March 13, 2020. the day the year went on ‘pause,’ indefinitely. For me, it began the evening before, with a mad dash to collect any essentials from my office in preparation to work from home ‘for the next two weeks,’ merely as a precaution, with the promise to reconvene at the start of April.
How silly that all seems now.
The weekend which followed was very much like any other, with a flurry of appointments, errands, plans with friends—complete with dining out for lunch and dinner at a few of our favorite spots. It was a bit of a twilight zone effect, tentatively going through the motions of our routines, yet silently anxious. this was only compounded by a brief run to the store, where aisle upon empty aisle greeted us, wiped clean of anything resembling a paper good or disinfectant.
One year later, I have yet to go back to any of these establishments, relying on grocery deliveries and takeout, our ‘outings’ consisting exclusively of picnics at near-empty beaches and parks—some in sub-zero temperatures.
While some have avoided even these luxuries, others have seemingly returned to life as it was, albeit with far more restrictions and hoops to jump through. To each his or her own, as they say.
If we take one thing from the massive uncertainty and upheaval of the last year, let it be to have a bit of tolerance and understanding for how each of us chooses to go about our respective days. We all have our reasons, and—though you wouldn’t know it from an average day spent scrolling through social media—it’s quite acceptable not to explain yourself, defend your stance, or criticize another’s. truly. The world will not stop turning if we all take a step back and mind our own business.
But I digress.
March 13, 2021 likely looks quite different for most of us, for better or for worse. Hopefully, there have been some good things to come out of this pause; perhaps friendships strengthened, skills honed, a few new hobbies explored. But above all else, let us be grateful—for everything we have, the loved ones we’ll soon be able to hug again, and those countless daily novelties we would all do well to never take for granted again.
Published: March 13, 2021