Have you ever stopped to consider how many aspects of daily living you have had to adjust or relearn to do over the past four months? This thought occurred to me when I was looking at the course details for “up skilling” in order to deliver a workshop that I have been teaching for the past couple of years. Teaching on Zoom or some other platform for 6 hours a day seems impossible to me at this moment in time but my guess would be in a year or two, I will be doing it and not batting an eye.
Shopping for groceries, trying to socialize within a “bubble”, attending a wedding on Zoom and spending hours considering where to vacation close to home this summer – all of these are things that have become a part of our new normal. Much of what we do is now done differently and have become consolidated behaviours in our lives. Hopefully anyways.
All of these activities in the beginning seemed difficult and nerve wracking. Either my brain has adapted and I have become more risk tolerant or I simply have developed and established new routines and ways of doing things. This shows me that when given no alternative, we can indeed learn new things.
When I consider how often in the past, fear may have prevented me from trying something new or inhibited me from moving outside of my comfort zone, it is empowering to think that we can adapt, adjust, and learn new skills, and ways of being. This is my 50th blog post so not only have I hit my accountability goal for writing but I have actually followed through on something I didn’t really think I could do.
A year ago, a kind and supportive family member assisted me in signing on to WordPress after a decade or more of thinking about starting a blog but not sure how to go about it. This adventure has not been about having the perfect blog format, or getting lots of readers and likes but has been about overcoming the fear I had about sharing my writing.
What I have learned is that the process of writing a post each week has actually laid the foundation for a solid writing practice. I have found confidence to send out pieces of writing for consideration in a variety of publications. Happily I have even published two stories in literary magazines and have solid outlines now for larger writing projects.
When I began this writing journey, I was filled with doubts about the process and my ability to actually post every week. Filled with new learning opportunities, this process has led to the knowledge that I can still acquire new skills and my plans and goals are becoming more and more clear. Couple this with the impact of the pandemic on my life, I have discovered that learning on the fly is not only achievable but necessary and life affirming. At this stage of my life, I can’t ask for anything more.
Stay healthy and safe!
Visions of Transition 