Ending 2020 Meaningfully — And Getting Ready for a Meaningful 2021

A helpful frame of mind

A great big thank you to Melissa Bee, Shanna Loga and Aimée Gramblin

Prompt: AoE Prompt #2: A Meaningful End

What do you need to do by the end of the year to make this year meaningful?

I’ll begin with the end and answer … not a thing!

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Into an America that was already whirling and tilting dangerously off axis and threatening to spin completely out of control and self-destruct came a once-in-a-century health catastrophe that quickly ravaged the planet.

My carefully laid plans, years in the making, of happily roaming the globe and working intermittently, imploded.

I moved three times.

First, work canceled me, telling me abruptly that my services were suddenly not needed. Then, I canceled work, quitting a post I’d held for 20 years. This without another job prospect on the horizon.

An unnecessarily-contentious, overly-delayed and by my way of thinking, unfair divorce, dragged on and on.

And, some other unfortunate, unfair and unexpected shit happened as well. All this year.

I’m smiling. And, I smiled through all of the above, most days.

Why? And how?

I think the shortest and simplest answer is that I saw every “end” as a new beginning.

Freed from work I was initially free to drift, which I did in abundance and with great joy, and I was freed to do something else. I’ve found that something else.

I moved until I found the perfect spot for me to call home. I knew I’d find it, and I did. I smile every time I walk through my front door.

I’ve stayed connected with family and friends. Our connections are different because they have to be, but they are rich, deep and real.

I’ve continued to roam, although much, much closer to home. I hike, bike, walk, boogie board and beach it on a regular basis. I’ve even gone on vacation and taken flights. Do I wear a mask and avoid crowds? Sure I do, but I get my me time, and my family/friend time, outdoors, where this human belongs.

Have I kissed some near-total strangers I probably shouldn’t have? Yes, I have. But, I stayed healthy.

Have I made other adjustments, both large and small, to the “new normal” whatever that may be? Yes I have.

I’ve even hatched an actionable escape-from-America plan should this country continue its cataclysmic crash.

And, I’ve written, more than I’ve ever written before in my life. That’s been good for so, so, so many reasons.

So, “no” nothing else needs to be done to make 2020 meaningful. It’s been done. Part of that doing was my happy plan and part was simple go-with-the-flow and trust-in-the-universe good fortune.

I’m happy with the “end” results.