At the end of every year my friend Lisa asks her family and friends to pick a word to guide them through the new year ahead.* I usually have trouble settling on just one word. But this time, as I thought of 2021 one word came immediately and clearly to mind: REASSEMBLE.
During 2020, as we began to face a global pandemic, we certainly became handicapped in our ability to assemble. In the blink of an eye, we gathered in small groups, socializing only with those living inside of our household. We were restricted in our ability to travel to see beloved friends and family members who live out of town. Our methods of connecting with work colleagues shifted online to technologically innovative platforms. Family celebrations (and unfortunately, also losses) were shared largely through FaceTime. We even had trouble collecting and putting together our thoughts and feelings, as we struggled to adapt to an uncertain future.
Many of us satisfied our craving for assembly by putting together jigsaw puzzles. Or forming children’s education and play pods. Or combining ingredients from our fridge and pantry into gourmet meals or doughy and delicious baked goods. Still others demonstrated their right to assemble, taking to the streets, socially distanced, to raise their voices for social justice.
In the early months of 2020, before COVID-19 was widespread in the U.S., I created and delivered a TEDx talk about taking a compassionate approach to resilience. What I teach in that talk is that building resilience is not about getting tough or hardening ourselves up, but feeling the full range of positive as well as difficult emotions, and using all of our strengths in novel ways. The lesson learned here is that as we face new challenges, we are called to reassemble our wide range of strengths we all have within us, continually coming through adversity stronger than we were before.
This year, I also learned that creativity does not necessarily mean producing something new or original. As Dr. Barbara Colombo’s research suggests, a mere shift in perspective, even just through rearranging the furniture in our living room and seeing our home differently, is a creative endeavor that improves our mood and increases our resilience. I believe that this principle holds for creating our best life as well: reassembling our strengths and using our best qualities to use them in positive ways.
So as we begin a new year, here are just some of the ways I look forward to reassembling in 2021, personally and professionally:
Visiting my 92-year old mother in her long-term care facility without fear of getting infected, or unknowingly transmitting the virus to her (and to hug her!)
Traveling with my husband to spend much needed family time with my son and his wife, and seeing their new house — and holding their new puppy (who will no longer be a puppy by the time we meet her)
Reconnecting with my friends and extended family, in my neighborhood and around the country, to share meals, stories, and laughs - together, (masked) face to (masked) face
Teaching an online course developmental psychology to students at Champlain College — which requires me to reassemble my professional and practical knowledge of human development, and learn new and creative ways of delivering content and engaging young people in Zoom rooms
Regrouping via Zoom with my positive education community and finding new ways to appreciate one another’s skills and expertise, and to continue helping families increase their resilience through wellbeing practices, beyond the tips and eBook we assembled to write in 2020
Reuniting - online and in person (fingers crossed for Fall 2021) with my Camp Atta Girl! friends, and recombining the tools and practices of positive psychology with Let Your Yoga Dance through retreats and new programs for young people and their parents
Together, let’s pick up the pieces, and reassemble them in new and positive ways in 2021.
Wishing you successful and Happy Reassembling New Year!
How will you reassemble in 2021? Email me at ellen@EllenFeigGray.com, Tweet me @EllenFeigGray, or post on my Facebook page.
*I’ve just learned from a Twitter hashtag that choosing #oneword2021 is “a thing”