Hello 2024, Goodbye Covid
On New Year’s Eve, I woke up in a sweat. The previous day three of my coworkers tested positive for Covid. I did not have a good feeling about my odds. Yet, I got up and went to work already starting to feel sniffly and tired.
Once I got to the gate, I had to tell the one other there the bad news. The last man standing helped me take a quick response Covid test and we both sighed when it was positive. Though I was reluctant to believe it, I knew it was true. Within a half an hour, I was as ready to go home as he was for me to leave.
I went home and crawled into bed. My head felt like it was about to burst open. I thought, “Is this an omen for 2024?”
That first day, I ate, I slept, I curled in a ball and watched a movie. I went to bed about 8 pm in the evening with no hope to stay up for the new year. However, at midnight, a bunch of horns went off in my neighborhood and some fireworks exploded. I woke up for long enough to send a hug and a kiss at midnight to the fam and rolled back over to wait for the new year and hopefully to feel better.
Sunrise on the way to Yosemite on Sunday, December 31, 2023.
I don’t have strong new years traditions, but this was definitely a deviant. For the last 17 years I have spent the evening with my anchor partner. We had some feels earlier in the day when we talked and the realization came to light. Now they are in Seattle and I am in Yosemite. That’s a long way away for a midnight kiss. Thankfully, they and Z both had plans to hang out with friends to celebrate.
Celebrating was far from my mind as I was in a sort of delirium thanks to the virus of the 2020s. I had already decided I was going to be a rebel this year and go to bed early and get a good night’s sleep to wake up and bring in the new year refreshed.
At the gate, there are many tasks that have to happen to role over into a new year. I wanted to be able to tackle them all with a clear mind and an eager heart. Instead, I was a pile of mush sweating through my bed sheets. Thankfully, there was a last man standing at the gate to take care of it all and I can’t thank him enough for persevering and taking on the extra tasks.
My fear during this time was that I would lose momentum at work. I have been doing so much to focus on wellness and training at the gate. I had the attention of the entire business division and reaching out to the park leadership as a whole. I was already gone during the holiday and now I was forced out for another week. I feared all that hard work would be forgotten and that I would somehow have to start all over again.
This was my fear and even in my irrational state of sickness, I reminded myself that everyone gets sick and it’s okay to rest. My work was being noticed and the concepts I brought up in those communications affect a whole lot more people than only me. If I am judged because I enjoy spending time with my coworkers and got sick like almost everyone else at the gate, then this is not a place I want to work. That is a choice I can make. However, I do not think it will come to that in any way, shape, or form.
Because the weekend that I was there between holiday and Covid was so busy, I got to read emails, but not able to respond to them yet. I noticed that other people are starting to speak up too and become engaged. That is exactly the hope for all the work I was doing. Even the tasks at the gate, I cannot do them all on my own. We work as a team and sustainability for the program is one of the goals of my efforts.
In a way, being away for another week reminded me that even though I am a catalyst for a movement, I am not the sole representative. This is a good lesson for me to remember. I don’t feel the need for credit, so why am I putting it all on myself in the first place. I need to trust others to be able to do the tasks and speak up for themselves.
Besides, the pace of the government is slow. That is a love hate relationship I have with the organization I work for. Nothing moves particularly quickly and that gives us glorious time to breath. Yes, it can be frustrating when we are trying to enact change, but when the change happens, it is usually more sustainable. The pace of the government is an acceptance that must happen for this to all work. In a lot of ways, nature and this organization teach me the same things…patience.
A few Covid selfies. Left - My new years eve picture.
The other three were from Tuesday, January 2, 2024, when I decided to go outside and get some sunshine and fresh air.
Once I make peace with my reality that I must be home and rest, I feel better. Well, physically I feel worse, but mentally I feel more able to cope with it. In this case, policy really helps me. I MUST stay home during the entirety of this sickness. I know I would have tried to go back to work otherwise and made myself feel worse in the end. Instead, I was able to accept that I am home and that everything else will be there when I get back.
