2020

2020 Sucked.

I know it. You know it. Let’s not pretend it didn’t happen.

My father passed away in January. He was 96 and lived an amazing life. COVID hit in February. Lock-down in March, and the rest is history. I’m grateful that my father didn’t pass during the lock down. I cannot imagine the grief of those who could not see their loved ones before passing.

During 2020, I didn’t do much work. Like a lot of us, my depression and anxiety escalated, so did my bad habits, which means I gained some weight and killed a few brain and liver cells; yet here I am. HA!

However, I did a lot of experimenting with different widths of ribbon, colors, etc.

In October I decided to take an 8-week intensive course called Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR), offered through the University of Massachusett Memorial Health Center Many Universities, such as UCLA and UCSD, offer an MBSR program, but I decided to go to UMass because that’s where the course originiated some 30 years ago. Through the simple process of meditation and other mindfulness practices I have my life back.

To be specific, because I live with PTSD, from childhood trauma, I took the MBCT Course (Mindfulness-based Cognative Therapy). I’m eternally grateful for the program, Lauri Klein for her excellent guidance, and to the friends I made and I still keep in touch with trough Zoom.