Hey there folks. It’s me, Michael Bach, your Diversity Dude, and this is Monday Morning Musings.
(upbeat music)
Happy Monday.
I hope this finds you well.
If you’re new to my channel, welcome, thanks so much for joining us.
Please remember to subscribe by clicking on the link.
I wanted to something a little unfiltered.
No fake background, you can see my dog crates, my husband’s desk.
2020 has been a gong show of a year.
That is putting it politely.
We started the year with Australian bush fires raging out of control, leaving thousands of people homeless and many people dead.
Then in March, February/March, COVID hits North American shores for what we thought was going to be a really bad flu season and it will not go away.
Then we had some good news: President Trump was impeached.
We thought this was going to be it; it was not.
Then in May, George Floyd was killed.
Not to say he was the first, of course.
Breonna Taylor, Ahmed Aubrey, so many names, that it’s too short a video to say all of them.
But the Black Lives Matter protests began and the movement began.
Then we had murder hornets, because that seemed good in 2020.
And then in the summer, my uncle died, my Uncle Cal, Mom’s youngest brother who died of cancer.
In Beirut, in a massive explosion that levelled so many buildings, left so many people dead or homeless.
Then we had the fires of the West Coast of the United States that it seemed to rage on forever.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, leading the appointment of Amy Coney Barrett, the sort of opposite of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
And then we had the U.S. elections, and a glimmer of hope as President-Elect Biden has been finally declared the winner.
And then my mom was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and I have my own health issues.
This has not been a good year.
I’ve never worked harder in my life.
This has been mentally and physically exhausting.
And I’m telling you all this because recently our friends at the Canadian Mental Health Association released a report, and I’m going to post a link down below,
to a study where they found that the rate of suicide ideation, people thinking about suicide in 2020 is through the roof, higher than it’s ever been.
I’m not okay.
I mean, I’m okay, but I’m not okay.
I have struggled in 2020 and I’m sharing this message to say to the people that don’t have someone to talk to that they're not alone.
And if you’re thinking that it’s not worth going on, it is.
Life is an amazing gift and as much as 2020 has just been awful, it’s still amazing to be alive and to see the world evolve, hopefully for the better.
So down below I’m going to paste a couple phone numbers and a couple links,
and for those of you who are struggling, who are feeling like you can’t go on, I want you to use those to talk to somebody.
If you don’t fee like you can talk to your friends or your family, talk to a random stranger.
Don’t make a rash decision.
The world is a better place for you being in it and we want you to stick around to see the amazing year that 2021 will be.
That’s it for me.
And this is the last Monday Morning Musing of 2020.
I realize it’s not the last Monday, but I go on vacation as of the end of this week and I will not be back until January 4.
So, if you haven’t already done so, share the video.
Like it, share it, like *and* share it, so many options.
Remember to connect with me on social media, I am @diversitydudemb,
and if you haven’t already done so, pick up my book
Birds of All Feathers: Doing Diversity and Inclusion Right, available now wherever you buy books as long as they’re selling mine,
or you can go to michaelbach.com, click on ‘The Books’ and find out where you get your copy.
Makes an excellent stocking stuffer.
I think that’s it.
Have a fantastic week.
Hug your friends and your family, call your friends and your family if you can’t get to be with them this holiday season.
Happy Hanukkah to my Jewish friends.
Happy Kwanzaa, because I’m going to miss that one.
And I will see you next *year* for another episode of Monday Morning Musings.
Bye!
(“Let It Snow” music begins) ♫♪ Oh, the weather outside is frightful
♫♪but the fire is so delightful
♫♪ since we've no place to go
♫♪ Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow
♫♪ Shows no signs of stopping
♫♪ I’ve brought some corn for popping
♫♪ lights are turned way down low
♫♪ Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.
♫♪ When we finally kiss good night
♫♪ how I’ll hate going out in the storm
♫♪ but if you really hold…