COVID Year

The last days of Summer and Fall are bittersweet for me each year. Not only because Summer is my personal favorite season, but because with the end of the warmer, pleasant weather, we begin to hibernate and hunker down in our homes; of course, for most of us this 2020 Spring/Summer/Fall, that’s been the norm. I’ve always considered myself lucky to live in the northeast where our lives are defined by the seasons, but for most of this year, there was no distinction between the seasons; they seemed to blur into one big COVID 19 season. Summer, usually filled with travel excursions and bright, sunny fun-filled beach days and Fall, with its apple pumpkin picking has been different in every way; we’ve had to make the best of being isolated.

Humans are social creatures by design, however, this year many hours have been spent alone at home, often attached to our laptops/ipads/phones. This would seem like a silent way to spend our days, but the endless bombardment of news and gossip that often had nothing positive to give made many manic information addicts.

All this has made me a bit melancholy about the last 9 months; can we have a do over? Can’t we relive 2020? Farmer’s markets, boardwalk strolls, ice cream trips, outdoor concerts…they just don’t seem the same with a mask on. In our family, we celebrated, from the “safety” of our homes the birth of a granddaughter, seven birthdays –one 60th milestone, one 2 years-, a 42^nd wedding anniversary and a Retirement after 33 years. It all seems like such a loss that we weren’t able to celebrate these milestones with the pizazz they deserve.

Yet, the one thing that I have learned through all this is a realization that most of life is simple and often we make it busy and complicated. What may look like repetition: a bunch of dull, uninspiring, lackluster things we must do over and over and over again is actually the necessary movements of Life. What may seem mundane and boring should actually be viewed at as moments of Gratitude.

Let me explain. If you are bored and nothing “exciting” is going on in your Life, that means, you still woke up to another day of possibilities. That means your loved ones still love and appreciate you. That means you are healthy enough to put your two feet forward. So when we lay our head on our pillow at night, we should reflect on the amazing things we have in the midst of ordinary.

So chin up! It’s time to re-focus and look forward with a sense of anticipation. Somewhere in the near future we will have a special sense of renewal and inspiration. Like in the wake of a tragedy, it will be time to re-group and reflect. If we all take a deep deep breathe, perhaps we can spend some time cherishing the times we can be together; because, as we have experienced in this year, Life as we know it, can change in an instant.

Although there is a place for quiet breaks in Life -they point to a learning that requires patience and time (and yes! We’ve done our time!)- they too must end so we get back to practical existence. These months were not ordinary Life but we can once again look forward to living Life fully.

~ Carpe Diem!