Camino Number Two

So what do you do when you finish your first Camino? Hang up your boots? Put down the walking poles? Swear to never do anything like that again? Nope, you decide to do another one, a decision made the moment I walked into the square and stood looking up at that amazing Cathedral.

This time was going to be different. For a start I was going to be joined by Andrea and B (and Dominic towards the end). And secondly, we were going to do the Portuguese Coastal Camino starting from Porto. Also as there were 3 of us, we would be staying in mainly private accommodation. I kind of liked Albergue life, it was a great way to meet fellow pilgrims.

WE made it to 2021!

 

Congratulations! You survived 2020 and the first week of 2021. 2020, the year that in some ways lasted 12 months and 12 years and in other ways, flew by just as fast as every other year once you reach an “age”. 

We moved into 2021 glad to put the “unprecedented” year that was 2020 behind us. Looking back, it’s hard to believe that so much happened around the world, even if we did spend a chunk of it locked away in our own little bubbles.   

What stood out?  Devastating fires, the initial “excitement/novelty” of lock-down and working from home, the toilet paper crisis, zoom meetings, cooking more at home, cooking less because “we have to do our bit to support local business”, signing up to learn new stuff, not learning new stuff, walking around the block again and again, rainbows and chalk drawings, leggings, PJ's and tracky daks as must have fashion items, realising that nobody even notices you've been wearing the same clothes on rotation for the last 9 months, waving at neighbours, waving at strangers, waving at neighbours/strangers dogs, random household items on nature strips, free books everywhere, a morbid fascination with COVID stats and numbers, bad news addiction, good news addiction, covid calories, crying at “kindness pandemic” stories, crying at happy ending pet adoptions/saving stories, crying over burnt sour dough (hang on a minute, I never actually made any sour dough), cancelled plans, 5km radius, 25 km radius, woo hoo we can travel around Victoria, relief at double doughnuts, optimism.

Then there were the words and phrases that will be forever in our vocabulary.  “You’re on mute” “stay home, stay safe” "social distancing" “mask-up” “unprecedented times” “it’s Ok to not be OK” “get on the beers.” Gotta love Dan! I’m missing his daily updates.

 

And all that without even going into politics and what was happening in the US. But did you know that Macaulay Culkin turned 40? Now doesn’t that make you feel old?

What will be remembered in 100 years? Will the world have learnt anything?  Maybe it’s made us more resilient, better able to adapt to future challenges that will inevitably be thrown our way.  The pandemic isn’t over, far-from it.  2021 isn’t some miraculous turning of a page, forgetting all about the previous year and going back to how things were.  But there is hope and that’s a good thing.

Personally, I have loved working from home and definitely don’t want to go back into an office on a fulltime basis.  Life has slowed down and I’m not in a rush to fill the calendar with stuff.  I like pottering.  I like taking Lola for a slow walk around the block.  I like stopping and chatting to neighbours and patting random dogs. I still haven’t been to a big shopping centre and have no real desire to do so.  I do miss travelling, but who know what international travel will look like over the next few years.  For now, long weekends away are enough.  State borders shutting down unexpectedly are frustrating, but you know what, people are just learning to change plans and be flexible.

This post was actually going to be about Christmas away in Hoddles Creek, but I got slightly side-tracked by looking back over the year and just writing random words.

New Year, New Word

New Year’s Resolutions, goals, plans for the year and lists. If 2020 taught us anything, it’s go ahead and make them – but be flexible and be prepared to change them.  If my 2019 list of things to do was neglected, then what can be said about my 2020 one?   

Time to re-visit the lists – not to add anything, but to take things off.  Why? Because 2020 has shown me that my bucket lists need to be smaller. Do I really want to “Visit the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida” or “Drive a Ferrari/Maserati/Lamborghini?” No.  I don’t even like driving.  Because 2020 was a year to re-evaluate what’s important and what’s not.

I also like to choose a word for the year.  My word for 2020 was BEGIN.  Maybe it should have been STALLED. Do I keep the same word for a second year and take 2?  Do I choose a new word? 

I revisited the great list of words I had last year, deleted a few, added a few and still have a long list of possibilities:

FLEXIBLE	RISE	ENOUGH	ACTION
KINDNESS	RESPECT	DETERMINATION	CHANGE
CALM	CARE	STRENGTH	DIRECTION
CHALLENGE	HEALTH	LISTEN	POSITIVITY
FOCUS	ACCEPT	RELEASE	CONFIDENCE
BEGIN - 2020	FREEDOM - 2019	BRAVE	DIRECTION
HOPE	ENERGY	PRESENT	LEARN

Once again, I narrowed it down to 5 and then waited for one of them to jump out at me. I’m leaning towards HEALTH.  A year to focus on improving my health. And I think I'll keep Begin - because I kind of feel it didn't get a chance. 

Goals and Lists - take 2

New Years Resolutions, goals, bucket lists whatever you want to call them and are they different?   Not sure why we wait until the New Year to start things.  It's as good a time as any I guess.  I started working on my 2018 list and planned to write down my goals back in December.  But here we are, January has flown by as it always does and it's hello February.  Goals for 2018 and life, not quiet sorted.  I'm a hopeless procrastinator.

It's important to take time setting goals - after all we're talking what we really want to do with our lives - at whatever stage we're at.  So we're going to sit down and set our 1, 3 and 5 (even 10) year goals and plans.

Sure, there will be personal ones - like write more.  Earn at least $3,000 this year from my writing. Get published in 2 other publications. That kind of stuff. The usual ones like save more.  Lose weight.  Get fit. So wishy washy!

In the meantime, I have started on my 2018 bucket list. Much easier and less thought required. A work in progress and plenty of spots to fill as things pop up.  How did 2017 list go?  Some things fell by the wayside, others got scrapped, some were moved to 2018 and some were replaced as other opportunities arose. 60 out of 100 - not too bad. My aim is always at least 50.  And it's never so rigid that it can't be altered during the year!  Someone once said, "but you can't just change it as you go". Sure I can, it's my list - I can do anything.