HOPE
I'm sitting at my desk, twinkly stars above me, two sleeping dogs behind me, and a ton of sleeping puppies close by.
I've been working on my next book over the last hour, and I need a break. I never write something else when I need a writing break, but right now I have the urge to say hi to all of you, so I'm going with it. Never say never, right?
Hi! How are you doing?
This insane year is almost over, and the memes about keeping our expectations low for the new year are aplenty. But I can't help but feel hopeful. It's in my nature, and also a survival mechanism, I'm sure.
But instead of looking forward, let's stay in the present for a bit. Since this is a one-sided conversation by design, I'll tell you a bit about what's been going on in my life since the last time I popped into your mailboxes, which was apparently in October?!
In turn, if you feel like sending a little personal update my way, please do! I've received a few reader emails and notes in the last little while, and I can't tell you how much I love getting them. The nature of being a writer is spending the majority of one's (writer's) life in solitude, so it's really uplifting to get mail from people who read the words we write. I put 'writer' in brackets in the previous sentence, because I'm a part-time writer. My day-job is being an x-ray technologist, which is a job I love. Not least because it's given me plenty of material for my upcoming book! It also gives me plenty of interaction with people, so I'm not suffering from human withdrawal (sometimes it's definitely the opposite). But still, I keep my writing and my day-job relatively separate, so it's really special to hear from readers!
The need that made me sit down and wanting to talk to you is that I've been feeling a powerful, overwhelmingly positive vibe in these last few weeks. This outgoing year has been terrible for many of us. So many of us have suffered losses. And no, it's not about your lost vacation, Karen!
Some of us have lost jobs, rights (if you live in the US), loved ones, hope, trust, and our ability to see family and friends. It's been hard, that's for damn sure.
But after being in this fog of fear, despair, annoyance, and being fed up with everything for so many months, I've been feeling really hopeful lately. Unreasonably, crazily hopeful in fact.
There have been some really GOOD things about 2020 that need to be shared:
For introverts, having the pressure of feeling the need to meet up in person being removed this year has been a huge relief. We love you, but the whole rigmarole that's involved with meeting up: texting back and forth, finding a date that works, changing plans a few times, deciding in advance on what to do - is very exhausting to us. Having that option taken away really helped us relax and appreciate you so much more stress-free! We get (almost) as much out of face-timing, texting, and sending funny memes back and forth as we do seeing you.
Except for one thing: nothing replaces a good hug. We miss that. We do miss seeing you in real life. (Just not all the planning that goes with it.)
But can I tell you a secret? We secretly loved not being able to host as many people here as we have in recent years. We love having friends over, but it is a lot of work. It was a nice break not having to worry about it this year.
The bonds within our bubble have deepened this year. The people in our bubble that aren't our biological family became our family this year. DNA doesn't matter. They are family, forever.
I have experienced some major personal development this year. I learnt to distinguish friend from foe. It was a rude awakening: people I had considered a friend before betrayed me; people I wasn't sure about proved to be true friends. It was a hard, but valuable lesson to learn.
I have found an even better fit for me in my x-ray career than I had last year at this time. I found permanent part-time employment at yet another small town hospital, bringing my total work-experience at rural hospitals up to 4. I work one week there, and divide the other week up between 3 other sites. It's perfect for me. I love the variety, the different people and challenges, and being my own boss half the time.
Most of these places are an hour's drive away from home, but I don't mind. I listen to audio books, day dream, or plot the next scene in my story.
New hobbies we took up this year due to Covid:
Doing puzzles (me).
Breeding dogs (Rich - and me enjoying it tremendously).
Reading more than ever (I think I passed 50 books this year, which is a lot for me).
Aaaand that's it. Two new things, which nevertheless feels like an achievement.
But now, there's a change in the air. The vaccine is about to drop any minute; Taylor Swift dropped a second album this year; Trump is almost gone; 2020 is almost over.
There is something exciting all around us ... I can feel it. Can you sense it, too?
It's the sweetest word of all: hope.
Better times are coming.
If you find this letter useful, feel free to forward it to someone else who might enjoy it.
Vol. 72