coming year a little harder. I find myself hopeful for improvement, anxious about more of the same, and fearful of worse.
I sense so much desire for normality and to have things back as they were. This sentiment needs to be treated with caution. As an amateur public health policy maker, it seems too soon to me.
The conflation of normal with tidy needs to be treated with caution, too. Normality was always messy and unpredictable. Unpredictable mess is what we do so well. My own career is a product of unpredictable mess, as is yours, and will continue to be.
So, as I wonder, I will try and hold on to some stable elements in that muddled history. Maintaining a sense of purpose will continue to be useful. Being dogmatic about that purpose, less so. Expecting straight lines will be frustrating. Trying things out will continue to be the answer. Conversation is everything. (And play the guitar more, of course).
