Girl, you know it's true...

A few months into quarantine Julian got into designing images. This one is my particular favourite. It sums up every pandemic feeling and vibe I had experienced up to that point. 

Let's break it down, shall we? 

• the calm, pink background: represents slowing down, the serenity, the peace
• the throwback font: homage to the past, grieving what once was, but also - kind of fun, because we are just 'being' instead of constantly 'doing', plus consuming way more wine, which makes everything way more funky
• the message: enough said.

The world has certainly changed, and many of us have changed as individuals. Some of it is sad, some of it is scary, some of it is revolutionary, some of it is just, plain lovely. Ultimately I hope it is for the better.

Personally, I am grateful that I had this opportunity to stop. To pause. To go for long, quiet walks and bike rides. To savour tasty wine and meals with my fella. To get to know my children as people. To realize my children are incredibly smart and sensitive humans who have a lot to teach me (for example, the title of this post should actually be: Folks, you know it's true... but they also are too young to understand the Milli Vanilli reference). To become acutely aware of who is in my inner circle, and why. It has changed me. I am not the same person I was in March 2020, and that is a good thing. I started writing again, I started playing guitar again, I started reading books again. I made the decision to leave a company where I have spent almost half of my life to spend more quiet time with my family and figure out what I want to be when I grow up. For all of these things, I am grateful.

But, we are also kind of fucked, aren't we? We are grieving the past, we are scared of the future. We are in the 'in-between' (kinda like The Upside Down in Stranger Things) and hoping that the Mind Flayer doesn't show up. There is uncertainty around the simplest of things: "Will I catch a disease if I go to the the shop to buy chips and dip? But, I really want chips and dip..." (we discovered HeluvaGood french onion dip during quarantine, and... wow). For those of us who have experienced a type of 'awakening' there is the question of - what is next? There is uncertainty, but there is also a whack of excitement and anticipation around the prospect of something new, becoming the 2.0 version of yourself.

For now, in this moment, I have decided to sit here for a bit. As much as I despise this term, I am going to: lean in to this moment. I am going to honour the past, and welcome the future, while being in the now. It is all sorts of weird, and kind of wonderful at the same time.

jbxo