Sometimes I feel like there are only two versions of me, the most perfect and the most fallible. While I know it isn’t true, that there are loads of versions of Dan Greenberg somewhere in between those two polar opposites, I find it’s a challenge to see beyond those two at times. Perhaps I’m simply prone to hyperbole, or maybe I just fall into the same trap that lots of folks do. Either way, the way we decide to view this past year is going to take a little framing.
About a month ago I was reading this article in the NYT and a few ideas really resonated with me, particularly this: we need to stop calling this year lost. For better or worse, this is the year that we got, and like my mother often told me, in not so many words, when I sat down to eat dinner as a child, you get what you get. I loved that the article talked about our kids’ collective resiliency and how there are loads of unique experiences that we all endured that have the capacity to shape us for the better. I guess what I take away most is there is no value in lamenting the year that could have been and then calculating our losses based on that idyllic version. Accept the 2020-2021 school year for what it was, take the lumps and the lessons with us, and use that newfound wisdom to plan for 2021-2022.
Was it the worst year ever? Not by a long shot. It may have seemed like it at times, but I’ve seen campuses whether their way through unspeakable tragedies that would pale our current situation in comparison. Was it the best year ever? Um, no. I’m going to fight the urge to slap a label on what we’ve lived through, instead I’m going to focus on what I’ve learned, how I’ve grown, and what I need to do this coming year to get things back to normal.
#conditproud
Dan
Dan @ Condit 