2021: so here we are

So here we are. In 2021.

What has changed? The corona virus continues to rage across the country and until Jan 20, Inauguration Day, trump is still creating chaos and burning up twitter with his attack tweets.

But…vaccines now exist. That’s hopeful. Yet,  the distribution is as botched as the initial federal response was to the pandemic, there’s confusion about the vaccines themselves, and now a variant of the virus has been identified in 33 countries. Oh, and the U.S. still has the most cases in the world, 14 million doses have been distributed, and around 2.8 vaccines have been put into arms – a far cry from the the hundreds of millions trump had said.

Ok, so we’re not back to pre-pandemic normal. But maybe we never will be because a new normal is slowly emerging. Remote working and learning are the most obvious aspects of this new normal. We use Amazon prime frequently for delivery of things ranging from groceries to clothing, vitamins and office supplies, and anything else you can think of.

Here in Florida, we go out to eat, but only if we can sit outside. In other parts of the country, locked in the deep freeze of winter, that isn’t an option. But take-outs are.

The obvious stuff aside, we’ve also changed within ourselves. In quarantine, each of us had time to think, reflect, and feel our ways to our individual truths. Some people discovered their passion and figured out how to make an income from it. Others decided to return to school for advanced degrees. And others got married or divorced or started families. When you have the luxury of time, your life comes  into clarity. Family, profession, children, creativity, beliefs, spirituality, your physicality, all of it. But it seems to happen a section at a time.

With gyms closed or deemed unsafe, many of us turn to Zoom for yoga, pilates, workouts. We run or bike or power walk. We swim. We find other ways of exercising.

Forget movie theaters. Netflix is our friend.

Your kids are virtual learning. You and your partner are working remotely. The dynamics can be tricky. And stressful.

You can’t see your family, so you get a dog. A companion, friend, someone to talk to.

You get the idea here. Every aspect of our lives, from the big to the small, is  shifting, changing, morphing into something else and, hopefully, something better and more positive.

So when I was asked about my new year’s resolutions, I drew a complete blank. That word means to find an answer or solution to a conflict or problem. But when we actually talk about resolutions, we say things like: eat less, exercise more, be kinder, more patient…Intentions, that’s what we’re really talking about. And mine for 2021 are pretty simple: keep doing what I love, with the people and animals I love, and be as present as I can.