By: Catalina Jiménez - Director & Founder, Sentidos Comunicaciones
Article published in Forbes
2021 will be remembered as the year we met again, traveled again, had coffee face to face.
At this time there is a lot of talk about what the year left us, about the plans we have for the next one, about what remained to be done or what remains as a task for the coming months. December seems to me the most powerful time to connect with pleasant communication and better yet, with gratitude. Since the world began quarantines in 2020, we were isolated for a long time, and without realizing it we got used to seeing each other through the screen. On the other hand, 2021 will be remembered as the year in which we met again, we traveled again, to have a coffee face to face; to greet each other sometimes elbow to elbow, but many times with a strong and irresistible hug and like never before, these initiatives felt, at least from my perspective, as a privilege to be thankful for. A few days ago we celebrated the year-end activity at my Public Relations agency, it was a thank you breakfast, in which we shared a quiet space with several of our allies to recognise them for their trust, support and at the same time, thank in a more spiritual way to the universe for a year in which we were able to hug each other again, to find each other, to understand why we are still alive and that should be enough reason to give thanks.
Every time we have been able to meet in recent times, I have heard similar comments in different parts of the world... "Of course, it is not the same as seeing each other on camera", "such a person is much more loving face to face", "I didn't know you liked that too” and so many more phrases that only confirm that as humans, knowing each other is lived in being, in time, in the encounter. The screen gave us the incredible opportunity to stay connected, to continue being productive, to be able to relate to each other, but nothing will ever replace being able to connect with the other in person.
More than wishes, gratitude for the present
In many countries and regions, it is traditional to make a list for December 31st with all the things that are requested as a magical "wish" for the new year that is about to begin. I want to propose that we change the equation and from where we are, here today, still in December, still in 2021, let's recount everything we want to thank, what we are experiencing and what we have achieved. When we start a conversation by thanking and acknowledging the other for what they do well, for how that makes us feel, we have a much higher chance of obtaining receptivity in that dialogue. Let's do that with our present and with our life, let's thank with our words for what we are and what we do. We are the ones who are still alive, we are the ones who with our daily actions can impact the planet, our environment and our lives. I begin by thanking this column space that is close to completing its first year and that has allowed me to more than talk about communications and public relations, to reflect on the power of words, female empowerment, my role as a businesswoman and of course my place in the universe as a mother, friend, leader, and all those thousands of roles that we all play on a daily basis.
I hope we all have the possibility of a space like this and I am not talking about a column of course, but one that allows us to look from our own subjectivity to make proposals that sometimes match with the vision and perceptions of others and therefore thank the inside of each one of us. I firmly believe that the world can be a better place if we look from the more and not from the less. Words can be our great allies to see in the best way what we live, let us be grateful for what we have lived to open the door to what is to come, create realities from here, let us use our voice to generate bridges, to build from the proactive and to thank for the present that in reality it is the only thing we all have. Happy holidays and to communication in gratitude to all.
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