This year was a difficult year for many of us. I can’t discount the many lives lost due to COVID-19, the time it took away from our family and friends, and the financial losses as a result of the pandemic as well.
I’m hoping to write more frequently on this blog and so I thought I’d come up with a “Best of” list (because who doesn’t like lists?!?!) of experiences, events, books, television, and of course things that made me happy and grateful for this year.
- Books: I temporarily escaped the world burning around me with books. Sometimes I couldn’t concentrate on books and sometimes it was the only thing I could do, besides the necessary things of course. Some of my favorite books included*:
- Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo: At first I started to read this and I thought, “Ugh, I hate novels that try to impress me.” The structure is unique where it follows the lives of twelve characters, some connected and some not. Sentences do not begin with capital letters and the lack of punctuation made me almost put it down. But the characters drew me in immediately and I appreciated the lyrical prose. It almost read like poetry, but in story form.
- The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett: This book deserves all the hype. A pair of twins who separated in adolescence and lead different lives.
- Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld: An interesting take on what would’ve happened had Hillary Clinton not married Bill.
- Facetime/Zoom: We haven’t seen our family for about a year, and we probably won’t see them until at least the summer or when the vaccine has been widely distributed. Facetime and Zoom allowed our children to connect with their grandchildren and other family, it also helped to facilitate virtual parties and catch up with family.
- TV: Schitt’s Creek: This TV series that my husband and I watched brought me tears of joy and laughter as the pandemic became scarier and scarier by the day. It’s a quirky series, but definitely one that will be a classic in years to come.
- Outdoors: In the beginning of the pandemic, I took my two daughters out for a walk every day. Because we lived in a rural area, it was refreshing to get outside and enjoy nature.
- Early Mornings: For years I swore that I was never a morning person. After all, sleep is sacred to me. But with no child care and free time to myself, I experimented with what time worked best for me to get my writing in after a few months in with the pandemic. I started to like waking up early. When we did get part-time child care, I even woke up early on those days. Back when I had a tiny baby and pre-kindergartener and struggled with sleep, I asked a fellow mama how she got up early to write and she answered with, “Well, it’s never easy but always worth it.” And that’s the mantra I tell myself when I get up. Even if the rest of the day goes down the dumpster I always tell myself, “At least I wrote.”
*I’m not a Bookshop affiliate but I provided links in case you wanted to check out these books.
