No feeling is final
I can’t decide. Is it “already” August 24 or is it “only” August 24? Maybe it’s both. This year I suppose it depends on your perspective.
I do know this much. The entire cadence of the life I’ve known for 30 years has been interrupted. My career in college athletics has had me tied to the academic/athletics calendar since the fall of 1990.
Fall sports like football, volleyball and soccer transition into winter sports like basketball and hockey before the spring finishes up with baseball, softball and others. There were a few exceptions, but summers usually included a trip to a work-related convention and a family vacation before it was suddenly mid-July again and fall football practice was two weeks away.
It’s been like that since I moved to Marquette, Mich., in August of 1990 to work in the sports information office at Northern Michigan University. It was like that for two and a half years at the University of North Dakota. And it’s been that way since I came to Madison in 1994 to work at the University of Wisconsin. And I’ve loved it.
But as strange as these last six months have been for me and, I know, many others, I’ve learned some things …
I’m more of a DIYer than I ever thought. Since March I have installed about 60 knobs and handles on drawers and cabinets in our house; installed a new kitchen sink faucet; installed a new video doorbell; painted the stairs that lead to our back patio; and installed new smoke alarms. I’m not ready to build a new deck in my backyard, but taking on these small projects instead of putting them off or, in some cases paying someone else to do them, has felt good.
I’ve spent more time on our back patio this summer than maybe the previous 10 summers combined. With less travel and more time at home, it’s been nice to relax back there. I read somewhere recently that this is the case with others, too.
I miss people. I’m accustomed to playing hockey three times a week and have missed that greatly (due in part to meniscus surgery in early July) not only for the exercise but the camaraderie. Working from home is certainly doable, but it can’t measure up to the daily interaction with your colleagues, many of whom are good friends. Needless to say, I’ll miss not being at our athletic events this fall.
This time has allowed me to strengthen good habits like daily meditation and walking. Because my meditation app tracks each day’s session, I know that I’ve sat for 20-30 minutes for all but about five days in 2020. Walks of about 30-40 minutes with my wife this summer have been great, especially as my knee gets back into shape.
A little distraction doesn’t hurt. We got a couple kittens back in early July. They keep us entertained and on our toes. And they don’t know there’s a virus or social upheaval or political division. They’re just happy to run around, wrestle with each other, eat and sleep. Not a bad way to live.
I recently read a quote by an old Austrian poet named Rainer Maria Rilke …
“Let everything happen to you,
Beauty and terror,
Just keep going,
No feeling is final.”
Seems like a good mantra for 2020.