The 4 Big Learnings of 2017

I bet anyone reading this didn't think anything could trump 2016's sh*t-heap of a year....and then it/he did in 2017. There was a lot of bad news in 2016, a lot of dying and a hella load of uncomfortable anticipation for the change brewing... Fast-forward to December 2017 (my time of reflection and R&R) and we've been through a hell of a storm! I see more homeless people on my walk to work now than ever, mostly everyone I know has experienced some form of anxiety or mental low – myself included – technology has stopped us shagging, and we're all trying to decode politicians' body language every other day.
I hope by now you've found some shelter (my metaphor for peace of mind or acceptance) and you look back with less dismay. Here, I've noted the 4 big learnings of 2017.

(If P.Diddy was last year...)

Due to the turbulence, constant newness, global anger and big bang surprises, it's so goddarnn difficult to keep up as human beings. Adaptation has been a skill we've all had to learn, and often, not so well – hence the number of 'anti' and 'pro' groups, the global terror threat, the fact that you can be shamed for eating bread etc. So with this in mind, enter – C.A.S.K – the themes that have emerged as a result:

CREATIVITY
With all the fuss about AI alongside the rising collective anxiety about job losses with it, creativity seems to be gaining momentum. It's also acquiring big kudos beside the long-standing respect for the financial and science sectors in productivity-driven societies. Feels nice don't it? Poetry is trending in mainstream banking adverts, more writers are using social media as their stage after the 2 million follower success of @Rupikaur_, and niche/underground musicians, creative companies and filmmakers are bagging deals with popular streaming services, enabling their previously hidden arts to surface. HOORAY! (If you want to be more creative this year, here's how)

(beautiful work by: @kentandreason)

ALTERNATIVE WELL-BEING
Things like chicken-nugget and beer yoga maybe Facebook clickbait, but in all seriousness, people are finding other ways to 'be well'. It's not all about green juice and gym-gym-gym anymore. There's a certain air of accepting indulgence and enjoying life within the wellbeing sector, via approaches matching individual interests. MindTravel Underwater offer immersive, musical experiences in pools aiming to "transport you back to the womb" (says their website), and Yale students have developed Mentis, a hangover-curing supplement which aligns nicely with our social lives. Drink it before you head out and it provides a host of symptom-combatting vitamins.

SLOWNESS
Everything is so ruddy rapid today, don'tcha think? New innovations, new rules, new systems – I find it hard enough to keep up with the postman, let alone society. With the constant flow of information, accessibility of it and new knowledge conflicting the stuff we've just read, it's like being stuck in a galaxy of libraries...

🙄

With this, mindfulness – the early 2017 buzzword – and meditation is being repackaged willy nilly (even a Google Engineer started his own course to help those in tech find inner tranquility and heightened productivity), and my colleague at work brews her own sloe gin... Slowing down has been humanity's way of saying "I'm pretty f*cked right now, gimme a break. I'm good as I am". Watch the relationship between mind and body strengthen as we meander through 2018. The Note to Self podcast is great at questioning humanity's relationship with digitisation. 

KINDNESS
Within the angry climate we're trying to survive in, are little rays of sunshine. There are still people that don't want to annihilate cities, steal your phone or kill you for being fat. Hairdresser, Josh Coombes and The Founder of #DoSomethingForNothing blew up last year. He was invited to several large-player organisations to talk about his initiative – my former work place's event WGSN FUTURES 2017, included. His website says it's a "goodwill movement started from humble beginnings....a desire to impact people’s lives" without expectation. Brands are jumping on social causes left, right and centre, and advertising legend, David Droga cried his way through an epic speech at Cannes Lions 2017 with the message: "I would put down everything in my career to the fact that I cared—about what I do, who I work with, what I make."

🙏

Moreover, a RAKtivist® is a kindness ambassador and yes, you can become one. It was coined by the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation; a movement encouraging everyone to practice and spread kindness, starting with oneself. The interest in searching the term 'kindness' in the news also increased last year, peaking in December (YAY!). And on a personal scale, I got mugged by a moped in Feb, but then again lost my purse in a Shoreditch bar, which was found and returned but minutes after. Swings and roundabouts, eh?

Good luck for 2018, all. Stay humble but thick-skinned otherwise this world'll eat you alive.