Gratitude. Empowerment. Grace. Anger.
in 2020
β¨A Holiday Wishβ¨
Gratitude is the 'quality of being thankful, the readiness to show appreciation and to return kindness' (Oxford Language.)
This year, we first extend Gratitude for emergency & healthcare workers.
Gratitude for our frontline workers, poll workers, essential workers.
Gratitude for those working tirelessly to provide relief, assistance, and comfort to all of us impacted by this pandemic.
Our actions, including wearing masks, social distancing, limiting social gatherings, are daily opportunities to show our appreciation π
We also extend Gratitude for our clients who have shared their support in a variety of ways.
From donations to the studio, to continuing lessons in a myriad of creative formats, we appreciate clients sharing grace & understanding with us while we find new ways to teach. π
Returning from months off of an apparatus, feeling deconditioned, juggling new life stressors, we are grateful for students reinvesting in their aerial foundations, building strength and technique, and relearning how important form is to function.
It's been fascinating to see our aerial goals evolve this past year, and it truly makes us proud! β¨
We've not only had opportunities for gratitude but also for empowerment, 'the process of becoming stronger and more confident, especially in controlling one's life and claiming one's rights' (Oxford.)
Despite operating under unusual and inconsistent circumstances, we are empowered to choose this work, this business. Empowered to provide an outlet for relief, for self care, for structure, for a glimpse of 'normalcy' for our students. Restructuring lessons has not been seamless, but we are empowered to continue sharing what we love to do - providing instruction, resources, and air time for our aerialists.
We are Empowered to step forward with Grace acknowledging our anger, our failures, and the fact that much of what we do is not and will not be perfect.
We are Empowered to witness how our actions and inactions directly affect others.
We are Empowered to examine, reassess, and demand change; acknowledging our own fragilities, voting for new policies, and choosing to take a closer look at the systemic and hazardous paths we may not have borne witness to before. We must acknowledge our role and commit to doing better for and by already marginalized communities.
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This year, our Holiday Wish to you is for a truly safe winter season! π
Sharing grace and gratitude with each other, and celebrating those little wins where we can find them. π
We all have lost and sacrificed this year. We implore you to continue to maintain public health protocols, so we and our loved ones don't need to lose or sacrifice any more.
Letβs stay empowered to still *think globally & act locally.* β¨
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Finally, a note on anger - an emotion typically not included in a *Season's Greetings* but an emotion nevertheless immensely felt this year.
David Whyte's 'Consolations: The Solace of Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words' describes anger as the deepest form of compassion...for the ideals we cling to, for who we are, and what we are willing to fight for.
This emotion, barring hostility, galvanizes our path. Shedding old habits that no longer serve us is hard and especially now, when we all need more than we can give.
Anger and empowerment can help us chart our new, improved path, guided with grace and gratitude.
We look forward to exploring new pathways with you in 2021. π