Pandemic – Appreciation Magic

I Appreciate Reading

Being at home for months on end during this pandemic certainly gave many of us opportunities to pass the time in different ways. I have found great pleasure in reading this year and appreciate all the authors and books available. I appreciate learning how I could easily borrow ebooks from my local library and send them to the Kindle app or my Kindle for reading. How easy and cost-free it is to check out books for free, and I don’t take this for granted!

I appreciate the Goodreads community, for all the reviews and suggestions on books to read, too. I like seeing what my friends are reading and appreciate the reviews. And I recently won one of their book give-a-ways! I love reading and burying myself into a good book. Burying myself into a thrilling novel and into the characters is such a pleasure for my soul.

What fun it is to listen to an audiobook, narrated by the author, too! While it usually takes me longer to finish an audiobook than by reading it myself, listening to audiobooks is a great way to pass time while driving or traveling somewhere.

Reading as a child really fostered my imagination and I appreciate my small town library where I think I read every book I could. The librarian knew me well and would tell me about new books available when I went there. I loved reading when I was a lot younger and had to get permission slips from my parents to read some books that were considered out of my ‘age-appropriate’ category. I appreciate my parents for giving me that permission.

I’ll never forget the scandal in my high school when a parent of one of my classmates picked up a book his daughter had at home. We were reading it for an English class at the time. He was outraged by the language in the book and successfully lobbied the school board to remove the book from the school and from our class curriculum. We had to stop reading it, even if we hadn’t yet finished. We were all shocked by this censorship. I appreciate that this censorship only inspired me to read even more. Often the unwanted contrast of life creates awesome results. It definitely serves as a way to discover what we want out of life.

I appreciate discussing books I’m reading with my friends here where I live, who are all avid readers. They give me suggestions of books to read and my reading list gets longer and longer everyday. I really appreciate these discussions, but I also appreciate that my opinion is my own, and we don’t all have to like the same books. I know that there’s a book for everyone’s tastes and that’s a wonderful thing to appreciate.

Note: I never did finish reading that book that was taken from us decades ago. I’ve added it to my reading list and will read it this year. It’s such a long list, and I’m ready for it!

Staying in Touch with Friends

In the 70’s, my family hosted several people from other countries in our home. One of those was from France. She spent a summer with us and I visited her twice in France the next few years later, and then again in the mid-80’s when I attended her wedding. Over time, an occasional note arrived in my mailbox from her but generally, we lost touch for awhile. Thanks to Linked In, I found her again and we communicated with each other. (She’s not on any other social media sites.) I was so happy to connect with her again. We then emailed each other off and on, but nothing has been better than seeing her again a few years ago when I traveled to France for work and we met up again.

Since then, we’ve connected more regularly on WhatsApp and now on the Signal app. (She’s dropping WhatsApp due to their privacy policy.) It has been such a pleasure to communicate and stay in touch with her, sharing photos, videos and lots of stories.

Today I received these images from her, taken by her husband. If you look closely, you’ll see him in the reflection with his mask on taking the photos. These are at a place near where she lives in Paris. I think it’s creative and cute even though the bears are having all the fun!

Parisian bears enjoying it all during the pandemic.

I really appreciate the apps that allow us to connect with previously long-lost friends. Maintaining our friendships with people near and far are a wonderful way to feel connected during this pandemic, when many of us are isolated for long periods of time. I appreciate the technology to keep connecting and even more so, I appreciate the friendships!

Reflections on 2020

It’s been quite the year all over the world. It may seem strange to find things to celebrate and appreciate this year, but there are many, if you look for it. I’ve made appreciating my daily habit, and often it’s for the simple things. One thing is for sure: the negative aspects of this year have brought forth huge mountains of desire and intentions for making things better everywhere.

I have often been struck this year by the creativity that’s come out of this year. The year was full of creative ways to bring television, Broadway shows, and opera to us. We could travel to museums virtually and go virtually anywhere without leaving our homes. Many TV shows got creative and still brought us their episodes or broadcasts in creative ways. I even participated in the Zoom audience at The View, a show that I always wanted to attend when I lived in NYC. It was a fun experience and the people with me were awesome. The pandemic forced us to “think outside of the box,” and for that, I’m grateful.

Even amongst all the political fighting, there’s usually someone with a sense of humor posting funny memes that made me laugh. And there’s always a dog or cat photo to make us feel warm and fuzzy. There were many heart-warming stories of people helping each other. Mr. Rogers always said in times of trouble, to look for the helpers. And that I did. There were so many helpers during the derecho that hit Iowa and my heart wanted to sing! I appreciate all who reaffirmed my belief that most people, (and especially Iowans), are kind and caring.

Speaking of helpers, I appreciate essential workers everywhere! Essential workers in health care, the food industry, the transportation industry, the delivery industry and the mail industry kept things going. Honestly no words can truly express how much I appreciate all that you do.

