Historical Summer 2021 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
It is often said, “the only constant is change”.
This time frame for me has been about transitions.
We are transitioning seasons, national political leadership direction, and slowly emerging from the dystopian reality that has been the past 18 months of a global pandemic. Although I see most of the changes as positive, this isolated time has left me leery about going back to my old normal.
I recently went to a birthday party that was outdoors and attended by almost entirely vaccinated people.
The first topic of conversation among most of us was “Do you think we need masks?
We are vaccinated and outdoors, but I feel uncomfortable leaving home without a mask.” Just a year ago who would have thought we would feel that way, and who would ever have guessed that science would be politically controversial? Andy and I hosted the Breakfast Garden Tour the first Saturday of June.
We had great attendance, great weather, great neighbors and friends, and yet I was thinking to myself “Am I ready to begin all this volunteering again? Not just this event, but the dozens on the horizon.
I have learned that this not an uncommon theme. People love to see friends, go to events, volunteer and help others to make the world a better place, but even though the pandemic was stressful and caused uncertainty, this time of isolation has caused much introspection and making choices about what aspects of our life that we want to continue and those that we think should be abandoned – overscheduled, overcommitted, wasteful.
I have been working with a professional to help me in making decisions for the future that are the best for me.
I recommend this to everyone. Hopefully this shake-up will give us the fortitude to make positive changes.
The trouble for me is never the theory but the execution! Everyone, please take this time and analyze what habits you want to bring from your ‘old life’ into our ‘new normal’ and be kind to yourself in your decisions. One of the things that I really enjoy is this paper, and with that I am happy to say that we are adding a new column of book reviews for authors in our neighborhood.
We have so much talent in the neighborhood, and I find authors don’t get as much press as other artists because their work is not as visual in nature. Thanks to our neighbors Tim Woodcock and Katy Gordon who have agreed to take over this new venture.
Please enjoy!
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, Summer 2021.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times2021_06.pdf, printed page(s) 2; PDF page(s) 2.
