I won't sugarcoat it—I’m worried about what 2025 might bring. Society faces enormous challenges, and it often seems that instead of lifting each other up and working together, we're busy tearing each other down and becoming more polarized.
But my life experience has shown me many pathways of community, collaboration, goodness, and strength. I’m re-committing myself to working with others to take action based on these values. It won't be easy; in fact, it might be harder than ever. But I’ve seen these pathways in action, and they are incredibly important, empowering, and powerful.
I know many of my friends are less worried about the impact of the new Trump administration. Some even support Donald Trump. And I still value my friendships with you. I hope you can understand my deep worry, shared by many, that Trump will double down on unnecessary division and thoughtless disrespect. That he will inspire others to demonize their fellow humans, creating a more dog-eat-dog world.
These issues aren't entirely Trump’s doing. Our society has been heading down this path for a while. As a political junkie, I’ve watched our provincial and national politics in Canada become more partisan and hard-hearted since the late 1990s. We seem to reward conflict over collaboration. The news media, reflecting society, feeds us a steady diet of negativity and sensationalism. We have fewer venues now for different people to get to know each other, highlight the positive, have thoughtful conversations, and find ways to collaborate. The Trump era often seems like a logical extension of what has been gaining momentum for years.
Given today’s challenges and opportunities, we need to find ways to collaborate more than ever. Climate change, the overdose crisis, huge cost of living increases, extreme weather—we are living with these enormous challenges and many others. Wouldn't it make sense for us to use as many hearts and brains as possible to work together to address these challenges? And maybe even find that addressing these challenges in the most effective ways can uncover massive opportunities.
During my foundational facilitator and community engagement training, my teachers shared a few insights that resonate with me as I write these thoughts. First, it starts with self-reflection and self-care. Second, diving deeper into an issue or question is extremely valuable. Third, achieving the best outcomes on a community or larger level requires a great diversity of perspectives working well together.
So, a big part of 2025 for me will be:
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Improving my personal health: I’m 55 years old, overweight, out of shape, and have aches and pains I probably shouldn't. I have high blood pressure caused by naturally occurring hormones and exacerbated by factors I can control. I want to feel better physically. If I’m at my physical best, I feel I can be better for those around me and for the world in general.
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Really getting deep: A lot of community conversation is still pretty superficial. People don’t embrace their own abilities to be a force for good. Within each of us, there are deep wells of desire, ability, and knowledge. I want to work on myself and support others to dig deep.
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Promoting the value of diverse perspectives: At the highest levels of leadership, we constantly see the delegitimization of honest and heartfelt perspectives. It’s not that the leader of a different political party has a different opinion; it’s that this person is entirely bad. Different views are not celebrated; they are termed outrageous, shameful, completely out of touch, even treasonous. What are citizens to think when we see our leaders behaving this way? Thankfully, at the local and regional levels, and in many day-to-day grassroots examples, we see great examples of collaboration and positive community building. We welcome different perspectives and invite them as critical to achieving the best outcomes.
There is more to say here. I welcome your reflections on 2025 and, if you would like, your reflections on mine. 