I appreciate all my family and friends who I met with virtually this year. I laughed so hard at our first annual virtual Clark Christmas Cookie Decorating Contest where I was one of the 5 judges. It felt like we were gathered together for the holidays. If it weren’t for this pandemic, 9 of us girlfriends probably wouldn’t have reconnected after many years of silence. I’ve known most of these women since I was 5 years old and I appreciate and love them all. I really appreciate having successful virtual Thanksgiving and Christmas with my family, too. While my daughters live in the same city and very close to me, they aren’t in my household pod, so we don’t get together. I can’t wait to get together with them again and share a meal and family time!

A special shout out and “thank you” goes to all of my Hawkeye Twitter friends! I’ve enjoyed our interactions over this year so much and cannot wait to see some of you again, and meet those that I’ve yet to meet. I appreciate that we had a football season, albeit shorter than usual, and that fans were able to see our team play on TV. I’m looking forward to a pandemic-free Hawkeye game and gatherings in 2021! And I appreciate how many kept the Iowa Wave going this year! I’m sure the children and their families appreciate you! 🖤💛

Iowa Hawkeyes Football Game

As this year comes to a close, I’m appreciative of all the scientists, researchers and medical personnel involved with the development and distribution of the vaccines. My daughters are getting their first dose today and I really look forward to the day when I’ll get mine and we can get together again. I really appreciate that I live in Iowa City with the wonderful University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. I am grateful for all the resources in my city.

Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

Happy New Year to all and don’t forget to look for the helpers!

When Distractions Are Good for Your Soul

The year 2020 has been so unusual in unpredictable ways. The pandemic with the COVID-19 virus has resulted in disruptions in our normal routines and increased anxiety in many people as a result. The news is filled everyday with new virus numbers, many dead, red alerts around the world, and stories of people debating the efficacy of masks and others protesting it. This, coupled with a contentious presidential election in the U.S., has resulted in a lot of negative news on TV.

Awhile ago, I found myself not feeling very good when I turned on the TV and checked in with the news. It seems as if the stories were all the same, no matter which channel I turned to. So I decided to give myself a distraction and turn the news off for awhile. It’s not the first time I’ve done this and likely won’t be the last.

What a difference that decision made! I decided to find a distraction that would capture my interest and entertain me at the same time. So I began to watch old seasons of the show, Survivor. I was only recently a fan of the show, so I hadn’t seen any but the last season’s episodes in its entirety. The show has been on for 20 years and there are 40 seasons in all. I am now on Season #37! It has really kept my interest and completely distracted me.

This distraction for me is good for my soul. It is a form of self-care in these uncertain times. We all have to take care of ourselves and it is especially important during this pandemic. This is one way I’ve found to be calming and fun. It is not the only thing I’ve done to “escape” from the thoughts of this pandemic and the quarrels of what is now the U.S. presidential post-election, but it is one that has served me very well for my overall well-being.

So when you find that you’re having a hard time with the day’s events, it can be truly good for your soul to take a break and immerse yourself in something that brings you pleasure instead. Turn off the news and enjoy whatever makes you feel good.

I may not be a contestant on the show, but I am a survivor in these chaotic times of 2020!

Noticing What’s Going Right During a Global Pandemic

We’re in a midst of a global pandemic and the news can really get a person down. Between the deaths, rising cases in the U.S., fighting over wearing a mask, loss of jobs and crowds not social distancing, it can be a challenge for us to see any positives in today’s situation.

Yet with any challenging situation, there’s an opportunity for growth. There’s an opportunity to see what’s wrong and create change to make things better. It may not seem so these days, but I have faith that we’ll all learn some lessons from this experience in the long run.

Learning to find what’s going right each day is an exercise in creating more appreciation and joy in your life: even during this pandemic. So, I thought I’d give a short list of some things I see and feel these days and invite you to consider making the practice of truly appreciating what is going right in your world daily. My list is by no means exhaustive. Here’s a taste of appreciation for you!

I appreciate getting up everyday. I appreciate the sun shining and the birds singing. I am so appreciative of the food in abundance in my kitchen. I appreciate the summer so I can take walks during this time. I appreciate the variety of masks I’ve gathered for my time outside my home. I appreciate the advice of the medical community during this pandemic. I also appreciate all the people who are working to keep things moving: in the hospitals, grocery stores, pharmacies and restaurants. I appreciate the creativity of places to come up with alternative ways of doing business. I appreciate Zoom and WhatsApp that help me stay connected with people near and far. I appreciate all the books available for me to read or listen to!

I appreciate my two cats who provide a lot of entertainment during this time. I also appreciate some of the movies I’ve seen on TV. I really loved seeing Hamilton recently and appreciate that it was made available for us to see. I appreciate all my Hawkeye Twitter friends, who provide an endless supply of fun and I love their cooking pictures! I can’t wait until the day when we can all get together for a tailgate and share some of them! And in this extremely hot, humid weather, I appreciate having air conditioning!

So that’s my short list for today. If the news is bringing you down, it helps to just turn it off and give yourself a rest until you can get yourself into a better state of mind. Appreciating routinely will help you do that. What and who are you appreciating today?