March 12, 2021 – The Seventh Official Friday Night BeerBlog

How do you measure a year in a life? Sorry to be stealing so blatantly from “Rent”, but I mean really, how should we measure this last year? It has, in reality, been one full Corona year. And it wasn’t just a 2020 thing. It affected 3/4 of 2020 and now 1/4 of 2021 – so far. How should we measure this year within the context of everything we’ve been through?

I would say that in normal times, things and situations change, but not all at the same time. And one year ago, everything changed. Literally everything. For me, there are very few things that were happening in March 2020 that are happening in March 2021. I honestly don’t think it could have been a more frustrating, volatile, hopeful, sad, yet freeing year.

But this thing isn’t ending just because we have hit 365, just like it didn’t change when the calendar went from December 31st to January 1st. The effects of the Coronavirus Pandemic will be long lasting. Once we all are able to get the vaccine, some things will return to normal, some will take time and will lag, then others will never change back at all.

Obviously we are all looking forward to the day when we don’t have to wear a mask. Mandate or no mandate, the mask is still our best defense against getting the virus OR giving it. I remember in the past when you saw a person wearing a mask in public. It seemed so foreign. Now if you see a person without a mask in public, you are appalled. Like, “Good god man, put on your mask!” I saw a women in Kroger last week walking around the produce department without a mask and I just couldn’t stop staring at her, telling myself, “Maybe she just forgot it and hasn’t noticed yet.” How will I feel the first time I don’t have to or don’t choose to wear a mask when I go into Kroger. It guarantee it will be freaky weird.

These poor kids. A year of online classes and NTI – from kindergarten through college, It’s almost more than I can imagine for the kids, parents, and teachers/professors. The effects of the 2020-2021 school year will be measured for many years. I’m an pretty much an outsider in this area, but I do know so much hard work has gone into making sure all have been taken care of educationally. Everyone has done the very best that they can do, but everyone will have to accept that this year will leave an indelible mark on them. Some may overcome it, some may not.

The job market. A total freeze. Everyone looking or graduates looking and soon to be looking have found that most companies have been holding their breath and not hiring. I liken it to Game of Thrones when everyone warned “Winter is Coming”. But after the winter comes spring and with it what my friend Olivia Jaras calls “The Big Rehire”. Company hiring will eventually thaw and with it the knowledge that anyone can work from anywhere. This means when the doors do open, the sky is the limit as to what you can do and where you can do it from.

Last year, if asked, you may have said that the most admirable people were ones in power, running giant companies, running the government, or enjoying celebrity status. But if 2020 proved anything, it’s how important the essential worker is. He/She may not be a celebrity, but each and every one found out how important their contribution is to absolutely everything. I’m talking about healthcare workers, grocery store workers, infrastructure personnel, delivery people – first world baristas – you name it – if you helped keep things moving in an essential way, I hope that you take pride in the important role you have played and will continue to play. And I hope we remember how important every single person is to the whole.

Side note: Can you just picture workers at the Cottonelle plant working 24/7 so that their much needed product could be shipped out to stores? I imagine these people looking around and being stunned at their sudden celebrity exclaiming, “How you like me now, bitch?”

If you’re like me, during 2020, you had to lose something to gain something. I lost a lot of work, but gained a lot of time. After allowing myself time to freak out and adjust to what it meant to have less work, I have been able to put that extra time to use. Of course, I’ve used some of it on Netflix binging, but I have found areas in which to pivot that didn’t feel possible before. I’ve seen a lot of this. People reinventing, scratching out, and making things happen in ways they haven’t in long time. And with that, gaining confidence that they are strong enough and can really get through things when the chips are down.

And maybe this was always there, but I have seen so much divisiveness between thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors this year. I don’t know if it was the pandemic or that in addition to what has been building politically and socially, but I have witnessed some complete shit behavior, but on the other hand, have witnessed some acts of complete selflessness and willingness to listen and understand.

I prefer to focus on my friends and others that have gone out of their way to provide a service or product to help someone else, have given of their time and talents, and have supported friends and loved ones when they needed the most. I’ve even had friends that had to go outside of their norm and ask for help and deal all of the feelings that act brings up. So much, so much emotion to process.

Change. Change everywhere. Maybe you’ve been affected directly by it, maybe not so much.

You may think that not much has changed for you this year, but I disagree. We are all part of a larger community that has had to change at a rapid rate. And our larger community is part of an ecosystem that has all of this change churning inside of it. There is no way you are immune to feeling it. It surrounds you and presses in on you. I encourage you to embrace the change. It’s not going anywhere.

So how do you measure a year in a life? For me,

In bike rides,
In toilet paper,
In blogs and podcasts,
In pints of beer,
In texts, in zooms, in pivots, in change

How about love?
Measure in love…
Seasons of love…

Again, thank you “Rent” for reminding us how many things can happen in a year, especially during a pandemic, some foreseen, most unforeseen, but all full of love.

LLM

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For the audio read of this blog with Mike:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1594894/8131183