20 Things I Learned in 2020

Hello everyone! I hope that you have all been enjoying these last couple weeks of the year and taking some much-deserved time away from “real life” - to just be, to heal, to spend time with loved ones, to process everything that has happened this year.

I’ve been doing some reflecting the last couple of days myself, and while I can easily say that this year did not go at all according to plan and has left me more disappointed than anything (just being real with you here), it’s still had many wonderful moments, and at the end of the day, I’m grateful for all of the unexpected things that it’s brought me, for the health and safety of my family and friends, and the memories I will surely never forget.

I thought it would be fun to share 20 things I learned in 2020 as a way to wrap up this weird year and remind myself that there is always beauty in every situation… and to hopefully encourage you to do the same … to reflect on the good, the bad and all of the in between, and appreciate all that it is.

So, here we go - 20 things I learned in 2020:

1) To expect (& embrace!) the unexpected. This one’s self-explanatory. We can plan and plan and plan until we’re dead, but when the Universe has something else in store for us, none of those plans are going to matter… and that’s just the way that it’s supposed to be.

2) Rest is just as important as all of the doing & accomplishing. This is something that I have known to be true for a while, but haven’t always allowed myself to put it into practice… and in the past when I have put it into practice, I’ve felt guilty for doing so. 2020 has taught me to let go of that guilt and allow myself the time and space to rest.

3) A shift in perspective can change everything. At the beginning of the COVID lockdowns, I was very angry. I knew that there was no “2 weeks to flatten the curve” and that this was going to be our reality for a while, regardless of what the media and the government was telling us. I felt like my life was being stripped away from me and that I had lost all control. It took some time, but eventually I shifted my perspective and decided that I was going to embrace having to stay home and take advantage of all the free time. Once I did that, my outlook became more positive and I found myself actually enjoying it (or maybe I just got used to things… we’ll never really know, I guess).

4) Movement truly is the medicine. I don’t know how I would have survived the first few months of lockdown without my daily walks. It was a further reminder to me that anytime I find myself in a funk, movement is the medicine.

5) A less than ideal situation can sometimes have amazing outcomes. In May, my best friend and I took our event, The Frequency Flow, virtual. While we can’t wait to get back to in person events, going virtual allowed us to connect with people from across the country, and even across the pond in Europe!

6) Energy is real. I’ve always been a BIG believer in energy. As an empath, I can read the energy of a person or a room very quickly, but this knowing was taken to the next level for me after receiving my L1 & L2 reiki attunements, and visiting Mount Shasta in August. I’m now taking clients for reiki, so please email me if you’d like to schedule a session :)

7) I hate Zoom. Plain and simple, the Zoom fatigue is real and I am f*cking over it. And no, I don’t want to do a Zoom happy hour.

8) We need to learn to listen to ourselves more & cancel out the noise of everyone else. We all know deep down what’s best for us and that we’re all on our own unique path, but we rely on others for direction and compare our journeys to the journeys of others wayyyyyy too much. We need to start learning to take a step back, to close our eyes and breath, and tune in with ourselves when we feel lost. It’s good to ask for guidance when you need it, but I think we’ve gotten to a point where we don’t even know what we want anymore, and all that “advice” isn’t helping us to get closer to ourselves, only farther away. You know what you want and need to do better than anyone else. Don’t let anybody tell you otherwise.

9) Even in lockdown, with less cars on the road, less planes in the sky, and less people on the streets, we’re finding new ways to destroy the planet. Bring your own bags to the store and bag your own groceries if the cashiers won’t do it for you (it’s really not that hard). Stop buying disposable masks. When you get take out, insist that you do not need napkins or plastic silverware. Request normal plates and silverware when you go out to eat instead of styrofoam takeout containers. Living through a pandemic is not an excuse to neglect Mother Earth.

10) Sometimes the only way to get through a bad situation is to laugh. Similar to movement, laughter is also medicine.

