Now more than ever, I’d like to focus on renewal.
It feels overdue after three tumultuous years. In what feels like another lifetime, November 2019, I happily dove into a glass half-full. I looked ahead, joyfully, to a new decade. New academic and writing successes blossomed one after another. Travel plans fired my imagination. My optimism and energy knew no bounds. Here in the U.S., many eagerly anticipated an election that would oust a coarse, contentious president and his ugly policies.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to us, a vicious virus poised to emerge and explode.
Structural Changes
Seemingly overnight, plans large and small evaporated. As COVID spread, our worlds got smaller. Survival took on a new and more visceral clarity. The world’s economies, social dynamics, and priorities convulsed in unexpected ways turning many of our lives upside down and inside out.
Apart from the now well-documented destructive biological disruptor, we’ve faced other foes and dangers at home and abroad. Around the world, we now mark time and memories with new descriptors: pre-pandemic; pre-January 6; pre-Brexit; pre-Ukrainian invasion; pre-Dobbs decision; pre-climate change disaster (choose your local flavor: wildfire, drought, flood, hurricane) …
Untold personal loss, strain and turmoil accompanied each new upheaval.
Did I mention I’m overdue for a renewal of optimism?
Liminal Space
Swept up in this three-year blender of structural changes we’ve been tossed, willy-nilly, into new and unfamiliar liminal spaces. Liminality, I’m reminded, is defined as the state of being in-between or something that is in a state of transition. Don’t know about you, readers, but I thought I was pretty adept at managing new and unfamiliar liminal spaces. Turns out this latest wave of structural changes and the liminality they created did more than test me. They depleted me regularly.
I know this because, pre-all-of-the-above, things that once brought me energy, joy and sustenance … writing, yoga, engaging with big ideas and fellow bloggers, travel, seeking out new relationships and nurturing friendships … these all took more effort than I had within me on most days. Many of my cherished activities and occupations languished. They didn’t get the attention they deserved. For that, I apologize for my remoteness and acknowledge my limitations.
In recent weeks, I’ve channeled my limited energy in a new way. I’ve been busy helping to elect compassionate, honest and competent leaders at the local, state and national level in a variety of grassroots ways. The outcome of elections across the U.S. November 8 will set a course for what comes next not only locally and nationally but internationally. To my U.S. readers, if you haven’t voted yet, please make the time to do so.
Buckle up, I keep telling myself. Anything can happen…
Renewal
This is my long way of saying: renewal of mind, body and soul remains a top priority. That’s why I’m reserving time December 21 to reflect on the theme of renewal and what it means with fellow Gateway Childless Elderwomen. Clearly, I’m not alone in my desire for renewal. Friend and fellow elderwoman, Jody Day, writes about what inspired this latest fireside chat. She dives deeper here. I hope you can join us; you may register here.
Also in the renewal of ideas category, please check in with the New Legacy Institute blog. Christine Erickson and her advisory board have some new efforts in the works. More to come on this in the coming weeks and months.
Social Sign Offs?
Finally, I’m sure I’m not alone in wondering whether it’s past time to delete some of my social media accounts. Ugh. The latest news about Twitter? Ugh. Similar frustration about Facebook and Instagram. While I value the connections and ease of communicating across the world that each platform provides, I dislike the billionaire bros who own the companies. Not sure who still uses blog readers? I may need to fire up my newsletter to share posts in the future instead. Welcome your thoughts.
It’s like you’re living inside my brain, my heart. I get it! Looking forward to some concentrated, collective RENEWAL on Dec. 21. xoxo
Always love a good mind/heart meld! And we’ll each get some added renewal this week in the form of some much-needed precipitation — in the Bay area as well as the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Sweeter air and saturated soil will go a long way to freshening our environment. Yeah!
I for one love blogs! I dip in and out of Insta, have never really used Twitter, use Fbk to keep in touch with family and friends overseas and try to avoid the frustrating political stuff there, and feel the same way as you do about the billionaire bros (ugh).
I think just getting through the days and remaining sane has been an achievement the last few years, so I want to congratulate you on that. It has been tough. I feel as if I’m catching up with you guys, as the first 18 months or so of the pandemic left me relatively unscathed, living here in – at the time – covid-free NZ. But the last year has been harder, and with the onslaught of ghastliness here and all over the world, I can relate more to the energy-depleting nature of the world in 2022. I am really glad you’ve been able to do some things that have inspired you, and have helped you feel you’re doing good in this world. Of course, I think you and your writings are always doing good in this world, even if you don’t get the daily feedback!
Yay to the fireside wisdom of the women who are my tribe. Would be nice to see some a kiwi (wink wink) or so involved there too.
You are a role model blogger, Mali. So admire your steadiness and tenacity in the blogosphere. As for the achievement of sanity amid today’s ’24/7 disaster of the moment’ world, well, that is worthy of a virtual hug and hooray! Yeah, for groundedness! You have no idea how many times my mind has to the thought: one of these days Mali and I will meet in person and have a laugh or two while admiring the beauty of New Zealand. Now there’s something lovely to look forward to! Meanwhile, YES, I’ll be sure to nudge Jody to include another spot in a future fireside chat. xoxo
In the spirit of renewal, I can attest that leaving social media is totally fine. I didn’t last long on IG, maybe a year or two a long time ago. I noticed it made me feel bad so I quit. I left FB when I left my marriage, and I haven’t missed it once in the last 4 years. Twitter was my holdout. I loved Twitter so much. I got good news there, read funny tweets, and belonged to several groups with specific interests. However, I deleted my account in April. The good news is I have sewed A LOT more since then and have read several books too. I don’t miss social media at all.
Ah! Good to know I’m not alone in my longing to move away from superficial social media obligations. I have always felt much more comfortable with longer form communication and prefer the pre-social media days. Give me a good pen-pal relationship or thought-provoking blog post and interrelated conversations. They provide a different kind of sustenance and deeper connection.
It’s been a crazy three years, hasn’t it? Looking forward to seeing you & the others on Dec. 21st and hearing what you have to say. (I’ll be at my parents’ house, getting ready for Christmas, but I have a calendar alert set!)
I still use a blog reader (Bloglovin — and you are in there, as well as in the blogroll list on my own blog) — but if you’ve read my blog recently, you’ll know it’s been an ongoing source of frustration for me…! (Google Reader, I sure miss you…!) I know Mali uses and recommends Feedly, but it only lets me follow 100 blogs for free, and I have WAY more than that on my list!! (albeit not all of them very active these days…)
As for social media, I’ve never used it to promote my blog, so I can’t help you there. It’s my one way of keeping in touch with far-flung friends & relatives (FB & IG, anyway — Twitter, not so much) — so I don’t see myself cancelling my accounts anytime soon. I will admit, though — I used to kind of panic if I hadn’t made it through my feed — huge FOMO! Since my surgeries this summer, though, I’ve found it impossible to keep up — and I’ve kind of stopped trying. It’s actually been kind of freeing. :) I would miss it if it wasn’t there, but I don’t feel the need to keep on top of every little thing the way I used to. Maybe that’s one of the good things about getting older…?? ;)