I’m not even going to try to write something deep and meaningful about what 2020 has meant to us. I wouldn’t know where to start. I look back at my January 2020 self – I’m sure we all do this with our fresh faced, innocent, January 2020 selves – and think about how she had no idea what was about to hit her.
It’s been a year like no other for all of us, full of loss, change, new ways of doing things, and for some of us, hopefully, growth and learning. Here are some of our lessons from 2020, some of which we know we wouldn’t have learned had this year turned out differently.
Starting with a less serious one – never cook bacon, vegan or otherwise, in your camper van. Just don’t do it. The smell will live on FOREVER. This is one of a few camping tips I’ve picked up in 2020- more here!
What all the fuss about mindfulness is about. I’d tried to do mindfulness before, and failed as I just didn’t really know where to start. A guided five week course through work proved to be life changing, and with daily guided exercises and homework it really did transform the way I approach life, stress and unhelpful thoughts. I love the idea, for example, that it’s OK for a worry (and god knows we’ve all had enough of those in 2020!) to enter your head – and for you to acknowledge it – but to then let it drift through your head and out the other side – like watching a car drive past, and choosing not to get in it. Here are some starter mindfulness exercises if it’s something you’d like to try in 2021.
How to make sourdough bread, and other types of bread too. Such a cliche…. but prompted by the yeast shortage of early 2020, I decided to make a sourdough starter, which has led to a 2020 filled with fresh bread and far too much eating of poppy seed rolls slathered with Naturli vegan butter.
That losing something can be a gateway to something exciting and new. Like lots of people this year, Colin was made redundant from his main job at a small Edinburgh charity. We had a tough few weeks when we knew this was in the offing, with meetings and negotiations for Colin, and then the reality of knowing that from October, he’d no longer have a steady income. His dream – and part of our bigger dream – has been to teach people to swim and spend every day in the sea, but giving up his job to focus solely on that seemed a huge step. With the decision made for him, he put everything into growing Scottish Swimmer, his coaching business – and hasn’t looked back. To date, he’s swum 120k in the sea this year teaching some 200 people from beginners to elite swimmers, and has even bigger plans for 2021.
How much of a lifeline books can be. I’ve always been a very avid reader – I love the way books transport you to another world, especially when you need it most. And with no option to actually go very far in 2020, books took on an even bigger role in my life. Here are some of my favourites from 2020 –
Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart – Bleak, brilliant and heartbreaking. Might be my book of 2020.
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell – So evocative, richly detailed and almost unbearably sad – the story of Shakespeare’s son Hamnet who died as a child.
Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton – Honest, painful, funny and warm, like talking to an old friend.
A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World – C.A Fletcher – set in a post apocalyptic world, the book traces a young boy’s journey from the Outer Hebrides to southern England to find his stolen dog. Hopeful and engrossing with an unexpected twist.
Under Milk Wood – Dylan Thomas – one of those books that I have always meant to read but never got round to. I’m only sorry I left it so late. The scene between Captain Cat and Rosie Probert is beautifully heart-rending.
Finally, 2020 has taught me to take one day at a time as, now more than ever, we have no idea what tomorrow might bring. I’ve never been great at this, and often find myself looking forward to the next thing – a holiday, a work trip away, the weekend – and forgetting about the here and now. All we actually have is today, and this moment – yesterday is gone, and tomorrow isn’t real yet. So I’m learning to be better at existing just in the moment, and this has been a good strategy for me in 2020. As I write this, I have no idea what the next few weeks or months might hold – potentially school closures, further restrictions, certainly more time at home. The only thing I do know is that today my family and I are safe and well, and that nothing else really matters beyond that.
Happy 2021, everyone – here’s to a year that hopefully brings us peace, health and happiness.