any progress is good progress right?
As I sit here on January 7, 2021 trying to think of what to write I’m kind of just stuck honestly. I logged onto my website for the frist time in maybe 4 months and saw many drafts of posts I started but never finished. I logged onto my digital notebook for the first time in two months and saw the same. That’s pretty much my life, a series of unfinished drafts. Okay not really, but it’s kinda there. What I mean by that is that I feel like my life has been in a standstill for what seems like almost two years, and if you think that’s dramatic give me at least a year. After the year we’ve ALL had I’m sure some of you feel the same.
I went into 2020 with such hope. I had spent the last 6 months, taking care of my mom, putting my life on pause. I was ready to get back into the world. I was ready to resume my own life. I had plans, like I’m sure we all did. But the world had other plans.
I’m sure last year I wrote somewhere, whether on this website or somewhere personally for my eyes to see, “I can honestly say, I’ve never had a year like this before.” And while that still remains true, I can say the same for 2020. At least with 2019 I had travel, I had family, I had breaks to go out and enjoy restaurants or shopping. But 2020 was another beast of its own. It really showed you so much. While 2020 drastically changed the way a lot of people lived their life, it pretty much forced me to resume the way I had been living for the past 6 months except with no breaks. It tore us away from our friends and family. It forced a lot of people to slow down.
I can sit here and be down about it, be upset about it. One of my unfinished drafts was exactly that, me whining about how I’m stuck, how I’m not moving forward. But I’m not going to dwell on that. Yes, 2020 sucked. A lot. Between the pandemic, and our country going crazy and everything in between, 2020 is definitely one going into the history books. But in the crazy, in between the lows and the mundane, I realized a lot. 2020 may have taken things away from me, but it also gave me time. Maybe too much time one can argue, but none the less it was time that I received. I may not have always used the time in the best way. I may have spent a lot of time binging shows, taking naps, playing video games, and just generally zoning out. But looking back, I don’t regret any of it. Because on top of all those things, I also crafted, a lot. I learned new hobbies (follow my new instagram @reeshh.crafts.alot! Lol). I worked out (something I actually really like doing) and I got time with my mom.
So while I didn’t get to do things I wanted to do and in a lot of ways I haven’t moved forward in life, I’ve grown in ways I never thought I needed to. I’ve learned a lot about myself. And as they say, any progress is good progress right? So I challenge you, yes you, whether you are a friend, a family member of mine or a stranger just passing through, look past the bullshit that was 2020 (and first week of this year) and try to see the good. Try to look at what you’ve gained instead of what you’ve lost. And just be thankful we made it through. We’re still here when many people are not. Anyways, here’s to 2021… let’s hope we do more progressing and hopefully are reunited with friends and family and restaurants and everything else we missed in the last year.
