Reflecting on a long year, and hoping you'll "Take 10"

It's been a long year.  I seem to say it every year despite the fact that they're really all the same length.  Even the leap ones are really the same, we just adjust our calendars every four years to account for the extra fractional amount of a day that is part of our orbit around the sun.  But I'm veering off course - this also seems to be a more common occurrence for me these days.

My head is filled with too much, often unfiltered data, which makes it hard to concentrate and stay focused. I'm not sure if the distractions are too tantalizing to ignore or if I'm looking for them.  Will I get to 12 swipes of my MetroCard this week, what treats should I get my cats, will Morocco win the World Cup, what's an interesting item to get for a holiday gift exchange, what can I wear that will make me look less pudgy, or answering a Facebook prompt "if you could bring one business back to the neighborhood that used to be here, which one would it be?" Yup, that's me. Not surprisingly, everything takes far longer that it should.  

But that's only part of it.  That's my 'life'.  Then there's 'work.'  Hybrid work schedules, staffing challenges, burnout, Covid/RSV/flu considerations, quiet quitting, inflation and possible recession, relationship building, masking and vaccination requirements, evolving workplace cultures.  An article that is being widely circulated captures all of this - and more - from an organizational lens. "Building Resilient Organizations: Toward Joy and Durability in a Time of Crisis" by Maurice Mitchell, the head of the Working Families Party, lists ten trends impacting the sector - from an anti-leadership sentiment, to 'unanchored care' which expects organizations to take care of all aspects of one's life, to 'maximalism' which believes that anything less than the 'ideal' is a betrayal of core values.  Reading (or listening to) his thoughtful, dense and brave essay is worth the time.  It was particularly resonant and helped me realize that many are having similar experiences.

No wonder we are feeling exhausted as we come to mid-December. The pandemics are ongoing and seemingly are with us for the foreseeable future.  We've been 'meeting the moment' and all that it has demanded and asked of us.  And we're also 'making the moment' -  shaping and defining what the future can be - using the knowledge, wisdom and experience that we have.  But to meet the moment and to make it, we also need to take a moment.  Whether it's a 10-minute break, or a 10-day pause, or something else, taking the time to step away from a hectic day in this frenetic time, is important.

I hope that you'll Take 10 - in whatever form that looks like to you, and intentionally take a moment to exhale and pause during this year-end period - to take time for rest and restoration.  

I'm looking forward to the work that we'll do in the new year. Happy holidays.