Do you have a focus word for 2021?
Some people like to choose one at the beginning of each year,
a word that captures what they want to achieve
or how they want to improve their lives during the year.
It can be easier and less intimidating than setting up resolutions.
I've never been good with resolutions.
Something usually derails me within a few weeks.
A single word is easier for me to focus on,
especially if it isn't encumbered with pesky numbers and details.
So I chose relax for 2021.
I am notoriously bad at relaxing.
Just ask my siblings whose "secret" family name for me is The ADHD One.
Terry works on me periodically, refusing to give me up as a lost cause.
"Relax. Put your feet up," he suggests as he sinks into the sofa.
I silence him with The Look.
I have a collection of well-used Looks,
and Terry is never confused about which one I'm shooting his way.
So I chose relax for 2021,
determined to channel cats who are notoriously good at relaxing.
Just imagine a sleepy cat stretching out on a couch and slouch into relaxation.
I feel R E L I E F,
a deeper, boneless state of complete repose.
I had no idea that my body had been clenched for over a year,
until the U. S. Presidential Inauguration took place peacefully.
2020 was way too much with the pandemic, isolation,
job losses, economic stress, protests, and insurrection.
When Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. swore Joe Biden in as the 46th president,
the tension I had been holding for ages melted into a puddle of relief.
R E L I E F.
I felt relief because we now have a president who takes the pandemic seriously.
425,000 dead Americans and counting is a tragedy that should not have happened.
I felt relief because America's reputation might be restored among our allies.
I'm exhausted from taking flak from family and friends around the world,
from trying to explain the inexplicable.
I felt relief because our county didn't fall into bloody chaos and our institutions held.
I'm still shocked and sickened by the violence at the Capitol.
Since then I have continued to feel relief.
For little things:
Relief that my car died in my garage and not in a busy intersection yesterday.
Relief that AAA swapped out an old battery for new in minutes.
Relief that my periodontist found healing, not worsening infection
in my jawbone, when he removed my stitches yesterday.
Relief that there were soft leftovers for dinner in the fridge last night.
And relief for big things:
Relief that the numbers of Covid sick and dying will start to decrease.
Relief that I'll likely see all my family and friends again.
Relief that I'm scheduled to get my first Covid shot on Sunday!!!!!
And the second three weeks later!!!!!
Maybe this year we'll actually be able to return to my beloved Italy.
I long to have a spritz and lunch at Adriatico Mar,
a locals osteria on the rio di San Pantalon canal in Venice
where Terry and I have spent wonderful hours.
I am relieved to know that owners Francesco and Siri continue
to serve up fine drinks, food, and hospitality despite the pandemic.
Conversations on the Jetty
Adriatico Mar, Venice, Italy
May 24, 2016
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
I imagine myself comfortably full and relaxing with a glass of wine on the jetty;
but probing deeper, I realize I'm imagining the R E L I E F of making it back,
that Terry and I have survived the Coronavirus and can travel again,
that the world is returning to some semblance of normal,
a world where you can dangle your feet over a Venetian canal
while sipping wine and chatting in the autumn sunshine.
Yup, I think I have to toss out relax
and claim relief as my word for 2021.
I don't even have to focus on it.
Feeling relief is like being a carefree cat.
Till next time ~
Fundy Blue
On the Bay of Fundy
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
