March Forth – 2021

My favorite day of the year, March 4th, is here again. It’s the date also an imperative command: March Forth!

My approach this year is low-key because, as much as I love it, the date feels a little surreal. The last 52 weeks have wrung-out the collective psyche, and marching forth in a global pandemic has proved challenging in ways never imagined in 2020.

Trying to comprehend the past year’s grief and loss on the global scale is mind-boggling; experiencing that loss within our own families is heartbreaking. Work and home life have shifted dramatically, and we have had to reinvent and readjust from moment to moment. While our ability to reconfigure so much while being physically distanced and masked-up is a testament to the power of human creativity, it’s also been hard on the spirit.

But I’m nothing if not a fan of spirit resuscitation, so I want to remind you of the following: YOU ARE DOING A GREAT JOB. You’ve put one foot in front of the other for the last year through struggle and stress. And, even if it’s only felt like survival or frustration or exhaustion, you’ve been marching forth this whole time. Your fortitude is impressive and there is no need to do anything new unless you want to. But if you do, I say go for it.

Perhaps this year we need some additional ways to think about marching forth. Take these for a spin and how they feel:

  1. March Forth – the classic. It’s full of aspiration, joie de vivre, and vim! I can hear the brass band celebrating you in the background now!
  2. Keep Calm and Carry On – put on something tailored and tweed (at least from the waist up for Zoom), make yourself a cup a tea, and get to it
  3. Just Keep Swimming – channel your inner Dory, and sing to yourself as you face your fears and move through the sea of uncertainty with the grace and memory of a goldfish
  4. When in doubt, remember you can “begin by taking a smallish nap or two.” Winnie the Pooh’s approach may be your key to marching forth

Give any and all of these a try, and remember that there is no wrong way to march forth. Find your method and keep going. You’ve made it this far, and that’s pretty amazing.

Here’s to a good year ahead. Onward.

 

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