Remember a few weeks ago I went to the Jersey shore for the first time in decades?
Well, I did it again yesterday. It was the first day of the long weekend that the sun shone. Days of cold, gray rain preceded this event, making it that much more glorious.
The firsts of yesterday included the first time at a military-designated beach, first time I’d ever been in a porta-potty that was so clean you’d never know it had been used, the first time I have ever seen dolphins off the coast of New Jersey, and the first sunburn of the season. The evening before, I met my hiking buddies out for a drink for the first time in so long, I cannot remember the last time I did that. For the first time in over a year, I was in a public place that was teeming with people and did not have a full-blown anxiety attack. Another first: I bought a pair of hiking boots for half the normal price because I bought a boys’ size. This, my friends, is a woman’s life hack.
What was not a first for this weekend? Ignoring the jungle of a lawn. Not doing laundry (it is a well-documented fact that I hate laundry more than any other household chore there is.) I did not exercise for two days straight. Binge-watched Netflix all Saturday afternoon (or was that Sunday? I cannot remember.) Went to bed early so I could achieve a sleep score above 80. (I’m still tired and I don’t know why.)
It’s a strange and bizarre time. I think we are all coming to terms with having literally lost more than a year of our lives to a global pandemic. To having spent that year either dealing with, or totally ignoring, our internal demons. The consequences of how we spent the last year are just now beginning to emerge.
Had to be more than just me that spent the last 15 months in reflection and life-assessment. If my LinkedIn feed is any indication, there are a whole lotta people who found themselves in a position to reassess how they spend their time, who they spend it with, and what qualifies as fulfilling. I had the good fortune to find new employment at the beginning of the pandemic and I have not ever had a more enjoyable all-around professional experience. (This in no way takes away from my former teams, who were the absolute best; it’s just a whole organizational experience that tops all others.) And I am also seeing that people are now far more willing to bring all of themselves to their professional spaces – being forced to work from the same place you live, what with cats, dogs and kids, kinda does that. It is now perfectly acceptable to have professional conversations that takes all of this into account. We’ve come a long way.
There are certain to be more firsts. It’s that kind of year.
A wonderful, spot-on read! Thank you!