Welcome to 2021! Happy New Year to all of you. The new year is an excellent opportunity for new beginnings along with resolutions for positive change. What an exciting time it can be.

I would be remiss if I did not take a moment to recognize the turbulent times that do surround us. It seems that each day that passes, there are more events to really make you wonder what’s happening to the world around us. Division, dissent, and even destruction are happening with frightening frequency. It certainly is overwhelming and even disheartening, but there are still ways for us to find our optimistic anchor in order to press on.

Let us all recognize the courage and fortitude of stenographers who remained true to their duty in capturing the record during tense and heated proceedings at our nation’s capitol. Additionally, we should express gratitude and thankfulness for the steadfast captioners who provide constant access to the deluge of information that becomes available every minute of every day.

When I look at what’s going on around us, I’m reminded of the story of Pandora’s box. The crux of the story is that even though the box was opened and it unleashed death, disease, and other atrocities, at the bottom of the box remained hope. Hope was ever present in order to allow for us to handle the horrors that were unleashed.

NCRA President Christine Phipps shared her message this month speaking about resilience. I am contributing my part by saying that hope is also an attribute that can keep us moving forward and can conquer all adversity. Hope allows us to keep pushing towards goals that we know are attainable. Hope lets us look past momentary strife and pursue a world where ideals of equality and tolerance are the standard.

I encourage all of you to stay connected. Now is a time when we all need each other more than ever. In fact, we need even more people to come together so we can increase our strength and fortitude. In the coming months, we will be using our monthly CCRA Speaks event to reach out to those who are not yet members in order to ask the question “Why haven’t you joined CCRA?” The Association is here to serve its membership, and we need to hear your voice telling us what we can do to better serve you.

Let us move onward together in solidarity to heal the wounds of the past and to create a bright future for our profession and for the world.

Mike Hensley, President
California Court Reporters Association