This past Sunday, I wrote a piece about trying to find my “Merry Mojo”. I just couldn’t quite put my finger on what was wrong with me, but I was certainly suffering a decided loss of motivation. It’s odd, really. From the moment I started teaching myself to bake the perfect loaf of sourdough to the moment I lifted the last batch of jars from the canner, I was as busy as I have ever been. Busier than I’ve been in a long time, really. As Brene Brown says, “We are so busy that the truth of our lives can’t catch up.” So much truth there.

One of the really important parts of my life is spending time with my girlfriends. Whether we are gathered around a campfire knitting and telling tales or huddled in a coffee shop catching up on each other’s lives, that part of my life was largely missing. Well, pretty much completely missing. So, I filled in the spaces with everything else. Baking. Writing. Gardening. Mowing. Canning. As busy as I was, I keenly felt the missing pieces of my puzzle.

This doesn’t even begin to touch what I’ve missed out on by not seeing my Colorado family since August 2019 and not having the West Virginia family gatherings since Super Bowl. Add that in and I had to stay busy to stay sane. But, all that busyness came at a price, I fear. It was hard to practice mindfulness and stay in the moment because the moment was stressful and disappointing and scary and confusing and sad.

One of the things I absolutely have always loved about this space where I write is finding others who are going through the same things. It helps so much when you know you aren’t the only one experiencing something or feeling a certain way. You not only feel less alone…you also feel a little less crazy. Mr. FixIt is my beloved companion and I adore him. And…unless I have that girl time or alone time to recharge, we step on each other’s toes sometimes. That’s perfectly normal. Chatting with the girlfriends would confirm this.

After I posted Sunday’s essay, one of my dear friends reached out to say she really felt me on that one. She’s going through much the same thing. She is widowed and only has one child locally. She doesn’t want to be “that mom” and demand all her daughter’s attention, but there’s no camping and the farm work is done for the year. It’s like looking down a long dark stretch of lonesome highway and not a car in sight. 

I texted her and another one of our camping friends and said, “We need a virtual campfire!” Last night, I set up a group video chat in Messenger and we talked and laughed for an hour. It was wonderful to catch up and see my home girls. To find out what they’re doing. To talk about recipes and what projects we’re working on and how we are coping through all of this. We all breathed a huge sigh of relief. It wasn’t a real campground. There weren’t the sounds of owls and crickets in the background or the rustle of a breeze through our hair. But we were just as much together as we could possibly be and declared Thursday nights to be “Girls Night In.” It really helped me find my “Merry Mojo!”

It isn’t hard to do. I used my laptop and opened a Messenger Chat with my friend, Jan. Then, I clicked on the little video camera icon on the top right. Her phone rang and she accepted the video chat. Once I had her live on video, I selected “Add Another Person” from the bottom bar and rang our friend, Gail. And…voila! There they were, right in my office! It was SO much fun and such a relief.

This is going to be a long, dark winter, I’m afraid. The Covid numbers are rising to astronomical proportions and they’re just going to get worse before they get better. Let’s make a commitment to visit with friends and family while we are safely staying home to prevent the spread. I have a project in the works and will be offering some fun ways to interact. I’ll let you know when they’re ready. Till then, let’s try to spread some holiday cheer and reach out and talk to someone. You never know who might just be waiting for you to make the first move. There were three of us in that chat. I would guess a group of four would be as many as you would want to have so you aren’t stepping over each other’s audio. Let me know if you have other ideas for virtual visit with your gal pals!

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“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.””

Deuteronomy 31:6 NIV