Honoring 2021! One flew over the cuckoo's nest! Or did they?

2021! What a year!

We all patiently waited for the pandemic to end and to come out of quarantine for the first part.

Offices started setting dates of return to on-site work. Anxiety continued to build as we wondered if we would remember how to assimilate again into corporate-world-society, and how we would adjust to leaving behind family members again- to only seeing them in the nights and weekends. Knowing what we know now- how would we cope with the madness of rush-hour traffic and office politics and paying for rapidly increasing gas prices in order to return to that old way of life we used to know pre-pandemic? Will there be a balance- based on the new lessons learned or will it all soon be forgotten? 

Yet the Universe had a different agenda again.

Well- so maybe someone flew over the cuckoo's nest or maybe no-one did but 2021 carried it's own special brand of madness, blessings and excitement.

The very first week of the new year landed us right smack and center inside what should be described as the set of a Steven Spielberg movie. 

In the US especially we found ourselves not only in more political turmoil and uncertainty but in a spectacular total-social-meltdown of chaos situation, right off the bat. The whole world tuned in and we all glued ourselves to our TV sets in horror and disbelief as we watched history unfold with the Capitol riots on January 6th. 

If 2020 stole the show with a surreal global pandemic and BLM, then 2021 put up strong competition with new Covid variants and a fantastical Spielberg worthy unraveling of US politics.

We watched -anxious and spellbound- to see where the 2021 plot would lead us to next. Would there be an announcement any minute of extraterrestrial invasions? Or of some catastrophic comet landing? Afterall surrealism and suspense was becoming common place experiences. 

Yet this was not a Spielberg movie set. The spectacles were real and eventually it left us grateful because neither aliens nor that deadly comet arrived- putting it all back in perspective. 

The Universe strives for balance, for better or worse, regardless of our wants or wishes, or even our understanding or acceptance. So we adapt. We get on with the program and go with the flow. And that's how we rose to the challenge, getting through another day, another week, another month and another year- all over again- often holding our breaths as we embraced the unknowns.

For David and me- we felt incredibly fortunate for our respective corporate worlds, our jobs and our leaders. We found ourselves working for ethical organizations that rose up to the challenge too. We completed a second full year in quarantine, working from home together. Blessings we don't take for granted. 

In the months to follow, much of the chaos subsided as the politics settled in the US.

The darkness of winter lifted and the brightness of spring and summer months emerged, keeping in chorus with the energy and the events of the year. 

2021's own special songs, bells and whistles played on as she danced with us restless folks as we took many uncertain steps along the way, as we dipped our toes back into the outside world, to catch up with friends and family again. Vaccines were flowing and families were reuniting. Awkward and warm reunion hugs ensued as many of us cautiously broke out of quarantine. 

Highlights from 2021 for our nuclear family covered massive milestones as follows: 

First quarter of the year- we bought our first home together! The first several months flew by in a flash - with us renovating and decorating our new home, closing out on our rental lease and moving away from suburban and city life, and into the countryside by end of March, all while managing crazy full work schedules from home. 

Yup- this was a very busy year!

Second quarter flew by again in another flash- as we watched the daughter graduate from university and the son graduate from high school. 

J

Graduations were followed by another big bitter-sweet milestone- where my son moved out to the dorms- accompanied with lots of tears of dreams, nostalgia, pride, gratitude, hopes, wishes and love. 

Over the summer we also got to celebrate two magical weddings with dear soul family. 

Mark & Chaw's Wedding <3 

Lyndal & Jeremy's Wedding in Colorado- which I got to officiate (my first time doing that!) <3 

Weddings also are a time of reunion- which translated into a couple of great hikes with soul family in the mountains of Colorado.

Also marking our first airplane trip since the onset of the quarantine.

Another milestone this year was that David and I stood up to a bully uncharacteristically, determined to apply our lessons in life of not playing victim (although usually it is easier to just walk away- lol), - and we won! 

Thank you Universe for the lessons and for the rewards when applied in the right ways.  

Overall- this is most definitely a big year for us- pandemics and quarantines - milestones and all!  

2021 We are Gratefu! 

Thank you for keeping us and most of our friends and families safe this year, and for getting us this far!  🙏❤️

HONORING 2020! A late entry for an unusual year!

HONORING 2020 - (Even if it's a year too late in entry on the blog)

It seems appropriate that 2020 and 2021 be stacked together and honored like twins, right? 

The two years of quarantines and pandemics and new variants of Covid! WOW! Who could have seen all this coming? Other than Bill Gates and where-ever and whom-ever scientists that he gathers his data from, I suppose.

2020's Agenda & Us!

Because sometimes you have an agenda and other times an agenda has you! 

Ironically- rewind back to December 2019- when my son convinced us to watch a documentary called- 'Explained' on Netflix, where we listened to Bill Gates' fascinating theories and predictions about how the question wasn't 'if' there was going to be a world-wide pandemic but really 'when'. 

Little did we know how appropriate it was to watch that documentary when we did! But of course, in the following weeks we forgot all about it as life got busy quickly as it usually does. 

In January 2020- I started a new job with a fantastic philanthropic company that aligned perfectly with my world-view and I was surrounded with colleagues and leaders who are both smart and kind. So- things were looking up!

March 2020- Quarantine happened! For the first time ever the world shut down. We figured it may be a day or two, a week....or two..., a month....or two, and so on- as we held our breath collectively- with the whole world- waiting day to day. 

Travel was banned. Restaurants were closed. And I worked on accepting a new found anxiety- one that was a mix of gratitude, fear and guilt.

Gratitude- because I had been rushing to and from a job for my entire life, as far back as I could remember since my teen years and here for the first time ever- it stopped. I got to spend quality time at home with my husband and son. We talked, we played board games, we watched TV shows, we bonded- and it all seemed quite surreal. 

Fear- because of all the uncertainty- of course. 

Guilt- because I was also enjoying time with my family, not having to commute through rush hour traffic daily and I couldn't get over witnessing sunshine and daylight inside my rented condo. It baffled me how we lived our lives- so rushed and so not  present day in and day out the way we always have- up to now. 

2020 = Quality Family Time & Priceless Bonding Moments <3

May 2020- Black Lives Matter Movement eclipsed the pandemic- with the sudden murder of George Floyd- which followed with light being shed on one hate crime after another. Anxiety builds!

As the months followed we got restless and determined to escape. This to us meant that we needed to travel- quarantine or not! So we got creative! No air-travel- no problem! Instead we drove to different states- covering NC, TN and PA and played tourists responsibly with masks and social distancing. 

 

AND the days became weeks, weeks became months and before we knew it- we were saying goodbye to 2020 and welcoming in 2021- still in quarantine!

HELLO 2021!