I'd be lying if I said I haven't been dealing with my own set of challenges these past few months. I don't want to gloss over that and act like this summer was amazing, because it wasn't. I found joy in little moments, but I will admit I've had more bad days than good. It's the constant cancellation of plans, the uncertainty of where we'll be in the coming months, as well as the halt in my career plans for the unforeseeable future. But, that is another post that I will be sharing soon. Right now I do want to focus on what was good about summer 2020, because it wasn't all doom and gloom. Despite the weight of everything going on with the virus, and the injustices in our world for minorities, I was able to find comfort and small glimpses of hope in the things I enjoy. I'd like to share some of those with you now. If you know me, you had to see this one coming. On July 23rd, Taylor Swift announced she would be dropping a surprise album at midnight called 'folklore.' I was ecstatic, it hadn't even been a year since she released 'Lover' and we were already getting new music? It's off-brand for Swift, but the minute I heard the first lyric "I'm doing good, I'm on some new shit," I knew this album would cure my summertime sadness (not really, but slightly). I've been a fan since her debut album and at her core Swift is a storyteller. She went back to her roots with this one, and though I've loved everything she's released, this album is feeding my soul like no other. The writer in me is grateful to have her introspective words to embrace and hold onto, especially now. Although I've been doing book club for over a year now, it's been a God send . We haven't been able to meet up much in person, but having people to discuss books with, as nerdy as it sounds, has been incredibly soothing for me. It's a great outlet outside of work and the craziness of life, to escape for a little bit and then go in depth about how I feel about it with my friends. When it's hard to find the good in every day, having a meeting to look forward to, even if it's through video chat, has helped my mental health immensely. I'm definitely more of an introvert, but going months without seeing people has been difficult and lonely. This club has been a lifeline for me. Plus, it's getting me to read which I've found more difficult to do when my world is full of distractions. My sister and I visited a sunflower maze about 20 mins from our house this past week and it was so fun. I've been dying to go to a field of flowers all summer and finally got around to it! There were a lot of bees and we chose a hot day to do it, but I'm glad we went. We got some cute pics out of it and the place was super low key. There were little to no people there, we had masks with us and we kept our distance. It was safe, didn't require an admission fee, and was an easy activity for a nice summer day. In July I bought my first new car! Since I've had my license I've had hand me down cars and used cars, so this was an exciting purchase. I've been working hard since I graduated college, I'm at the time in my life when I can afford one and my old car was giving me trouble so it was kind of the perfect time to make the purchase. I've never been someone that enjoys driving, but with the smooth ride and ability to easily listen to my podcasts and music on my drive to work or to pick my sister up, I don't mind it much anymore.
Summer 2020 doesn't look at all like we thought it would, but I tried to make the most of it.
2 Comments
Instead of saying, "We are always waiting on you to get your portion of the work done," you could say, "When the work isn’t in on time, I get worried that we’re going to miss our deadline. It would be helpful if everyone could meet their deadlines on the agreed-upon day."
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5/24/2022 11:42:45 pm
You can do this by using "I" statements. The other person hears your reactions to the situation, not your accusations.
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