DO we really want to reflect on 2024? Was it a “good” year? Were you true to yourself? Did you do any good deeds? Were you authentic? Take giant steps on your journey? Make the world a better place? Do you find these questions nauseating?
2024 was the year of hard truths and deep cynicism. This year was painful, difficult and discouraging. Maybe not for everyone but it was for me. I don’t mean to be a Kelly Killjoy but it is where I am right now. I am not alone in feeling this way.
Every advocate goes through this. It is like burnout but worse. Sarcasm and inappropriate humor are no longer affective. Positivity requires too much effort. There are no more excuses for bad decisions made by people who are bad at making good decisions. Even the most pleasant people are unbearable. We find ourselves knee deep in contemptuous bitterness.
If there is a silver lining – it is that I am not alone in this. I would go so far as to say that this is a platinum lining. I am feeling it now but next week it will be somebody else’s turn. The week after that, someone else. We listen, we validate and we wait, knowing that the worst thing we can do is try and talk them out of how they are feeling.
This phenomena is not a coordinated effort. We don’t plan episodes in hostility. We certainly don’t intervene. Unless it is to make a really dumb joke and that is only to be done if the person “in it” is a close friend.
If we must reflect on the past 12 months, that was my big takeaway – that I am fortunate to have people close by who woman the ship when I feel like jumping and I do the same for them.