Hindsight-A Year in Review

The world, the country, the state, our city, and our household has had more than its share of stress and bad things happen this year. But I want to take a few moments to reflect on 2020, and to share some of the good things that have happened this year.

Jenny and I remain happily married-with all that has happened we remain glad to spend our days together. Jenny remains the chief reason why life is a good thing for me. I love her the most.

Rumi continues to be in good health overall and aside from a check up has not had to go to the vet for any emergencies this year. Every day he injects humor into my life. I love him second most.

I got down to my lowest weight since my early 20’s in March-discipline and activity in 2021 will get me back down from where I am now, and will hopefully carry me to my next goals. My sleep has largely been better this year. I haven’t had any health emergencies necessitating a visit to the doctor or convenient care. My back pain, which typically flares up in Autumn did not hit me as badly as in previous years. By being cautious I have not been exposed to Covid-19; 2021 will continue to be a time to be cautious before and after I get vaccinated.

My parents continue to be healthy and are largely heeding advice from health experts on staying safe and healthy.

My job continues to be a source of purpose, security, and stability. I am fortunate to be able to work from home. My supervisors think highly of me and my abilities, and I am respected by my co-workers. I developed a refined process for monthly Sunday updates to our databases that saves hours of work for myself and the team. In June I was chosen as co-chair of the hospital’s ethics committee, which is an unbelievable responsibility and honor for me. Also, in June I presented a talk on the Ethical Dimensions of Hospital Volunteerism. 2021 will see me co-presenting with the Ethics chair on our committee, and moderating a panel discussion on Physician Impairment.

I began writing more this year, and submitted poems and short stories to some of my favorite publications. A 2021 goal is to get some published work out there, with a longer-term goal of creating enough of my work into a second collection in 2022-3 (Black Ribbon and Other Perturbed Textiles is the likely title). It has been very gratifying to get positive responses from folks I respect about what I have written thus far. I have also become a beta-reader for some of my favorite authors, offering along with my “reader’s” perspective some basic proof-reading. I am proud to call these authors not just professional acquaintances, but also friends. I am excited to maybe be doing more of this in 2021.

This year also saw me returning to recording music. I finally was able to execute a project I have had in mind since 2016 called Pentameth Demon, thanks in large part to my oldest friend (since grade school) prompting me to consider the possibility of making music exclusively via computer. That released spawned 3 more releases this Autumn, the latest of which is an audio production of a Russian novella from 1905 (which was a result of an author friend’s recommendation). It has been surprising and awesome to see people giving these a listen on Bandcamp. 2021 will see me create/release a “faux”-riginal soundtrack to an imagined 1970’s Italian horror film that will hopefully show some continued evolution of sound and composition.

Lastly, I have been fortunate to have strong, supportive, and loving friendships with dozens of people. Their generosity inspires me to be a better person. They are close to my heart; their struggles and successes are my struggles and successes. I celebrate the chance to have them in my life, and eagerly await the day when I can see them in person again-in the meantime, technology allows for connection with them which has been a lot of fun. Carrying the lessons from my revelatory November 2019 trip to Rochester, and applying them, I have been able to reconnect with people I have not had the courage to reach out to previously. It has been both humbling and warming to be thought of well by these old friends, and I look forward to continuing this in 2021.

If you are reading this, I love you and appreciate you, and I wish you the very best 2021 can offer. Be safe, be healthy, and be happy. Better days are ahead.