Q&A: What are your post-pandemic delights?
Q&A: What are your post-pandemic delights?
Show-and-tell for community members
Yesterday, Rael and I shoved our nifty folding bikes into the car and parked at Broughton Beach along the Columbia River. From there we took a leisurely ride along the flat, paved Marine Drive trail till our butts hurt, then turned around and rode back to the car, and then drove home.
(Ok, my butt was the only one hurting because Rael, Mr. Bicycle Commuter, has buns of steel.)
(Which makes me think of that 80’s fitness video, Buns of Steel. Who remembers it? Look at those leotards! Total Jane Fonda Workout vibes.)
ANYWAY.
…about Thursday’s post.
I’ve been mulling over my last post, “Remembering to Remember,” in which I reflected on the third anniversary of COVID lockdowns.
I’ve been feeling bad about it, like I might have foisted something unwelcome on you. I realize you may not have wanted to look back on the last three years.
At the same time, I wonder if my impromptu bike adventure was inspired by more than sunshine. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I experienced a burst of unmitigated joy like I haven’t felt in a long time, possibly since before 2020.
Thursday’s exercise in surfacing post-pandemic joys and sorrows might have given me the push I needed to turn the page on a long chapter of grief.
Or maybe it was just the sunshine. It’s too soon to tell, but this new lightness is definitely a hopeful signal.
Either way, I want to thank you for listening so generously. This newsletter sometimes goes in directions I don’t expect. Thank you for tolerating that unpredictability and for allowing the conversational space to puzzle things out.
And if you need it, I hope the questions I posed in Thursday’s post will help you take a step toward healing, too, either now, or when you feel ready.
Given all this, I trashed the community post I was working on in favor of revisiting one of those questions (THE FUN ONE).
Here it is:
What do you relish doing now that you couldn’t three years ago?
From “Remembering to Remember”:
I needed a reminder that grocery shopping is no longer terrifying, and I can hug my Mom now, and yell at a football game, and watch my son graduate from college, and not worry too much when my daughter goes overseas on a cultural leadership tour. Remembering this gives me a shot of joy.
Now here’s the prompt:
Share one of your favorite post-pandemic delights in the comments.
Small delight or big, common or unique, it doesn’t matter. Just say it out loud so we can celebrate and share in your joy.
Why? Why not? I can’t help but get happier when I see other people being happy.
I’ll start!
Meet you on the other side of the paywall…