Lessons from 2020: Productive Take-Aways for Women

A dear friend recently suggested I put Train4Birth on Pinterest. I was hesitant to add another social media platform to the cue. Especially after watching The Social Dilemma. But I know that staying “up” on what’s happening in the world is important. And how important it is to seek out different points of view... especially as a female entrepreneur.

And….Wow. I was floored.

After months of not going anywhere. After months of only interacting with only a handful of people during quarantine.  Exploring the deep, sparkling back end of Pinterest felt like a mini-vacation. People’s creativity gave me a little more hope. I  regained some faith in humanity.

As I got to know the platform, one of my favorite things was learning top Pintrist trends in 2020.

Without intending to, it showed some positive takeaways from a year that… in so many ways, was a dumpster fire. 

In my brain, I’ve been referring to these takeaways as the 4 N’s: Nature, Nostalgia, Neutrality, and Non-Isolation.

1. Reconnecting to Nature

I learned about the concept of re-wilding this year. In other words, merging indoor life and outdoor life. Rewilding can manifest in many ways.  Minimalist camping, for example. Yep, that's camping without a tent

Admirable? Yes.

Would I do it with a toddler? No.

A less adventurous way to re-wild your life is to include some natural bark in your home decor.  Eco-friendly/sustainable living has always been one of my nonprofessional obsessions. This fits right in for me.

It seems in 2020 people have become enamored with outer-space too. Constellation piercings, tattoos, even planetary makeup have been trendy. Crafts and themed-parties feature the northern lights, astrology, and constellations.

Amidst a year that has defied every concept of “normal” and “predictable”... it seems we yearning for connections with constants: Water. Stars. Air. Space. Dirt. Plants. 

Here is what I hope for with a shift towards a rewilding mindset:

Refocusing our energy on interacting with, and protecting the natural world around us.

As women, the natural world takes us back to our deepest instincts.

The natural world creates something of a return to our deepest feminine instincts. There's no pressure from the unspoken straightjacket of unrealistic expectations to be perfect. We don't need to have it all/ do it all. We can just exist, simply and naturally.

As author and activist, Glennon Doyle puts it, we yearn to be Untamed by prior societal norms. We strive for our “truest, most beautiful lives”.

For me, that means stepping away from the material, hectic distractions in our lives. And into a simpler, but more deeply connected existence:

• It means instead of putting on makeup every morning, I say a prayer.
• It means taking my son to a trail by our house and reading books there for a change of scenery instead of turning on the TV.
• It means driving less and walking more.
• It means devoting energy to meeting my neighbors instead of driving all over the city.
• It means feeling a little freer to be myself without fear of judgment. It means thinking, eventually, about responsible travel (hello, agritourism!)
• It means contemplating intergenerational living.
• It means nutritious living with indoor microgreens.
• It means global empathy
• It means bringing feng shui into my home.
• It means conscientious consumption and upcycling.
• It means pondering how to better balance Giving and Receiving.
• It means being intentional about calling friends and family instead of texting them.
• It means listening to the voices of the people I love
• It means using my voice.

2.  Being Nostalgic 

Has anyone else noticed a resurgence of 90’s TV shows lately? 

I lived in the ’90s. I was in elementary and middle school then. I fondly (and vividly!) remember Tamagotchis, Full House, and scrunchies. I remember fearing the unknown when I flipped the numbers on my spiral-bouned calendar from 1999 to 2000.

This fear isn't similar to the fear we've faced in 2020. The of the effects of COVID on our collective health, economics, and politics are TBD. And yet... December 31st, 1999 affected the entire globe at the same time, the way COVID has. There was a countdown clock in the front window of my brightly painted elementary school. It always felt like a ticking time-bomb, predicting a volcano. My imaginative preadolescent brain thought exploding computer parts that would bury us. I felt certain we would reach a bleak apocalyptic end.

I don’t remember an adult taking the time to break down where fear of the unknown came from. Or how to manage that fear.

When I think about that now, I transpose it into my motherhood. It's my responsibility to share with my son as much unbiased history and scientific conclusion as is age-appropriate. We talk about our feelings and impressions about what’s happening around us. The more we name things, the less anxiety-inducing they become. 

3. Gender Neutrality

It’s fascinating to see the subtle ways we respond to blatant social justice violations. Both in our own lives and around the world. It's easy to feel discouraged when reading about discrimination toward the LGBT community. Or institutionalized sexism. Or people in power who get away with habitual acts of abuse. It's easy to feel discouraged and voiceless.

I live in Tennessee. I was recently shocked to find out that we are the 49th worst state for women to live in. Pay inequalities, homicide rates, sex trafficking, limited women in office, workplace harassment, and more are not in our favor.

The wage gap between men and women in TN increases the more educated a woman. Do something you can control. Fina a manageable way to put all genders on an equal footing. This may be the formula we need to create a gender-neutral sweet spot for future generations.

4.  NonIsolation/Multi-Cultural Engagement 

It's clear how many people are searching for “something different”.

It's obvious even in the recent rise in searches for international recipes. Engaging with flavors and cooking techniques from all corners of the world is a fantastic way to cultivate an appreciation for diversity.

For example, does your child loves Mexican corn? It can serve as a memorable jump-off point for dinner table discussions. Chat about DACA, the Dream Act, or division and detention of families at the US-Mexico border. It’s not fun nor nutritious to eat the same thing day in and day out. Nor is it fun nor nutritious for our community to have an overly homogeneous make-up.

Let’s Learn Something From All This

Each of our decisions matter. On both large and small scales. We are capable of living contentiously. As a community, we can take hard times and turn them into something productive.