If you don’t learn constantly, you don’t grow, and you will wither…it gets a little harder as you get older, but new experiences and new challenges keep it fresh.
— Iris Apfel, 100-year-old businesswoman, interior designer, fashion icon.
On Wednesday the 22nd we will slide into a new fall season. According to my 2020 journal it was in April we started “sheltering in place.” With everything shut down, I kept track of any markers that might define my year. What was the temperature? What did I wear? How much did I weigh, what meals did I prepare? Naturally I took the time to refine and declutter my wardrobe, as is my habit. On April the 29, the entry reads, “With Mississippi State University closed down I didn’t consign any clothing.”
On September 21 the entry reads, “Changed out my closet for fall. Today is the first cool day. It’s 65 degrees.” The following days would sometimes rise into the 70’s until one morning in mid-October dropped to 47 degrees.
Times are changing. Just when you think they won’t they do. Then when you realize how much things do change, they change like the weather. I changed my opinion on social media during the sheltering time. Before I resisted, having no interest whatsoever. But after being isolated and desiring to participate in programs that without social media would be unavailable to me, I hopped on the bandwagon. A family member suggested I would enjoy Instagram more. She knows me well. By November I was enrolled. Quickly I learned about “influencers.” I adored them. The more you “like” certain influencers the more similar influencers appear on your computer or phone; the more friends I had.
I found having access to so many friends and influencers across the globe to be both wonderful and awful. The awful part was no fault of the friends or influencers. The fault was mine for spending too much time enjoying their posts and spending more time feeling like I had to comment on everyone’s grandchildren, dogs and cats, baby pictures, graduations, birthdays, anniversaries, and maybe a few rants.
The wonderful part was being able to keep in touch with friends and family who I could no longer see due to the pandemic. I could communicate with those in other countries with ease. I could post photographs and receive the same. I could watch church services — listen and sing along. I reconnected with a group from my growing up years. Due to multiple moves, I had not been in touch with a single classmate. I can honestly say the connection filled somewhat of a soul hole. I also connected with some missing college friends.
Secondly, I finally listened to influencers who helped me define a wardrobe style, healthy eating plans, and selfcare, appropriate for who I am becoming in this season. Like the weather, it’s another season change. It has some likeness to other periods in my lifetime that came and went. There’s some place in the core of us that doesn’t change. Reading through the journal of almost a year and a half and having the time to reassess the future has in some ways been a wonderful gift.
Shannon Bardwell is a writer living quietly in the Prairie. Email reaches her at [email protected].
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