THANKSGIVING 2020
“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were big things.”
I am back. I launched this website just before the pandemic struck and then hit writer’s block in the worst way. Each time I sat down to write during the past eight or is it nine? months, I lost track. I couldn’t focus. Everything I considered writing about seemed trivial, clouded by the seriousness of what was going on around us. I froze.
From time to time, I would sit up in the middle of the night and write down in my “idea book” a thought…but by morning, the news consumed me, sucking the marrow out of any creative idea I had. Part of me died.
Fortunately, I was able to work through the crisis, managing well despite the hurdles. Friends and clients, new and old, were my rocks, as we navigated around the rules, the restrictions, and the desire to maintain normalcy in a world that was anything but normal. And, it went on and on and on and on. And, here we are -Thanksgiving Day 2020, a Thanksgiving like no other.
The inclination is to brood. To be sad. To be lonely. But, what would that do? It would serve only to add layers to the dark cloud that hangs over us. So, I guess the better solution is to buck up, in hope that there is light at the end of this terrible long dark tunnel, called 2020.
A year ago, who would have known? Along with kids and grandkids, we celebrated in another state. We took a plane to get there. We went to parks and aquariums and restaurants and ate for days in the company of each other. Other than an occasional scuttle between cousins, it was all good. Looking back on twelve months ago, it seems like a decade.
Today will be different. We will all be in our respective homes, eating around tables set for only a few. The rainy, dreary November Thursday won’t help boost spirits. But, we have a choice. We can find a way to shake off all the bad and focus on the good, being thankful for what we have had in our past, what we still have and what we hope to have in the future. Attitude adjustments are in our power.
Yesterday, I made pies all day and listened to music….all kinds of music…The rain came down in torrents. Somehow, between the flour and the sugar and the butter and the music, everything seemed good. I felt a contentment I hadn’t felt in months.
Today, I got up, prepared for dinner, set the table, did some yoga and got dressed up for nobody….it is all okay. The driving force, however, is looking forward to Thanksgiving 2021 when hopefully, we will once again be able to gather together with family and friends, glowing in the gratitude of having survived 2020. Happy Thanksgiving.