Survive, Produce, and Patience.

These are my 3 Words for 2021.

Nine months ago, I wasn’t certain that I’d see today. There was so much unknown in the world, and I was scared. As I stocked the house and prepared for the worse, I hoped for the best.

Flipping the calendar made nothing better. It did not fix any of the multitudes of things that need to be addressed and resolved in the coming weeks, months, and years.

But, while the motivation and drive to DO anything has been lacking for me, I know that the practice of pausing and thinking through the three-word exercise is something that helps me, so I was determined to do it still.

Survive

My number one priority for the year is to do everything I can to avoid getting sick and keep those around me healthy.

This means that while I watch people I care about travel and endanger themselves and others, I will stay home and minimize the risk of exposure. Yes, after months of doing this, I’m twitchy to get outside, explore and see people I miss dearly, but until the science lets me know it is safe to do so, I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing.

Along with this, I do need to move more. I think throwing my ruck on my back and putting in the miles will help me in a multitude of ways. I say this every year, so perhaps this year will be the one?

Produce

I did not produce much last year outside of my courses, and I’m ok with that.

My two priorities were my family and my students. I did everything I could to make sure that both of those groups had what they needed from me at all times to get through all of this. While I was far from perfect, I like to think that overall I did a good job at both.

This year, I want to create more. Laura and the kids surprised me with a Prusa 3D printer for my birthday, and besides printing all kinds of fun things, I’m hoping to create more with it. I’ve been spending some time learning about creating lithophanes from my photographs and now am working on setting up my first raspberry pi to create timelapse videos of my prints.

I’ve also begun work on my first photography book, which I hope to have a draft copy done before the end of the month. I’m also trying to pick up my camera more and my phone less so that I make more photographs this year. The camera collected too much dust last year, and that has to change even if I can’t travel.

Patience

I’ll be honest that I only had two words. Those came to me instantly and were what I needed to focus on, but I know that having a third one makes the difference.

So, we can all use more patience in our life. Patience to take a pause, breath, and wait out whatever is driving us nuts. Patience not to say something or do something that you know in your heart isn’t going to make a difference. Patience to know that a well-thought-out action is always better than the gut reaction that we all give in to.

I also chose this word in the hopes it would remind others. The rollout of the vaccine and fixing our broken country will take time, and none of it will go as fast as we’d like. The afternoon of January, 20th can’t arrive soon enough, and things will begin improving, but there is no magical switch.

For me, I’m just hoping that a concert we were supposed to attend last summer that is now scheduled for October happens. It is an outside venue, and hopefully, by then, we’ll have enough vaccinations and immunity that it can safely happen. Anything before that I’m not making plans for.

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Did you choose your three words this year or some variation of this exercise? Drop me a note and let me know because I always love hearing what others are focusing on.

I’m also hoping to read more this year. For some reason, the pandemic sapped my desire to read and I fell far short of my usual number of books, but am working hard on getting back to the mostly daily reading I was doing. Here is what I did read in 2020 if you are curious.

Stay safe out there and please do what you can to stop spreading COVID-19. I know how bad it is getting out there and yet too many of you continue to live as if there is nothing wrong with your choices. The near future is going to be dark and deadly because of those decisions, but I’m holding out hope for better days.