Compassion and Hope
A belated happy, healthy new year to you all.
I hope you found some time during the festive season to rest, reflect and reset your energies, focus and body for the year ahead.
No doubt for so many this year began and will continue for some time to present deep challenges. So much of the world is feeling the impact of the global pandemic worse than ever before, as hospitals bursting at the seams, frontline workers continue to serve beyond exhaustion, and families care for and mourn the loss of loved ones.
For those of us privileged to be living in parts of the world where COVID-19 has had minimal disruption to our lives, we look around in dismay, with concern and feeling incredible gratitude and wonder, that we should be so fortunate and blessed to enjoy good health, safety and relative freedom of movement.
However, as with many things in life, complacency has the potential to be our enemy. If the world and what is happening in and around it has taught us anything in the last year, it is to never take things for granted - health, safety, freedom, love, security, relationships, comfort, prosperity and happiness.
26th January in my country marks Australia Day. A public holiday where many around the nation celebrate being Australian and all that this means to them and their families. In truth it is the date over 200 years ago that marked the start of British colonisation and rule over ancient Indigenous peoples who the colonisers murdered, enslaved and dispossessed, thereby causing untold generational trauma.
For a long time, the true story behind Australia Day was not one we spoke of freely, was not one that was publicly acknowledged. But thankfully we have moved on. In the pursuit of true reconciliation, where there is still so much work to be done and changes to be made, we now come together to reflect on this country’s real history that dates back tens of thousands of years, we respect the wisdom, richness and contributions of our indigenous brothers and sisters - the originals inhabitants of this land, and we celebrate that we should all be so fortunate to live in the land that we collectively call the lucky country.
And so, as with Australia Day, as I look forward into this new year, I reflect on the trauma that our world and millions of people around us are experiencing and I grieve for them, pray for them and hope fervently that better, brighter days and relief from the suffering is not far away. The advent of vaccines is what brings hope for us all, that we will heal our communities so we can take better care of each other, respect each other better and our planet because that is what mother earth is crying out for us to do. Our humanity depends on it.
What word will you take into this year as your inspiration, motivator and mantra? For me, there are two words - compassion and hope. Now more than ever I believe we must feel and exercise greater compassion towards others, and we must do so whilst being able to simultaneously hold onto and protect hope. Hope that we will all learn the lessons from the past, that humanity can heal itself, and that we can do better when given the chance.
As Gandhi said “We must be the change we wish to see in the world”, and I hope we get the opportunity to do just that through the ripples and waves we can create individually, and as a collective.
