Are we in the post-pandemic stage? Yes and no! If you're vaccinated, it seems that you are on a good path to a healthy year ahead. If you're not vaccinated, not only are you at risk, but you are putting the young children in your midst at risk since they cannot be vaccinated yet. So please get vaccinated--help our country to rid it's borders of this deadly virus. That's critical.
So for those of us who are vaccinated, what does this post-pandemic stage mean for us--what will be the same and what will be different? What will you do?
I'm thinking about that this morning as I look ahead. In my midst, the concept of family has been both challenged and affirmed recently. Those who challenged family ties, in some ways, wanted to break from the fold--they saw the concept of family as a too-tight circle, one that didn't allow them enough freedom to be who they want to be and do as they want to do. For those who affirmed the families ties--they clearly want to keep the bonds strong, and as one family member described, it's a lifeline in this sometimes tough world we live in. For me, family is a top priority--I want to keep the family bonds strong, nurturing, and supportive over time, and will do what I can to make that happen, So with regard to post-pandemic plans, family gets center stage.
Home is challenged right now too as our jobs and professional focus change. We may move, and we may not move. We simply don't know yet, so as I think of the goal of a warm, welcoming home, that image is not related to a specific place or set of items, but instead the ambiance I want to create in the place that I live. I want my family members to feel like they can visit, put their feet up, and feel comfortable and accepted in my home wherever that may be.
With regard to endeavor, I'm actually at a place I often wished for--a place that gives me the freedom to choose carefully what I want to do and what I don't want to do. I'll be discerning about the choices ahead, choices where I'll make sure I still have time and capacity for the people I love and the lifestyle I support myself and others--a healthy, Earth-friendly, simple, nature-loving, caring-for-others and myself lifestyle.
These post-pandemic plans are less about working towards a specific event or place in life, and more about building my capacity to be the loving, good, kind person I hope to be--I'm finessing a lot of who I am to reach that destination. Onward.