2022 - Embracing Our New World

As we approach 2022, we enter the third year of the pandemic. Even worse, there is no end in sight. Many of us have struggled to adjust and others have fought to survive--economically, physically, and mentally.

Personally, I have learned to accept that this may be our new way of life for some time to come. The days of going out to large parties or spending the day shopping at the mall are gone for me for as long as I can see. I'm simply not willing to risk another round of covid, spreading it to others, or contributing to the continued mutations that will continue for as long as so many refuse to do their part to control the virus that holds us all captive.

Over the past two years, my home has become an isolated village of two. My partner and I have both lived with the thought that this virus would end and we would resume life as it used to be. There has been a bit of angst, waiting and hoping for things to return to normal. We no longer believe that we have that option, at least not in the foreseeable future.

My goal for 2022 is to let go of our former life. I intend to find even more ways to make our home more relaxing and peaceful for when we are unable to leave and instead plan outings that avoid crowds but allow us to spend some time outside our tiny fortress. On my list are camping, hiking, sightseeing, or just simple walks along the roads less traveled.

When we are unable to get outdoors, we have tons of projects beyond the drudgery of home repairs to tackle. We have filled out home with the simple pleasures in life as if we're reverting to our second childhood. There are adult-themed coloring books, sketchbooks, modeling clay, puzzles, games, and our favorite - two cats who provide endless hours of entertainment and don't require walks.

My partner loves military modeling and builds all sorts of tanks, planes and ships. I'm not so much into that, but he also needs dioramas to display them on and that's something we can enjoy creating as a team. Because we are both new to it, there will be plenty of learning experiences and hours of watching online tutorials involved, but it's something we can have fun doing together.

Essentially, we've just taken the things that we enjoy doing anyway and made them a bigger part of our daily routine. Instead of working all week and heading out with friends or a movie on the weekend, we've embraced streaming movies in our living room and divided the space in our home to accomodate the different parts of our life. There's an office for work, a rec room for crafts and a living area for just kicking back to read or watch television.

Perhaps for some people, it wouldn't sound ideal but we are both in our fifties and it suits us. If things change in the future, maybe we'll venture out more again, but who knows when that will be. Rather than moping about what we're missing or taking chances that aren't conducive to our good health, we've elected to embrace a new way of life and just be happy that we are healthy and together.

What we've done and intend to continue building upon is not a dramatic change, just a few simple measures that will create safe avenues for recreation and relaxation in an effort to point both my partner and me back in the right direction toward good health, higher spirits, and a more restful way of life.