Close the door. Yes, please close the door to 2020. Now, open the door to 2021. The promise of this coming year is phenomenal. Let’s leave the devastation of last year behind us. Goodbye. Walk through the door and into the bright sunlight of this new year. What is it? Hope springs eternal? Yes, it does!
2021 couldn’t have come fast enough. I’m ready to let it go and move on. I hope you can too. Literally, just close that door behind you. Walk outside, take a deep breath, reach your arms to the heavens, and feel the fresh oxygen enter your body. Breathe deeply, do this several times and enjoy the energy it brings you. You deserve it.
We have been given the promise of a vaccine that will provide a safety net for us. My dear friend has let me know that her aunt who lives in assisted living was told they would have the vaccine before the end of the year. So, by the time you are reading this she will have been inoculated. Whew! Then, the tidal waves of vaccines will be released to the entire nation over time. Wahoo!
Perhaps one of the most tragic parts of this pandemic is the isolation experienced by our elderly population. The travesty of loneliness, fear, anxiety, and boredom has been like a hurricane with full gale-force winds that have knocked us all down. But none so more than our seniors.
My work is all about grief and bereavement; I have surmised our whole world is grieving right now.
We have lost our “normals”. We have had to leave our usual routines by the wayside. We wear masks whenever we go out to shop or prior to entering a restaurant. It’s a loss of freedom of movement.
We are not used to this. Will we ever be? I don’t think so. It is however our new normal. I suppose it will become habit but not one I welcome. We wash our hands more times than we ever thought possible. I clean the hard surfaces in my house constantly, (oh, brother!). We are cautious beyond being cautious - everyday life has just changed. It’s been hard on everyone. And there is grief in these losses. There is deep sadness, will we as a society always be fearful, full of anxiety if someone in the grocery line sneezes? Let’s hope not. Let’s allow a sneeze to be just that. Walk the opposite way if you must – just let it be.
I am a Grief and Bereavement Practitioner and the saddest part for me is that I can’t go and visit Hospice patients. It is my heart’s calling to be with families as their loved one is passing to provide a calm and nurturing presence. It’s been a heart wrencher not being allowed in to those that need companionship on their journey of transition. The loss and grief experienced by everyone has hit the healthcare professions tremendously. It’s been an assault on all fronts from our frontline medical teams to caregivers and all of us in between. I suspect that a tsunami of grief is around the bend, we are already seeing it in higher suicide rates and the mental health profession having waiting lists for people to be receive help.
This past year has not been without gifts for which I am most grateful. The shutdown of our business world has given me the opportunity to build my practice. It has given our children better insight as to their health and the health of others. My relationships with my husband and friends have deepened and become even more meaningful. I have had the pleasure to meditate more and appreciate the beautiful sunrises that I see from my office window as dawn approaches each morning. For these gifts and more I am so grateful.
I think the promise of this year is more social interaction, less loneliness, and less fear in our society. Our children and grandchildren will be back in school before too long. They have suffered enough of on again and off again, in the classroom then, no, sent home to online course learning. My understanding is that it is far from satisfactory. Some kids just don’t learn well reading, interpreting, trying to complete lessons on their computers. Some kids need hands-on. Not to mention the fact our kids have been socially isolated from their friends and teachers. Whew, let’s get these kids back in the classroom where they belong.
Additionally, the political landscape should settle down, the racial differences will hopefully slowly resolve, and we can resume business. Cheers to that and more!
Happy New Year to everyone and may we all begin to celebrate life in a way that is fulfilling and joyful.
Susie Pitts
Grief and Bereavement Practitioner
soozlaaf@gmail.com
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