History Has Its Eyes On Us
A Happy New Year to you all and welcome to the Year 2021; Or if we’re really looking at the true span of human civilisation, welcome to the Year 12,021! I like to use that number on occasion, not for any real reason other than as a reminder of how long ago our ancestors first began to explode into a civilisation of agriculture and trade — approximately 10,000 years before our AD count began. Yet that huge number of years is still a mere blip in the history of humans as a species, and an even smaller blip in the history of Planet Earth. I also can’t help but see that number and feel even more shocked about how drastically we are changing the climate and delicate balance of the planet in just the last 100 of those 12,021 years.
So, here we are in 2021. We made it through 2020, which for all of us was a weird and challenging year that none had imagined when we were celebrating its arrival 12 months ago. I had started 2020 optimistic about completing my degree and stepping out towards all the opportunities that lay beyond it (though I would’ve no doubt procrastinated my future regardless…). Yet my degree got cut short — despite still graduating successfully — and I was then left to just bob along in a world flipped on its head. I’ll be honest, I’ve really struggled with feeling much purpose. I’m very lucky to be able to ride out the storm at home with my family, comfortable; but that comfort isn’t exactly fulfilling. So like many of us fickle humans, as the end of 2020 began to draw closer, I told myself that 2021 would be filled with renewed motivation. It’s strange isn’t it? How we as a species picked a random day in the cycle of the Earth and that day marks a new beginning and even manages to provide some level of drive to so many of us. But hey, I need some motivation so I’ll take what I can get at this point.
I was listening to Mystery Jets’ most recent album yesterday (which is fantastic might I add, so many powerful songs written with urgency about tons of social issues and protests over the past few years). One song really did give me a little kick though, as corny as that sounds. History Has Its Eyes On You; Written about the Women’s Marches of 2017, Blaine sings lyrics such as “Be who you needed when you were younger” and “To chase those shivers down their spines, Be kind and never quit, ’Cause history has its eyes on you”. It struck me as something which felt really quite topical of this year too. Whether it’s still to do with Women’s rights or whether it’s extrapolated to Black Lives Matter or the Climate Crisis; It feels like this year — as we hopefully begin to see economies emerge from the Coronavirus pandemic — history does indeed have its eyes on us all. We’ve got a lot of work to do on many issues and the pandemic has revealed a lot of the cracks in our current societies as well as exposing ways out of them. We’ve got an opportunity to build back better. To craft a world in which our descendants can look back at us with gratitude, not disappointment.
Many studies have looked at how we can emerge from this current crisis with a more resilient, healthy and sustainable society. We need to focus on longer-term goals rather than just trying to rebuild the economy back to where it was before. From decarbonising our energy and manufacture systems, to rewilding our planet and allowing biodiversity to abound once more. Creating a resource driven economy, rather than a profit driven economy where we put value in the raw materials and skills of all, rather than the value of endless profit. A circular economy would be interwoven through every industry, meaning that every individual has more transferrable skills. The workforce becomes more resilient through flexibility and foresight of what we will need and what we won’t 10, 20, 30+ years down the line, allowing for us to plan out changes without having to suddenly lay off thousands of workers when steel plants close with no alternative employment. For example, by 2030 60% of oil and gas platforms in the North Sea will be decommissioned. Not only does this mean we need to find work for those talents, it also leaves us with a whole heap of physical resources that can be repurposed. We know that it’s coming and therefore we can plan for it. One study found that a green recovery could result in 2 million more jobs in the EU by 2024. Whether our leaders want to acknowledge it or not, a green recovery isn’t just necessary, its hugely beneficial to us all. The upcoming (delayed from last year) COP26 Summit in Glasgow this November has the potential to be groundbreaking. Joe Biden’s upcoming presidency should bring the US back to the table for global green commitments, with Biden promising to return the US to the Paris Agreement as soon as possible. This decade is make or break for the climate crisis, we have to do the right thing for ourselves and the planet.
Covid has kicked us down and given us an opportunity to take a different route. It’s made us reassess what is important to us, how we live and work, and a New Year provides the motivation to make some changes in ourselves. For me, I’m not setting myself New Year’s Resolutions that I’ll just give up on in a few weeks time. I’ve instead decided to set myself a challenge every month, some might stick and become habits, some might be interesting experiments that I won’t repeat. Setting myself goals like “get fit” or “learn guitar” etc don’t really work for me, it’s just an arbitrary end goal; So, setting myself more manageable habitual challenges where it’s the commitment to an action should be better. For January, it’s to only ever have one day in a row where I don’t exercise. I’ve got ideas for future challenges and may give you updates on here and social media as I go!
2021 is going to be another challenging but big year, we’re starting it still in the thick of Covid here in the UK. This decade is pivotal and history has its eyes on us. That’s rather terrifying so, take care of yourselves and maybe join me with some personal development challenges so that you can end 2021 proud of yourself at the very least!