Covid is a beast to it’s own. This is the first time I’ve ever had Covid, so I had nothing to compare it too. It affects the whole body. It started in my head, which felt like it was going to explode. Once that subsided and went into my nose and throat I had a much better time. I still felt gross, but at least I could think around it.
I don’t get sick often. I am thankful that I have a fairly good immune system and my body knows how to heal itself well. It’s had lots of practice. Though I haven’t been sick in this way from virus, I have survived breast cancer and two different surgeries in the past three years. Thanks to those experiences, I knew just the right pain killer cocktail to make to relieve the pain of Covid as much as I could with what I had on hand.
I am proud of myself. I felt oddly prepared to fight this illness. I had just gotten back from my trip to Seattle, so I was stocked up on food. I also had the appropriate wellness tools I needed like Tylenol, ibuprofen, cough drops, Pedialyte, Vicks vapor rub, and a fresh box of face tissues. Covid sucks, but after battling breast cancer, it really puts everything in perspective. My old familiar mantra came in handy though, “This too shall pass.”
With time, rest, and medication, I am finally able to say goodbye to Covid. The time to rest was a boon. I also spent some time during my waves of energy to organize my place a bit. I had just got home from Seattle and worked a busy weekend, so when I came home and crawled into bed, I also had to crawl over all the stuff I dropped when I unloaded the car when I first got home. This week allowed time and space to go through that and more.
Decluttering during the moments with energy during my Covid quarantine.
Decluttering is one of my new years traditions. Letting go of what no longer serves me is very uplifting. It takes a lot of emotional energy to decide what you want your life to look like for the foreseeable future. Thankfully, emotional energy is the one thing I had to spare. So many things collect over time that “I’ll use later.” But does later ever come? Or does it just stack on top of each other and block you from things that will serve you?
I live in an RV, a small space. It feels big to me most of the time, but lately, I’ve been having to walk over to many things to be able to be creative. I’ve decided to get out of my own way for this new year. I’m clearing and cleaning my space and prioritizing what I want to work on this season. These are some big and necessary decisions. Ones that would have been pushed off if I didn’t have Covid and had to be home for a week.
I don’t wish Covid on anyone, however, I do believe that good can come from any experience, even negative ones. This ability to focus on rest and revitalization is something I am thankful for, even during my bouts of coughing and sneezing.
I am also so thankful for my neighbor who watches Cookies cat. She helped me make sure Cookies had what he needed this week and even brought me soup. My friends and family have also been so supportive kept my spirits up. I am also very thankful for online gaming and streaming so I could spend some time with friends even though I couldn’t be there with them. In everything we can be thankful. Gratefulness is what keeps us going when everything else is yelling at us to give up.
I’ve been thanked for my positive outlook my several people over the years. This makes me feel useful and brings me joy. Constant reframing is one of the perspectives I learned through my breast cancer experience. It is a natural reaction now, one that has gotten me through so many hard times. I am thankful I can share this practice with others. In a way, it is why I write and speak. It is the basis for my work at the park as well as for my publishing company. It is the thread that is constant through my life. This year, I will lean into this mindset as I build my legacy as an advocator for wellness.
2024 did not begin in the way I expected. However, very little in this life ever does. Our character is built on how we adapt and move forward. I no longer think that getting Covid is an omen for the year. Instead, it is a reminder that rest is one of the most important aspects of our health. Taking time to stop and self care is the basis of wellness that will propel us forward in the end. Listen to your body find stillness in the noise of life. When we can come home to ourselves, we can shine bright to serve others.
Hello 2024, goodbye Covid. May this be a year of wellness, growth, and adventure!
You may also like: Looking Ahead at 2024
In this 13-card spread for 2024, Rest is the thread that runs through it all.
Meditating on the new year is a powerful tool for intention. This spread from The Moon Deck was the perfect practice to start looking toward new possibilities. The heart of wellness is rest, and the focus for this month is purpose. It warms my heart when these principles align so neatly.
This is the power of Cosmic Connection.
