Photo by Jon Rendell
How many times have you heard the term, if life gives you lemons, blah, blah, blah. Like many of us, I have heard it more times than I can remember, as well as what follows each. For instance, when life gives you lemons:
Make lemonade
Make a margarita
Use them with your shot of tequila
Make a lemon drop
Make a lemon pie
Squirt the juice in someone's eye
Frankly I would prefer it with my shot of chilled tequila and a bit of salt. It's my stress reducing cocktail.
In all seriousness, the year 2020 has been a year of unexpected changes that has impacted every single person's life, regardless of age, gender or even skin colour. Most people didn't expect to be hit with COVID-19 and all that came with it. We no longer work the way we use to work, many people have lost their jobs, in many countries health coverage runs the scale of shaky to having none at all, and socialising in restaurants, bars and residences of friends is totally out of the question.
Throughout my professional career I have always worked from home as a consultant, contractor or freelancer happily juggling many different projects. So staying inside the home is not a problem for me but I do miss hanging out with friends and doing work with groups of people. Instead of focusing on the negative aspects of COVID-19, I decided to zoom in on the positive attributes of it all. First of all, I am excited about all the time I have to expand my mind through reading and learning new information that I never had time to learn before. I am tempted to start an online book club to chat about all the amazing stories that are being told. I am thrilled to be learning so much about my history and why so many countries have been built and continue to exist primarily on lies and the discrimination of so many indigenous people. Normally, I am like a two-year old asking a series of why questions, but now I understand perfectly why so many things happened or are happening. I am in the process of reading several books now that include:
The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein. It documents in very great detail shameful policies of the Federal Government throughout most of the 20th century that denied African Americans upper level government jobs (beginning with the Woodrow Wilson administration) and many economic benefits available to white Americans only. Rothstein talks about redlining and the planned creation of poverty and unemployment through discrimination.
Too Much and Never Enough: How my family created the most dangerous man, by Mary Trump, the niece of Donald Trump. She shines a bright light on the dark history of their family in order to explain how her uncle became the man who now threatens the world’s health, economic security and social fabric.
The Fire Next Time. It's a 1963 non-fiction book by James Baldwin. It contains two essays:"My Dungeon Shook — Letter to my Nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Emancipation" and "Down at the Cross — Letter from a Region of My Mind".
The Liar's Wife by Samantha Hayes. This one is just for fun and to keep me enticed with the fine art of murder.
There is only one requirement, if reading during the evening or late afternoon, make sure you have a lovely glass of Pinot Noir available or an enchanting glass of Sauvignon Blanc. A lovely cup of tea or coffee is also acceptable. I have about 20 more books standing by yelling at the top of their voices, choose me, choose me next.
This is also a great time to try out different types of food and spend time in the kitchen making things happen. The best part about trying new recipes is there are no bad ones because everything is a wonderful experience that involves sharing with those that you love. I am very fortunate to be in lock down with 2 people that I love very much and eating is always a fun time. In the past few weeks we have had tacos, enchiladas, pesto pasta, pumpkin curry soup, pinto beans chilli and black-eyed peas. We have also been sharing guacamole dip, homemade chicken salad, shepherd's pie, and my favourite, chicken Waldorf salad. Learning the names of new vegetables is a challenge, such as silverbeet instead of chard and Coriander instead of Cilantro. A dear friend said we may all have to start wearing a mask like Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs when we are at home so that we can monitor our weight gain. What would you do without good friends to tease you and make you laugh until tears run down your leg. These times have brought me even closer to my friends.
One of the hardest, but fun lessons for me is learning to switch over from Fahrenheit to Celsius and understanding how to change pounds to kilograms. I am still learning how many stones I weigh. Initially I thought someone was asking me if I wanted to get stoned or if I was stoned. I do believe that moving to another country is making me think a lot more than ever before. It all takes time and it's a good thing that I am patient. I am still playing with the money like it's something from Monopoly. It's all very pretty and I can't seem to tear it in half.
It's also a great opportunity to get caught up on work that I have been procrastinating on because it wasn't fun. Well guess what, now that I have time, it's not as bad as I thought it was. It has also given me the freedom to think creatively and brainstorm with friends and colleagues about projects that would be fun to create. When developing programs I often think about the audience to reach and if it would truly be something that may make a difference with their organisation or community. For example, I am in the process of developing communication checklists to reach various communities. The checklists will be designed for each community as the key focus of creatingsuccessful marketing and media campaigns. The second project I am working on is being designed to work with those considering retirement in the next 5 to 10 years or with students of all ages making decisions about the next chapter of their lives. This is also a great opportunity to communicate with friends and colleagues that may be a resource in fine-tuning the best message.
Do you remember how we loved saying, 'have a great weekend' or 'happy TGIF' to each other on Fridays? Well, I love that now, every day is Friday. Each night when I go to bed I look forward to experiencing a new tomorrow every single day. Movie night for me is like being a little boy again excited about having the Three Bears read to me for the 100th time. Our household watches a movie every night with excitement. It may be an old black and white film, or something just becoming available to the public. If time allows we get to watch other series such as Cardinal or the incredible Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. Miss Fisher has the best outfits and definitely rocks the ego of men in the 1920s. Early on we also watched The Slap. If you have a few favourite shows, please share them with us.
Having more time has allowed me to check out a variety of apps that are helping me to better project manage tasks. Also brushing up on the Excel course I have taken about 5 times. When I don't use it over and over again it's like struggling to speak Greek. The fun part is finding great apps that bring me lots of joy.
And more importantly is learning how to place the attention on myself, showing love, kindness and respect to myself which helps me to show kindness to others that appreciate it. Each day starts and ends with mindful meditation that keeps me in a happy and joyful space allowing me to savour every single experience of the day. Being grateful makes all the difference in the world. Without being forced to take a seat, this never would have happened to me.
So what good things have come out of COVID-19 for you? Any great books, recipes or good movies?
In closing, what are you GRATEFUL for today?
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