It all started in the Fall. [A thread]

There are times when the weight of the world seems to be on your shoulders. We are all tethered down by something, whether the depth of the past, or the unknown horizon of the future. This moment, this time, feels overwhelming.

For everyone.

And yet we must proceed into the unknown, as there is little choice when it comes to the nature of time.

That’s how things work.

We can only control our own reactions. We can be the only one who chooses a path forward.

And this is the right time for it. The Fall is when the most beautiful words are ever written and when the most thoughtful of thoughts composed.

There is something about the Fall. With the change of the seasons, we move from the warmth of long summer days to the crispness of the Autumn air. As the weather turns cooler, animals prepare for winter, and many plants reduce their efforts of photosynthesis.

Autumn is the time when deciduous trees shed their leaves, and when, especially in the Northern parts of the world, leaves change from green to red, from orange to yellow, and ultimately to brown, before they succumb to the weight of Fall. These colors are simply breathtaking.

As the light dims and days grow shorter, at least for us in the Northern hemisphere, we, too, prepare for the long descent of Winter.

The seasons impel the flow of life, and the cycles of humanity follow suit.

It is in this time of harvest, with the shift from the Autumnal Equinox toward the Winter Solstice and the High Holidays, that we turn to our own roots and contemplate the broader context of the year as it turns.

Autumn comes from the Latin autumnus meaning "the passing of the year." The term Fall is derived from Old English fiaell and feallan, meaning "to fall from a height."

It would make sense that this time of the year finds us the most contemplative, filled with a mixture of melancholy and hopefulness as we think about the year that is ending and the one to begin. Everything starts in the Fall indeed.

We feel a different set of heaviness, one which fills our mind, and one that fills our heart.

This year has been unlike anything we have ever experienced. It has run us over like a train.

There is no return to normal, no respite from this virus-imposed interlude.

When we look back at 2020, how would we remember this year? Surely, we would remember the weight of this global pandemic and the lives lost.

The year has transformed every aspect of our lives — from how we work to where we work to what work matters.

With most of us socially isolated at home, organizations have had to adapt, technology has driven our labor, and, for better or likely for the worse, the education of our children.

How have your routines changed and what roots remain? For so many of us, work has meant getting on planes and travelling the globe, or at least spending time in offices teaming with colleagues and a certain energy only the workplace can spin up.

With more than two hundred and twenty days of isolation, this Autumn brings a more real reflection of our future, the nature of our work — surely of our workplace — as our labor evolves to anything but normal.

We might miss the chatter of the proverbial water cooler, the serendipity of coffee meetings, and meeting new people in the halls of conferences — whatever those were.

Some of us just miss reading a book as we look at sunsets through a plane’s window — thinking about that last stage we stepped on, the path presented by a new connection, or the genesis of a new idea. Count me in as one of those.

We have this unique moment in time to build back better. To make work less about the mundane and more about the inspired. What we do every day has changed.

How can we make this change for the better? How can we look at every day with a new light, a new sense of hope?

As we approach the Fall elections in the United States, we have to appreciate how true inclusion has improved our lives, those changes that have made our society more responsive to all of our needs. How we vote matters. Our history of change demands the respect of action.

For much of modern history, women and their roles were an afterthought to the power structure of society, and to the course of our shared history.

Did you know that women’s right to vote in the United States was only granted to white women?

The fight for representation was not just one of gender, it was one of race. On 18 Aug, 1920, the 19th amendment was ratified and stated “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”

Full representation remained elusive, equality far from reality. Native Americans couldn't vote until 1948. Chinese until 1943. Japanese after 1952. It wasn’t until 1965 that Black men (and women) were formally protected for their right to vote. And voter suppression remains.

Representation matters. Diversity and inclusion matter.

The rights of all people to have a full and prosperous life, having the same access and opportunities as others; basic equality should be a human right. We need to fulfill more than the basic needs in order to thrive.

As we contemplate the future this Fall, make sure to protect it where it matters most. We have a social contract to fulfill.

Please remember to #vote . #Election2020

How/where to vote: https://www.usa.gov/how-to-vote 

Read a different and extended version of this in @Irish_TechNews https://irishtechnews.ie/our-collective-future-re-imagined-beyond-2020/ and listen in to this week's podcast recapping #MTLConnecte here https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/one-vision/id1437403389?i=1000495399894 and here https://open.spotify.com/episode/0OmF4Gx6E33GpH6b9dZ73n?si=Ktc4mDoZSNymjlD6SE_cGg // End thread.