Personal renaissance: new year, new outlook, new book!!

What a journey!

Last year I had a lot on my mind, as most people do at the start of a new year. Never could I have imagined what actually happened.

A Global Pandemic…something I never contemplated writing about in any form.

I don’t like scary movies. I never have. So, to actually be in one was a rather out of body experience.  I have to imagine most people could relate to this thought. I remember when the world switched for me, and this time became real, not just a story in the news about a virus on another continent. 

 My husband and I had just come back from dinner with friends in early March, and we turned on the television to catch up on sports. That was the evening the NBA shut down for the foreseeable future. The first Covid positive player had been discovered. I remember watching the news and trying to process what was happening…the beginning of shutting down our country.

 Each day brought new unsettling information. Each day I tried to figure out what was actually evolving and what would be next. I was in Illinois at the time, we were in the process of selling and closing on our home. Businesses began to close. We tried to figure out if we could move, and how we would complete that process. It was a nightmare. The buyers called us as we were putting our last items in storage, and said they needed to postpone, and rethink. They were scared about taking on the financial risk… So, we worked with them, and devised a strategy to delay. Thus began the long waiting game. And what a waiting game it’s been.

Today, I see glimmers, which are turning into flashes, which are becoming beacons of hope. We know so much more. Thanks to science we have a vaccine that will enable the world to find it’s new normal. Living with this pathogen, but having a tool to defer it’s ability to wreak havoc on people, societies and economics. It’s come at a great price… over 2,000,000 deaths. Yet I see the tide beginning to turn. I have hope.

Renaissance.

I looked up the meaning of the word itself, not just the historical time frame which it is known for:

“A movement or period of vigorous artistic and intellectual activity.”

 “REBIRTH, REVIVAL”

That’s where I am today, January 26th, 2021. I am in my own personal Renaissance. After this year, which I have survived, along with my family, I am grateful and energized and hopeful.

So what’s next? I am pivoting, redirecting, rethinking, redesigning my life. This is a time of options and choices, a time of ripping the bandaids off. Looking forward, while remembering what we have all just come through.

Part of this redirecting is turning my attention to my new book, published by Vinal. It will be coming out later this year. I can’t wait to share it with you! The Right Monster for Reese is a story about how shifting from boredom to possibility using the imagination.

My new motto is, “Why Not?” What a thrilling time to be alive!

Until next time,

Pam