2021: A time for regeneration

2021 began, for me, on a semi-deserted beach in Cornwall. The sky was cloudy with poor visibility and yet, as the last few minutes of 2020 ebbed away, the clouds slowly parted to reveal a near-full moon lighting up the beach, with a star-lit sky pulsing overhead as midnight struck. The stars were out in full force and the freshness of the air was infectious. After a few moments, the clouds regrouped, and yet the stars remained visible.

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Just eight days into this new year and we’ve already seen global lockdowns, rising death rates, attempted coups, another hottest year on record and many of our education, economic and social systems falling apart in front of our noses. And yet, strange as it may sound, I feel very energised by what this year can offer.  

Things are bleak, yes. The world around us feels like its crumbling down, yes. Yet from this space comes regeneration – a space to rebuild, rethink, revitalise and reenergise what wasn’t working for us.

Regeneration: to be re-born; brought again into existence; formed anew: restored to a better state

We can already see from last year some of the ‘lessons of lockdown’ helping us to tread new pathways, with lighter footsteps and greater hearts. These lessons will only deepen and strengthen in the days and weeks ahead as we struggle through what will continue to be tough times towards new days and new ways. Sometimes we have to get ill before we can be well (I’ve written about this recently in another blog). But the clouds will part as life rebuilds in new ways and restore our lives to a ‘better state’, one in which people and planet can thrive.

The message on that empty beach on New Year’s Eve not lost on me. It felt a strong invitation to step into this new year with an appreciation of the challenges faced and the challenges ahead, a respect for the humility we can offer in the face of a changing natural world, and a vitality in the journeying towards those brighter horizons awaiting us in the year ahead.

Here's to 2021 and an invitation into regeneration.