Pandemic Resolutions
When the reality of life in the time of Covid first sunk in, I imagined that I would never sell another hat again. After those initial few days of panic, I made a list of all the things I could do other than earning money that would contribute to our household. I confess, I was really enjoying the fantasy. I would turn my entire yard into a garden…. finally get the house clean…make all our clothes… make curtains… paint the guest room…preserve food…the pioneering list goes on and on. I was ready to time travel back to 1805.
Two things happened that put a damper on this scenario. First, after a week of being the perfect wife, with dinner on the table at 6, granola made, dishes washed, house cleaned…I totally lost my shit. This was entirely on me. I was the only one putting pressure on myself. I also learned that if I take creativity out of my life I become a not very nice person.
The second thing that happened was that I wrote a little post on Facebook asking people to share my page and that little post got shared over 3000 times. I suddenly had a lot of hats to make.
I am nothing but grateful for the orders and to the people who shared that post, but I felt a bit of a loss as I slipped back into busy, busy, busy mode. Those first few pandemic days had given me a bit of clarity into what was truly important in life (not the house cleaning part). And so, I decided to take control. After two demoralizing years of watching the deer eat all my plants, we hired a friend to fix the garden fence. Best money I ever spent.
I now make sure that gardening is a weekend priority.
My hedge of Rugosas that I planted from tiny little shoots are coming along swimmingly.
And every morning Lego and I go for our long walk. I’m finding the world extra beautiful these days. I Love the energy and diversity that tourists bring to Lunenburg, not to mention sales, but I’m also loving the peace of a quiet town.
I know that there’s a lot of hardship associated with this pandemic, but it has brought some unexpected gifts.
I walked the back harbour path several times this week – the lupins are incredible, particularly when you reach the end, and then look back. May your garden flourish, Anna. You bring untold gifts to this town.
Awww, thank you, Paula. I’m also always turning backwards to look at the Lupins.
I can so relate to this Anna. I too went into a bit of pioneer and panic mode. I’ve been at 6’s & 7’s not knowing what to do with myself until I found my way back to creativity. To hell with housework. I do enough to get by. The thing is to create something, something that matters to you, something that spreads goodness and love into the world. And to celebrate every moment of beauty in your day and to recognize beauty everywhere.
I really enjoy watching your creativity. It’s inspiring.
Anna, beautifully said. You are one of the gems in this town. We are lucky to have you🎈
Thank you, Letishia. You are too kind.