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The Grass Isn’t Always Greener By Brandon Goldstein
was commanding my own ship any longer. Sure, I was on this path of living that felt like it had a specific purpose, but it was devoid of the true values and virtues I felt a life well-lived needed. A friend of mine compared it to being a hamster on a wheel – never stopping, but never really getting anywhere either. These many months of low-key life have allowed for deeper inflection about what life is supposed to be. As much as I cannot wait for COVID to no longer be a word used in our daily dealings, there are certainly many aspects of my pre-pandemic life that will be very different than my days stuck on that hamster wheel. For that, I’m forever thankful. For many of us, the past year was a great opportunity to actually fulfill the resolutions we so boldly claim on Jan. 1 and quickly forget by the 2nd. This year though, that chance to lose weight, be a better person or cook more and order out less was certainly there for the taking. Even if you wanted to remain on that hamster wheel, the world made it impossible not to stop. Did you take the opportunity to change yourself? It’s easy to say the world turned ugly this past year. It has. It’s filled with more hate, more division and more disagreement than ever. We are at a fork in the road. You can remain part of the problem or open your eyes and realize that being a part of the solution will make you just as happy at the expense of no-one else. We may never return to the “old normal” and the “new normal” is cliche and non-sustaining. Carve your own path. Restart your life. Simplify it and cut out the bullshit. 2020 was the year for self-reflection. Now’s the time for self-improvement. ■
ike most people, when the pandemic really began (for us, at least) in March, I viewed it as a weird yet nice little spring break. We will stay home together, relax, enjoy the company of our families and, once the weather breaks, the virus will be long gone and it’ll be a very short, yet memorable, story in our lives – one we could tell our grandkids and laugh about. Unfortunately, like most of 2020 and the first weeks of 2021, that didn’t exactly go according to plan. While it’ll certainly be a story all of us will tell our grandchildren, it has left a lasting mark on our lives that make silver linings quite hard to find. Well, I’m here to find some. Many of the people I talk to, via Zoom, of course, have lamented about how our lives have changed. We talk about the things we can do, and the things we can’t. We talk about what we miss and who has been out and about doing what, etc. While I’m not here for the gossip, I’ve noticed one aspect of our conversations certainly has changed. For months, we talked about the “pre-COVID” days, and how when life got back to normal, our routines would mimic those we had before we ever heard the term “coronavirus” or “stay-at-home orders.” But after physically not being able to do those things for so long, many of us have had plenty of time to reflect on the lives we used to lead, and have noted the excesses and indulgences in life that became a part of who we were – whether we really wanted them to or not. Looking back, I was on autopilot. I didn’t feel like I 66
