Were you able to do anything special with the hours that used to be spent commuting, playing group sports, going to parties, singing in choirs, participating in community activities, and visiting family and friends in person?
Or was the last year a run on the Jetsons’ treadmill, with constant adjustments to changing school schedules, juggling grocery and package deliveries between Zoom calls, frustrating experiences learning new technology for working from home or communicating with the government, or a weary dreary sameness—until you couldn’t remember the days of the week and every box on the calendar became Blursday?
If you had told me in March of 2020 I would have an entire year of working from home, I would have made big exciting plans for how to use the time: clearing out boxes in the junk closet(s!), donating old books and clothes, completing long-dormant writing projects, luxuriating in books both on tape and on paper, and contacting old friends by phone and by actual snail mail letters (with stamps and everything)!
But nothing like that happened.
For me, the last 12 months feel like a “lost year”: time that slipped through my fingers without clear memories or a sense of direction or concrete accomplishments of any kind. When I look back I can’t believe I didn’t do more with all of that time.
I admit to being envious of people who made lemonade out of a year of lemons. They learned how to bake bread and cakes and pies from scratch. They bought exercise equipment and started intense home fitness regimens. They learned how to knit, crochet, embroider, or sew. They explored creative avenues such as painting or pottery. They started meditation practices or yoga. They filled personal journals and coloring books. They watched online lectures for fun, or took online classes for career advancement.
Does any of that describe you?
I did do one good thing, although I started it before the pandemic: I had a streak on a language app and managed to stay with it. From just a five-minute minimum commitment (some nights I do more), I picked up enough vocabulary to understand simple newspaper articles in French. People speaking at normal speed still leave me in the dust, and I’m hesitant about speaking, but I’ll be able to communicate a little better in hotels, restaurants, and shops if I ever visit French Canadian cities again.
Here is today’s question one more time:
- Were the last 12 months a “Lost Year” because of the pandemic?
The DKonversation: Something to talk about is an open thread to hang out, enjoy a virtual beverage, look around, vent, rant, ask questions, whatever. We all need lots of online places to gather like this until we can meet again in person.
You can comment on the topic above, or start a conversation about something completely different.
This is also a good place to ask general questions about politics, Democrats, Daily Kos, or anything else on your mind.
Now go to the comment section and let’s get started!
