Chelle Summer

Reconstructing Our Lives

Michelle Rusk
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Happy New Year!

While I was streaming mass from the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles (my church here in Albuquerque remains closed because of the pandemic) yesterday, Fr. Gallardo was talking about how we are now “reconstructing our lives” as we continue through the pandemic, but there is light at the end of the tunnel with the vaccines.

It’s been almost ten months since our lives were upended and from the beginning I saw that we all had an opportunity to make things better for ourselves. I’m not saying this was easy– it has been a challenging year and it’s been challenging in a different way for each of us because our lives are unique to who we are and how we live– but no challenge to become better is ever easy or a cakewalk. In fact, if we don’t walk through challenges or face them head on, we don’t grow.

Now that we’re at ten months and we see light coming at some point, although we don’t know exactly when, I it’s a good time to reflect both in the rearview mirror and what’s ahead of us. I see it that we have several months before things start to open up again so it’s a good time to finish up any projects or things we’d like to do or change. It’s a good time to make changes at home (mine include painting a bathroom, touching up paint around the house, recovering a chair and ottoman) before we get busy socially and find ourselves bouncing around outside our homes again.

It’s also a chance to make changes for ourselves. This past year we definitely took a step up at eating better at our house. We already ate fairly well, but we’re continuing to find more ways (er, I am continuing to find more ways) to include vegetables and beans in our meals. Since my surgery nearly two years ago, my body hasn’t been the same and it’s much happier if I eat less meat and eat more produce. I’m also swimming more than I was a year ago, knowing that running and swimming– movement– will help me get through the rest of this frustration and irritation.

Finally, what changes do we want in our lives to be permanent? For me, It’s about not just writing each day, but writing better and finally finishing the manuscripts I start. It’s about drawing more (to be covered in another blog soon), and upping my sewing production. While it has probably looked like I’ve accomplished more than most people this past year as I continued to sew, the inspiration is still coming quickly and I want to grab it while I can. But it means the list doesn’t get shorter because for each thing crossed off, there is something always getting added.

Turning the calendar to a new year is always a good time to make changes, but even more so this year as we look toward how we want our lives to be when we are finally free from the virus. Life won’t be exactly the same, it can’t be because we’ve changed in this experience, but it can still be great again. It’s up to us to find those opportunities and run with them.