What a year, am I right? I don’t know if I’m looking forward to a better year in 2021, or sitting in silent trepidation over what else could possibly go wrong. A friend of mine told me she threw away her 2020 planner in anger. It kind of felt like 2020 threw us away in anger as well.
I have so many sad, painful, and scary memories from 2020. It felt like a terrifying roller coaster ride where the calm moments were sometimes so drawn out we were tricked into feeling like things might get better or thinking maybe we were making a mountain out of a molehill, only to suddenly drop to Earth like a meteor.
But I’m trying to remember the good stuff. If only to stay sane and not wallow in bad thoughts. I remind myself that my family is doing all right. We’re healthy. We have a home. Jobs. Food. My creativity returned in late 2020 and I wrote a book. (Yay!) I even signed up for a workshop on fostering my creative life that starts in about a week. (Very nice to have something to look forward to.)
I don’t have any words of wisdom. One thing that has helped me get through this crappy past year has been late night hosts’ monologues. Humor helps me see past the worry. Seth Meyers always closes his monologue with the same four short sentences. I share them with you as a reminder to take care of yourself as we step into this new year with cautious optimism. They aren’t deep or eloquent, but they always make me smile. I hope they make you smile too:
Stay safe
Wash your hands
Wear a mask
We love you
Cheers to being survivors. Much love. And Happy New Year.
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