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“Beginning Again With Summer”

“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.” 

- F. Scott Fitzgerald
Over the past week the sun and rain in my neck of the woods has invited the green shoots to show themselves in my back garden. The cherry blossoms are in full party mode while the forsythia’s bright buds are bright flames - like concertgoers holding a vigil until the main act ascends the stage.

Cherry Blossoms, 2021, by Suzanne Miller

The promise of spring is tangible in my house, like a much anticipated dinner guest who finally arrives. Ever so slightly, our world seems to be moving towards an emergence from quarantine and isolation. Over the last week I’ve gotten numerous texts from friends and family announcing they’ve secured a vaccination appointment or their actual vaccination. Our beloved family friend - fully vaccinated - came to dinner and hugged my children repeatedly throughout her visit.

Having withdrawn completely from Facebook a year ago, a friend directed me to a FB group dedicated to crowdsourcing information on vaccines in my state because the roll-out was so disorganized.  Within a day I had secured my appointment. Even though the utility of the group was satisfied for me, I found myself logging in daily to read the stories of how strangers were helping others secure appointments and sharing information that didn’t seem to be available anywhere else. One woman found appointments for more than 250 people, many of whom were in the vulnerable population. One man - I call him the ‘vaccine angel’- posted information daily that was accurate and useful, which thousands (including my husband and me) used to secure their appointments. 

There were many sweet stories, like the one where five people waiting for leftover vaccines at a pharmacy played a round of ‘rock, paper, scissors’ to decide who would get the three leftover doses. While it would have been easy to focus on the scarcity of available vaccine doses, I was bowled over by the abundance of humanity and love for strangers that emerged from this group of 35,000 people. I continue to log in and read these heartwarming stories almost daily and love that these people are in my community. 

It feels like by this summer we could realize the promise of this spring and herd immunity and that is an energizing feeling for sure.  I see it in my children, who are outside more and playing sports and generally more upbeat. I feel it as I manage the family calendar and find myself planning things several months out - something I felt I haven’t been able to do for more than a year. 

We’re not quite there yet.  To put it into exercise terms, we’re at the minute and a half mark of a two minute plank. (ugh-the pain!) Our muscles are quivering, we’re counting the seconds in our heads and fighting the impulse to collapse. But keeping our head in the game will lend itself to more ‘core strength’ that will serve us in the long run and anchor us for the future.

Stay focused on the goal: the satisfaction of being on the other side of a monumental feat. You can get there and you can get there gracefully by continuing to reimagine the future and the brighter, more verdant days of summer.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Suzanne

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  • Reimagining design festivals to make them more accessible to all walks of life

 

Things to Do Around the World

  • The MoMA’s “Doc Fortnight 2021” documentary film festival is available to stream through April 5th
  • An interactive exhibit from The Getty Museum diving into Renoir’s “The Promenade”
  • The V&A is hosting “Creating Wonderlands” - Hear speakers from across the creative industries as they reveal how they have reimagined, radicalized and revitalized Alice and her world. 


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