It’s February 1^st!  Now that 2020 is nearly over, it’s time for me to do a New Year’s thing.  I’ll take my turn to write some thoughts….reflections on the past, hopes for the future, goals, yada yada.

Like my partner here, I don’t normally make “official” New Year’s resolutions.  The failure seems baked into them.  But–and I’m just gonna say it–2020 has been different. 

Is there anyone for whom this isn’t true?  We’re not all in precisely the same headspace, but I have a sense that our shared experiences have placed us near enough to each other for a friendly wave and a ‘howdy’.   Billions of waves and ‘howdies’.  I get something from that picture in my head.

As we start to see the effects of new vaccines and new treatments, the race to a post-pandemic world brings to my mind the late Burt Reynolds in his role as Bandit, played opposite Jackie Gleason’s Buford T. Justice (Smokey).  My people and I are doing whatever we can to make the Georgia state line of a normal life, to do what they say can’t be done.  But then there’s Smokey, affecting every move we make….. the supreme asshole of years, 2020, is hot on our trail.  We still got a long way to go, but I don’t worry.  Bandit always got there, and so will we.  We can at least see the finish line. I can’t wait.

After nearly a year of being ignored, my hopes and plans and dreams and intentions are now about to mean something again.  Which brings me back to these resolutions I mentioned. 

Writing.  I used to write a lot.  Writing has been generous to me, but I’ve set it down this past year.  Yes, my writing needs some work, but I like that work.  My creativity, such as it is, expresses itself almost exclusively in writing.  So, why don’t I write more?  Meh, 2020. I’m going to write.

Exercising.  Yep, I’m going there.  I like to exercise.  When I’m truly feeling it, I love it.  That feeling after a good run of three or four miles….I get a pang-shiver thinking about it.  *sigh*  It’s been several months without a run, months in which health has been a focus for so. many. people.  I’m doing okay, but I’ve definitely got work to do on my physical strength and conditioning.  I’d rather be rich and in great shape, but I’ll take health over wealth any day.  It shows.  So, why haven’t I exercised more?  Meh, 2020.  I’m going to exercise.

People.    (Hmmmmmm…As I’m typing this, a cover of Gilbert O’Sullivan’s “Alone Again” has come on my Spotify.  Jeezum.)

This is a big one.  I’ll write more posts on this.   I’m certain there are people, somewhere, whose inter-personal connections are stronger now than they were a year ago. Those people exist, surely. I ain’t one.  I’m truly close to only a handful of people, and, just like anyone else, I love and value them.  So much.  2020 has sucked for the introvert.  The hermit.  The awkwardly social.  Building or strengthening connections is hard enough.  Building or strengthening connections across distance is that much harder.   Across distance in a pandemic…oof.   2020, the year priorities had to shift…from plans and love and the future….to simply making it through a day.  And then another day.  Meh, 2020.  But maybe we can begin shifting those priorities back.  When making it through the day is less a challenge and more a given.  Maybe building and strengthening bonds can be the top priority this year for a lot of people.  I dearly hope so.  What that looks like, I don’t yet know, but I’m in. I’m going to prioritize the connections with the people in my life.

2021. ❤