The new year is here. Between quarantining and some serious snow days, my holidays lacked most celebrations and festivities. When the calendars moved into 2022, I was feeling empty and alone. The new year was just another moment in time. After a long walk and some quiet space, I was kind of tired of feeling sorry for myself. In that moment, I knew what my New Years Resolution/Goal would be. This year I am going to show gratitude more often. I definitely won’t turn into a Peloton instructor, but I can share my gratitude with the people and things around me. Because I am very grateful. I am grateful for my friendships and relationships. I am grateful for a business I love to work in. I am grateful for the places I get to go. I am grateful for the experiences I get to have. Honestly, there isn’t much in my life that I can complain about. Ok, fine, give me a girls night filled with charcuterie and champagne and I am sure I can come up with a few things.

The darkest day of the year came and went. The town was lit up with Christmas trees and holiday lights. So many memories were made and so many people were seen. We ate all sorts of holiday goodness and drank our way through the season. We spent time inside with family and friends. We filled our evenings with Hallmark movies and homemade goodies. We laughed over nothing and danced for no reason. This was a season of much needed celebrations and smiles. But this holiday season has come to an end and most of us might be feeling a little sad and wistful.

Tis the season for thankfulness and abundance. Tis the season for friendships and obligations. Tis the season for stormy nights and Hallmark movies. The year is wrapping up and yet there is a slow crawl to the end. We don’t know what the holidays will look like yet, we don’t know what the future holds and we are pinned in the middle of the here and now. We have officially stepped into the threshold of the holiday season. And I think it is time we celebrate. It is time to give our quiet moments to all the people and all the chaos in our lives.

The end of the year is fast approaching. As we gear up for a candy filled month, it’s also a prelude into a season filled with festivities and indulgences. The grocery store isles are lined with bite size candy, soon to be replaced with pumpkin pie and followed by peppermint bark. Sugar is around every corner waiting for the smallest of excuses to be consumed. Temptations are gearing up and we are going to have to figure out a way to make it through to the other side. We can enjoy this moment right now, it is the calm before the storm.

A few months ago, it really felt like the world was going to open. We saw friendly faces in the grocery store. We hugged our friends and shook hands with acquaintances. We had gatherings with people we barely knew and started planning travels to new and foreign places. But all that halted. We are suddenly and expectantly frozen in time. The unknown is more of a constant than a temporary. We lack expertise in most things pandemic related, yet we are bombarded with facts and options that usually melt together into confusion and fiction. We thought we had seen the worst of it, and yet we are living in the erratic world that is our present.

The days are slipping away and the end of the week arrives faster than expected. I would normally embrace the weekends, but it just seems like the months are finishing before I had time to enjoy them. With the pace moving rapidly and all the chaos overwhelming me, I took some much needed time away and time alone last month. I took my annual solo trip and holed myself up in a hotel for a weekend with hopes of figuring out all of life’s complications and problems. I wanted to feel reenergized with work and ready to tackle all things business.

Washington State finally opened up. One day we were living under restrictions and regulations and the next day we were given little more than suggestions and recommendations. To say it is confusing is an understatement. As a human, I am loving it. I love being able to freely congregate with friends. I love listening to live music and meeting new people. But as a small business owner, I am feeling overwhelmed at a time I thought I would feel relieved. I am feeling distracted when I thought I would feel motivated. Businesses were given no guidelines, we were given no warnings. We just opened one day. No more masks, no more rules and all the freedom we choose to have.

June started off with adventure. After being locked in and isolated for the past year, I got the opportunity to spread my wings and take flight. I got the opportunity to experience people and places. I got the opportunity to reconnect with past relationships and create new ones. This month is only half over and I feel so full of people and conversations. I have hugged and laughed. I have golfed in 110 degree weather and looked at Denali on a clear midnight sky. Even though I need a vacation from my vacation, the time away filled me up with experiences and connections that I forgot how much I needed. We have all had our heads weighed down this past year. We have all “poded” up with our few chosen people. We have all sacrificed parts of our sanity. And now we get to remember what it’s like to squeeze your best friend on their birthday or smile at a stranger who soon becomes a friend.

Spring is in the air. The days are getting longer, the flowers are blooming and the sun is shining, at least for today. We have made it through the winter and as we are beginning to shed our layers we may notice a few extra dimples in our thighs and a little more body in our middles. Suddenly our sweatpants and coffee stained shirts can’t be hidden in the zooms or given the excuse of a quick errand. Believe it or not, we are getting out. We get to meet with friends and family members. We get to celebrate graduations and have dinners. And where you might argue that sweats are still appropriate, I am going to encourage you to put them away at least for the next few months.

This past year has taken us all on a rollercoaster. We’ve had some steep climbs and some stomach dropping downs. We’ve zoomed our girls nights and froze our asses off for holiday get togethers. Each of us has celebrated a Covid Birthday and most of us have canceled life events. The year has felt like a lifetime and yet the weeks just seem to turn and time isn’t slowing down. The vaccines are out in distribution and there might just be light at the end of this tunnel. Even if the tunnel seems a bit fogged in at the moment.