You know how you have a plan and you just want to stick with it at all cost?  That is how this year has felt for most of us.  We just want to do our thing, plow through it and get to the other side.  We have all given up so much.  This blog has been one of our constants and we had a plan.  We have stuck to it the best we could because let’s face it, we never have a plan and it felt good to move through the year with some direction.  Not to mention, who could have ever imagined in their WILDEST dreams that we would still be dealing with this in August?  Not me.  I was aghast that we were taking two weeks off back in March and could barely contain my shock when it was extended through April, but August?

Since March, we have trudged along as if it was perfectly acceptable to be talking about 365 being alive and living life to the fullest in the midst of a $%^&* PANDEMIC and civil unrest.  However, we have come to a place in which we can no longer stick to the plan.  This month was supposed to be about being exceptional.  Quite frankly, while there have been some amazing things that have happened this year, it’s mostly been an exceptional shit show.  We cannot possibly move into August with a game plan of being exceptional when we feel like just the act of being here is challenging enough some days.  So, this month it’s just about being here.  Not being present or intentional or anything spectacular, just here.

We understand that many of you are trying to get your kids back in school or trying to find the energy to do remote learning again.  God Bless You.  I am just praying my kid goes to college.  I don’t even care if she is completely online, she just needs to move into the dorm.  I know, I thought I would be sad, but this pandemic is a little like pregnancy.  The longer it goes on and the closer we get to the date that she is supposed to move out, the more ready I am to get her out.  This is me just being here, being honest and moving forward the best I can.

So, what does 365BeingHere look like?  It literally looks like whatever you are doing right now.  Whether you are stressing about sending your kid to school or keep them home, that’s being here.  Maybe you are canceling a long awaited trip that you planned and you are struggling with the idea of being here instead. Perhaps you have started a new job after months of unemployment and you are here for it.  Or maybe you have decided to eat healthier and start running again and you are ready to bring it here at this very moment.  It doesn’t matter.

The point is that for the month of August we will be celebrating where we are and quite possibly also lamenting where we are.  We aren’t asking you to be grateful for it, see it in a new way or stuff your feelings down for another time.  No, we are saying feel it all.  Do what you need to do.  If you need to sit on your back patio and stare at the grass all day, be our guest.  If you need to cry in your room because your kids are going to be staying home until at least January, Dear God, go cry it out.  If you need to throw a cocktail party for you and your significant other, don’t forget the limes!

Life is too short and this pandemic is too LOOOOONNNNGG!  Do what you need to do and just be here.  We will be here as well cheering you on, crying in the corner, swearing in the closet, drinking on the patio, running on the trail, eating the damn salad and possibly a handful of chocolate, watching Netflix’s latest release and doing whatever else is necessary to get through August.