11) You’ll find out who your real friends are during a pandemic lockdown. I definitely have taken note of the friends I’ve heard from this year… the ones who have reached out to check on me and my family or even just to say hi, and maybe more importantly, the “friends” who haven’t - or the friends I find I’m always reaching out to first. It’s opened my eyes to who I can truly count on and made me appreciate them even more.

12) The fight isn’t over. We can no longer ignore the injustices that occur in this country against people of color. Just because the protests have ended doesn’t mean that we stop fighting. Racism in America is still very real, and if we want to see change happen, we have to keep fighting, keep educating ourselves, keep voting and keep speaking out when we see or hear racism happening in our every day lives.

13) My spirit is ready to uplevel. This year, my spiritual journey went deeper than it ever has (thanks in part to reiki!) and I don’t think I could have made it through this year without my spiritual practices. I feel it in my soul that I’m ready to take it to the next level… I’m not sure how just yet, but I know that will come to me in time… and I can’t wait for reiki 3 in January!

14) Just. keep. loving. Open your heart. Love the people in your life. Love the people that are hard to love. Love every. little. tiny. thing. Every sunset, every tree, every bird, every stranger on the street. And remember: only love is real.

15) It’s okay to be unmotivated. We all have dreams and goals and things we want to accomplish. My list of intentions for 2020 is pretty funny to look back on. I didn’t accomplish much of anything. I didn’t get to visit 2 national parks, travel to Mexico or land another teaching job at a yoga studio. Of course there were other things I wanted to accomplish that I had more control over, like launching my coaching offerings. But for the most part, with some exceptions, I just couldn’t find the motivation follow through on things. And that is okay! I SURVIVED. We’re human, and we’re not meant to be highly motivated all the time. Sometimes all we can do is make it through the day. Anyone who tells you otherwise is kidding themselves, and probably running themself into the ground in the process. Please see #2 for further clarification :)

16) There will always been things to celebrate. Even when things feel hopeless and sad and scary, there are always going to be good things happening all around us. I have so many friends who have gotten engaged, had babies, found new jobs, met new friends or partners, and accomplished things they never thought they could during this time. Be open to receiving all that the Universe has in store for you and it will all come to you in divine time.

17) We’re allowed to have hobbies & interests that don’t relate to one another. Yes, yoga and wellness are my passions, but it’s okay for me have interest in things outside of this realm that maybe don’t seem to “match up”… my obsession with true crime is a great example here. Explore things that intrigue you. Try new things. You never know what unexpected passion or interest you might discover and where that might take you.

18) When people come together, change can happen. The 2020 Presidential Election is the perfect example. Your voice matters, your vote matters, and together we can make a difference. #Biden2020

19) Family & friends are most important. Always. This may be controversial, but I don’t think that there is any situation that should lead us to believe that our loved ones are to be feared. We’ve been told to not see anyone outside of our household in person, to spend the holidays alone, and to quite literally hide from other people for the last 9 months. I simply refuse to cut my people out of my life in this way because at the end of the day, we don’t know if we’ll get a tomorrow or a next year or a next Christmas, and the time we have now is limited and precious.

20) The best is yet to come… & we have the power to create it. While the problems of 2020 aren’t just going to go away on January 1st, looking back, I can only believe that the best is yet to come (I mean it can’t really get much worse LOL KNOCK ON WOOD). We have to be hopeful. Even on the bad days, when all we can do is think about how horrible the world is and how much suffering we’re experiencing collectively, we have to believe that the best is yet to come. And then we have to start creating that for ourselves and for the world around us. Be kind. Volunteer. Donate. Stand up for what you believe in. We can’t sit back and wait for the change we want to happen to just come to us. We have to create it for ourselves.

This post went a little longer (and a little deeper!) than I was planning, but once I sat down and started typing, it just flowed. If you made it all the way to the end, thank you! I hope that some of this resonated with you.

Before I sign off, I also want to thank you all for being part of my little community… it’s been one of the highlights of 2020 for me, that’s for sure, and I can’t wait to see what 2021 will bring! Wishing you all a safe and happy new year… I’ll see you on the other side.

xo,
Kelsey