Remember when we started 2020 with big goals and carefully crafted plans and growth strategies? We gathered our teams at off-sites and vision meetings. We built communications calendars and said things like “this is our year” and made big, bold revenue projections.

Good times. 

If you are exhausted and ready to throw in the towel, it’s because you have been drinking from a fire hose for months. Nothing about this year has been normal, friends. Give yourself an extra dose (or thirty) of grace. 

And then consider this: What if this is still our year? 

What if, despite everything (or maybe even because of everything), this is our year to learn and change and get better?

What if all of the tumult and tragedy around us is breaking something that we should have dismantled a long time ago? What might grow in its place? 

Things are still hard. But at the same time, you’re still standing. So lean in. And know that you’ve got our team cheering you on.

It’s time for us to get out of the way.

We are white, and we know the majority of our readers are white. Right now, our job is to listen. To learn. To begin (and continue) unpacking lifetimes of privilege. To amplify black voices.

So this week, we’re not delivering marketing and fundraising tips and tricks. We’re pointing you to books and podcasts and Instagram accounts that are making us uncomfortable, opening our eyes, and challenging our way of thinking. We’re pointing you to resources that are making us better people.

This is by no means an exhaustive list — we are learning right along with you. It’s simply a starting point on a long path toward justice.

Please let us know what books, articles, accounts, and organizations you are finding helpful as you educate yourself. Unlearning and relearning is awkward and messy — but it’s wildly overdue.

It’s time for us to do the work.

You ever have one of those days when everything is off? You’re mad about nothing and frustrated about everything and counting down the minutes until 5:00?

Like Alexander in the children’s book, we’ve run into our fair share of Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Days. And it feels like they are more frequent than ever — perhaps because we’re all simultaneously dealing with a global pandemic on top of all the “regular” work and family and life stress that existed before.

We don’t have a great solution to bad days — but we do have a suggestion.

When you’re mad at the world, tell your team.

Because those eyes shooting daggers? They aren’t hiding behind your Zoom screen as well as you think they are. And that monotone annoyed voice? Yeah, that’s not too sneaky either.

So instead of pretending, try saying, “Hey. I’m having a bad day. Sorry if I get frustrated — it’s not about you.”

It’s honest and vulnerable and gives your team permission to have bad days, too. Because, spoiler, this is wildly hard for all of us.

Every time something “regular” pops up on the calendar, it feels jarring. Birthdays or anniversaries or meetings arranged months ago — all strange. Taking a car to the shop — weird. Even grocery shopping is a whole thing.

In so many ways, everything has changed — so it feels like, you know, everything should have changed. But somehow that’s not quite true. So many things were disrupted, but at the same time, we’re still living.

So we are doing our best to remember how to celebrate.

Because milestones are still happening. Big moments are still happening. Victories are still happening in the midst of incredible pain and trauma.

Our recent celebration strategies include snail mail, surprise Zoom parties, and Jeni’s ice cream deliveries. We’ve gone to virtual baby showers and drive-by birthday parties, and even chased down our runner friends as they completed a makeshift marathon.

Everything is weird. But there is still a lot to celebrate.

How are you celebrating your people and their big moments these days? We’d love to get some extra inspiration from you!

There is a famous Barbara Brown Taylor quote that says, “Tell us what is saving your life right now.”

We’ve been thinking about this a lot as we continue to spend long days at home.

Sure, there are the obvious answers: Healthcare heroes and food delivery drivers and phone calls from friends. But we’ve also started writing down the less-serious-but-equally special things, too. Iced coffee and online fitness classes and binging Homeland. Baking bread and new water bottles and beachy romance novels.

And, yes, even work. The job in front of us each day is a gift — providing income, of course, but also structure and normalcy and sanity. It’s hard to be productive in this season, but it’s also so good.

So tell us: What is saving your life right now?

It doesn’t have to be big or serious — in fact, even better if it’s not. What is one little thing that is making your week brighter? Because that thing deserves celebration.