An Unprecedented Year

A recent New York Times article talked about the words that were used frequently in 2020. One of them was “unprecedented.” There’s certainly no arguing that, for most of us, this has been a year like no other.

I’ve spent time this year making changes to my home, finishing some long-delayed organizing projects, and implementing new technology. I’ve written about all of these and you may have read about them.

I’ve made a few more changes that surprised even me!

I canceled my Netflix DVD subscription.

Back in 2013, I wrote about why I still liked getting DVDs in the mail from Netflix, even while everyone else was streaming. (See Too Many Choices). One of the upsides of this terrible year is that my family has had plenty of time together watching movies and TV series. I became more focused on what was available to stream, and frankly, making time to watch the DVD sitting there from Netflix became a chore. So I finally canceled that plan.

I changed my thinking.

For years, we’ve had two reading lamps behind the sofa, one at each end. Since we have several other lamps in the room, we didn’t turn those two on very often, mainly when we were reading. A few weeks ago, I knocked one over and broke it. My first thought was to get online and find another pair of lamps. After all, I needed to have two, right? In the meantime, I moved the remaining lamp to the center. I ultimately discovered that we really only need one. And the space around the sofa is airier now.

I pivoted my accessories obsession.

I’m obsessed with earrings, and I would meticulously match their colors and patterns with my outfits. When masks became mandatory, however, earrings seemed like overkill. Now, I meticulously match my patterned masks to my outfits! (When frequent hand-washing became a life-saving tactic, I gave up wearing my two rings — the college ring I’ve worn since for over 40 years, and the wedding ring I’ve worn for 25.)

This unprecedented year has shown that one has to be flexible, and that you’re never too old to start doing things a different way.

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