Since venturing into the nonprofit world 8-ish years ago, the week between Christmas and New Year’s has become an annual tradition of reflection, planning, goal setting and excitement for the new year to come. Personally, I think everyone should be given this time to unplug, relax, reflect and recover. I know, I know, I heard the “privilege” just typing it, but still... When you add a seemingly never ending global pandemic to the mix, I think this down time is more needed than ever. I could go on and on about all the shitty things that happened in 2021 - the stress, anxiety, disappointment, frustration, anger, and loss. Ask Lauren, I’m pretty good at it, but this is not that post. However, here are a few things I learned this year: science is real, vaccines and masks work, assault weapons need to be banned, listen more and hate less, eat more plants, when in doubt - go for a run, Black Lives Matter, it’s a woman’s choice, support is a verb, remote work works, there should actually be a separation of church and state, and I really miss Stevie K. 2021 wasn’t all doom and gloom though, I mean Michigan is in the College Football Playoff - something I definitely did not have on my 2021 bingo card! There was a ton of growth (both as a metaphor and also quite literally) for my family and I this year. I have no clue what 2022 has in store for us, but I can guarantee more adventures and more growth. I’m going to continue to work on being a good father, a good partner, and a good friend, a good son and a good brother. As my guy Tommy Rivs would say, “Eyes up. Stout heart. Rage on.” https://www.instagram.com/p/CYHSkp-rUTf/?utm_medium=tumblr
