I want to apologize for my lengthy break from writing and posting. I took on some new commitments and had to readjust to balance them along with work, time with my family and writing.

If you’re a returning reader, thanks for returning. If you’re a new reader, I hope that you like this post and my previous ones.

A Hell (Helluva) of A Year

2021 has definitely been a year. I say this with a mixture of fact, a little levity mixed in with some gratitude and some sarcasm.

In terms of my day job, I look back on 2021: my first full year of working from home due to the COVID pandemic. When I saw some of my earlier 2021 calendar entries, I saw how I used to coordinate with my wife where I could set up to work that day. Would it be downstairs or perhaps in our home office space? During this time that I, sometimes, worked downstairs, I pitched in a little, when our son did virtual school due to school COVID outbreaks. Periodically, my family and I took small in-state vacations to get away. I worked hard and, so it was nice to get away to recharge. Just as I was starting to hit my work from home stride, then my family and I were impacted by the June 2021 flood in Metro Detroit. Then, I took off nearly a full month from work, so that I could help get our home again livable. A few more months passed and our son started the current school year. A few more months after that and we took another small in-state trip. Now, I’m here writing this to summarize 2021.

Another One Gone
I talked to my wife about this post, which is how I found the seed for the title. During that chat, she said something interesting: how 2021 both moved quickly but, at the same time, dragged on. I thought about how she made a lot of sense. A great example was the circumstances around the 2021 flood. It seemed to take forever to fix our house. At the same time, so much happened: sometimes, very fast at the worst time and in unexpected ways.

What Matters Most
During the last few years, I have paid increasingly more attention to what matters most in my life. To a small extent, there are some physical possessions that mean a lot. However, what really matters most to me are the important people in my life (family and closest friends) and the values that inform my decisions and commitments.

Going back to this past summer’s flood, I was reminded of who the important people around us are. Even pre-flood, there was a core of neighbors that I considered close friends. Following it, we pitched in to help each other. One neighbor was really good at helping people relight their pilot lights. There were some people that already cleaned up and had leftover supplies that were leant out or given away. There were some people that didn’t flood once but a few times afterwards and still helped others clean up. When we cleared out our basement, friends and family came to help. Shoot, I even remember seeing people on Facebook that, weeks prior, were having the pettiest arguments, but, quickly, turned around to help each other. In the end, my community was deeply affected and needed a lot of help. None of the previous (typically, minor) shit mattered. It , literally, changed nothing.

Since then, I have thought more and more about what matters most. There’s something sobering about vacating your home due to health concerns. There’s something sobering about watching, week after week, street after street with curbs overflowing with piles of residents’ discarded possessions. There’s something sobering about reading residents’ social media posts venting about not knowing how to endure yet another concern with their home. To me, it easily became very clear what mattered and what didn’t. It became clear what helped and what didn’t. During that period, the only things that mattered to my family and I were what helped us to return home.

Clearing The Lens
I didn’t need to experience last summer’s flood to think about what’s important, what matters. However, if the universe determined that I needed a reminder, then it was a hell of one. During that time, if there were things that we needed to buy or something to pay, there was a clear “why.” It’s fascinating how, when asking others why they’re buying or doing something, they don’t have a clear “why” It’s one thing to happen when it doesn’t matter. However, when this thinking does matter, not having a “why” seems like a careless luxury.

I don’t think that I’m dismal in saying how we don’t know what tomorrow brings. While we don’t know what bad can come, more importantly, we don’t know what good can come either. Don’t postpone what is important. Why not do more today to help good things arrive faster?

Trying to mitigate the bad and trying to bring along the good will become harder, if you don’t have as good of a sense of what is important to you and why. Continually working on having that clear vision for yourself to make things easier. I feel that this was the case for me. I hope that it’s, also, the case for you.

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