I am not going to lie, 2020 was tough — as it was for loads of people, some more so than me. The pandemic hit at a time I was finally moving towards the goals I have worked for for a long time. Then this happened, that happened, blah blah blah woe is me right.

Wrong.

I’m looking up. And forward to the time that things will be easier, quieter and a whole lot more social. There will be a time when I don’t have to miss people as much as I do. I don’t have to worry after every cough that I’ve caught something, and a time when I can do things on days off. However, I absolutely refuse to go back to the way things were and I hope you are too.

Choosing to Return to the way things were is like choosing not to adopt software a decade or two ago. It’s an option, but one that will doom a company to mediocrity. (Packy McCormick, We’re Never Going Back

We are not The nEw NoRmaL but the hope I look up to is that we become something different than before. That I become something different. Working, Social and everything in-between is improved to a point where it improves lives and we are more community orientated. We look out for each other and build a community around it that cares for us in our times of need and is built of real relationships.

Not likes, not retweets, not clicks not views. Nothing that can be measurable and compatible. Something that is a lot more real, almost tangible.

Unfortunately, I have no idea what that is, but I don’t trust the current crop of web platforms to care about anything other than metrics and growth. We are the ones that need to care about each other more. We are the users that provide platforms with content and drive the growth they crave. The ones that hold the power to change our own communities for the good.

We can’t rely on anyone but ourselves to look forward, look around and change the things we are not happy with. It could be working conditions in our company, it could be needing more support from friends, it could be focusing yourself in different areas. It doesn’t matter what it is, look forward.

We simply don’t deserve to just slip back to the way thing were.