The season of life has changed exponentially this year, hasn’t it. And no, I don’t just mean the Earth’s climate which is of great concern but anyway, it has been one hell of a year. 2020 is a time that will be documented in the history books for future generations. The black lives matter movement, the pandemic, the election, the Australian bushfires & West Coast wildfires, Beirut explosion, I mean, the list this year is pretty long and heavy.

Every year has it’s ups and downs but this year reminded me of the year we had all the mass shootings one after another. The year we just wanted to end. It’s kind of ironic the way I ended off 2019 and my mindset going into the 2020 because I was ready to take on the new year at full force… and then shit basically hit the fan.

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.

Anne Bradstreet, The Works of Anne Bradstreet

But if there’s one thing that this year has taught me is that nothing is guaranteed in this life, you have to fight for what you believe in, for what you want and that love, above all else, is what matters. I’ve always believed that we live in a world that’s imperfect, and with imperfection comes the struggles, the fights, the adversity, the sorrow and everything in between which is something not many understand. If this was a perfect world, people wouldn’t be murdered, they wouldn’t have to suffer and our planet wouldn’t be treated as giant waste.

But unfortunately, that’s not this place. That means we have to gain our strength through the trials we’re met with from the unexpected. Our drive to succeed comes from the amount of times we face failure without allowing ourselves to give up no matter how devastated we are. We open our minds and our hearts to those who are different and suffering because empathy is what starts the change. It connects us.

There’s a beauty and an essence that blooms out of adversity and change

We have to allow ourselves to be transformed by what we live through. To be transformed in a way that empowers us and pushes us forward. This is where we discover our resilience, our identity and our willingness to push forward. There’s a beauty and an essence that blooms out of adversity and change. Our job is to capture it and let it grow.

Though the seasons continue to change, so do we as individuals. So do we as human beings and as a collective species. It’s through these circumstances, these seasons that we establish who we are and what we stand for. We’re evolving every day, every year, right along with it.