We now have a person of the year, but is there a word of the year?* Impermanence seems like a good one to describe 2021, which has swung wildly from very bad to hopeful to briefly very good and now back to not so great again.
As of this writing, Christmas plans, made with confidence a month ago, are in question again. A friend who just went for a COVID test here in New York so she could travel back to Europe tomorrow was advised to not eat indoors prior to her trip. Friends’ kids are once more home from school. January cross country travel plans, so looked forward to, hover between should I make and hope for the best, or should I cancel now and anticipate the worst and save on non-refundable fees.
And then there’s actual serious matters, which you do not have to look to see.
Earlier this summer, I had a few months where everything went right. It was a months-long version of those days when I bike through New York and all the lights turn green just as I reach them. Things were just working, and while some of it was the result of long-established good relationships, and hard-won groundwork, a lot of it just was. Everything came together. It was wonderful. I really just enjoyed myself.
I understood at the time I was in a good phase. One of the benefits of age, I am finding, is that you begin to understand life as a cyclical thing. One long experience of impermanence. We are encouraged to think of happiness as a permanent state to be achieved – “happily ever after” – and difficult times as a punishment we may never escape. But both will pass, and both will return.
As we head back into what looks like a tough winter, at the end of what turned out to be a more difficult year than we anticipated, I find myself most grateful for the ability to know enough to enjoy the good times when they arrive. To be able to recognize that all the lights were turning green as I reached them, and to enjoy that ride. Which I did, and intend to do again.
This will be my last newsletter for the Riveter. It’s been a fun project to have this year (and definitely one of the green lights, so to speak). Sometime in the new year I will likely start sending out something of my own. If you’re interested in being on that list, you can sign up here. As anyone to whom I currently owe an email can attest (it’s not a short list), I will not spam you. Until then, I hope you are able to enjoy yourself.
*There is actually a word of the year! Vaccine! Please get one.
