Counting 2021 blessings
Saying good bye to 2021 was easy for many. Last year was a mixed bag of challenges and allowances. Ending the year with restrictions for travel and gatherings may seemed like 2020 all over again… but after a whole year under your belt can you really say we are back to the same place?
When my mom and I were able to get our 1st Covid vaccine dose and later the 2nd dose, I felt a huge relief. Then when the number of new cases rapidly dropped and the plan for reopening the province started to unfold, I still didn’t jump quick enough on the wagon to be back to where we were before the pandemic. I stayed cautious and only met with a few close friends, who were fully vaccinated, outdoors in parks and patios. I had one group of outdoor yoga classes and it felt glorious to be practicing together under a blue sky and a gentle breeze.
At the same time, I felt crestfallen to see my relatives in Venezuela and other countries to struggle to get vaccinated and live in fear without any protection while waiting. Some of them and their entire family got sick with Covid. Thankfully, they all recovered without any serious effects.
Finally, at the end of august I felt safe to start teaching yoga at a studio for small classes of 4 people. In the fall went to a baby shower with a small group of friends (10 people fully vaccinated). I also was invited to a special concert by Tafelmusik to test the strategy for in person concerts. I volunteered in November for a Christmas concert and the joy of people returning to the hall was inebriating.
I was actually considering to visit my brother next year and then Omicron came along. It was a bit of a downer and we still don’t know how is going to evolve. I remain hopeful that will be less severe and that having a very large fully vaccinated population in our Community will help us ride this wave better than the others.
I feel in a better position than last year because we have done this before and at least we know what doesn’t work for us. We can continue to explore and discover what works. When I visited el museo del oro in Bogotá (Gold museum), I was very touched by all the ethnographic text fragments in the 3rd floor. One that I remember often is that life is a journey in a spiral shape. We start at the origin and with every turn, we come back at a point parallel to the origin but higher because of all the lessons we learned along the way.
“La vida se extendió por todas partes dando vueltas cada vez má s amplias.
Mitología Kogui. Museo del Oro Bogotá, Tercer piso, vitrina 68, texto 1: San Agustín, 1990-1992.
Por eso su camino tiene la forma del caracol (Life spreads itself every where turning each time in wider rounds. That is why its way has the shape of a helix). ”
These ethnographic text fragments are displayed along prehispanic objects without any explanation or context. To me, the texts are like faint echos of indigenous voices that had been silenced long ago regardless of their presentation. It is for you to find meaning or inspiration. In this spirit, I share another of texts that moved me.
“Nuestro modo de vivir no es duro como la piedra, es como la vista penetrante en un cristal que traspasa. Asi son nuestros hermanos y asi son nuestros hijos. La estabilidad de un horcón no perdura, pero la bondad y el calor del sol si perdura porque tenemos su cristal en nuestro ser. (Our way of life is not hard like the stone, it is like the penetrating gaze in a glass that pierces. So are our brothers and so are our children. The stability of a pitchfork does not last, but the goodness and warmth of the sun endures because we have its crystal in our being.)”
Mitología Desana. Museo del Oro Bogotá, Tercer piso, Entrada al Salón Dorado.
I hope you find some time to look back at 2021 challenges to find lessons, forgive yourself for any hurt you may have caused, and feel grateful for all the gifts and blessings. Looking back without judgement may help you find them. I share with you in this video some of my blessings as my own effort to concentrate on the useful and let go of regrets.