After the upheaval of 2020, even a little bit of "normal" is a very welcome thing. I was watching a TV show just this morning where two of the characters were simply having coffee at a diner. I didn't even realize how much I miss that: the simple act of going out for a meal. It's something I simply took for granted, pre-COVID. Now, it's one of many things "on hold" in this new dynamic.
Fortunately, life and time do not stop even for a pandemic. One of the blessings of living in this new era is that things must change. We will find an end to this worldwide quarantine, and life will continue. We will get back to having dinner out with friends and family. Flowers still grow. Gardens can still be planted. The beach is still there, waiting for us.
One surprising thing that has carried me through this enforced "quiet" is writing. The first quarter of the pandemic was financially my best ever as far as my writing was concerned. It helped enormously when we experienced the emergency of my son going into the hospital, and I can never be grateful enough to the readers who helped me support my family in that way.
Since things closed down, I've also had much more time to write. For a while, I didn't want to. It was hard to get into the groove when the entire world was scared and suffering, but eventually, my muse convinced me I needed that therapeutic release from the world's woes. Art is good for the soul. In fact, it's necessary.
And it worked.
I submitted a new novella to my publisher. I'm back to writing in a book that had been frustrating me for ages. I'm getting new ideas. Maybe, just maybe, my muse knew what she was doing, and that I had needed this enforced rest to refill the well. It's good to be getting back to normal, with the promise of more normalcy to come.
In the meantime, I can still get a coffee.
