Three Hopes for the New Year

I know many of us have trouble remembering what day of the week it is, but I'm also sure most of you are aware enough of the calendar to wonder why I'm talking about a new year in the middle of September. Well, my friends, that's because Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, starts tomorrow at sundown. The new year is 5781, which right now is a heck of a lot more appealing to me than 2020. And because it's Thursday, I thought I'd join Carole and friends to share three things I'm hoping to do more of in the new year to come.

1. More civic engagement
I'm really thankful to Carolyn for pointing me to Postcards to Voters, an easy way for me to help the get out the vote effort in a time of social distancing (and in a way that's very appealing to an introvert who hates talking on the phone). On my to-do list for today is to get 30 postcards written up to send to Kentucky voters to encourage them to vote for Amy McGrath. I got the postcards from Etsy and ironically had to wait the longest to get the stamps from the post office, but I'm set for a while now!

2. More knitting for others
As much as I love hand-knit socks, I have so many pairs that it feels selfish to continue to knit them for myself, and I am getting a lot of enjoyment out of sharing the joy of wearing hand-knit socks by making them for my loved ones. I finished my mother-in-law's pair yesterday, so now I'm on to a pair of ankle socks in sport weight for my sister-in-law. I'm starting to think sport weight may be the way to go because it's so fast!

3. More running
Normally at this time of year I'd be in my last days of training for the two 5K races that the Mister and I typically run, the Pittsburgh Great Race and a neighborhood run that raises money for the local Boys & Girls Club. The neighborhood event isn't happening, but the Great Race went digital this year, meaning if you were signed up for it you'd get your race t-shirt and finisher medal and you could do your event any time you wanted. Though you don't have to do it, you can enter your time online, which I did after a particularly good run on Tuesday (cool temps for the win!):

I know that's not the fastest time ever, but I went to look up my final time from last year's event, which I believe was a PR for me at the time, and it was 28:33. That means I shaved almost two and a half minutes off my previous best time -- and that is amazing to me! I have been running a lot these past six months, not so much to set any records but because the exercise is good for me, both in terms of my long-term health and my mental health. There's been so much anxiety during this time, and I've found that my daily exercise really helps to dispel a lot of that for me. A nice thing about working from home is that I can take my lunch break at any time, really, so I've been taking it mid-morning most days to go out for a run or walk, and I've really noticed how much better I've felt, physically and emotionally, since I started this new routine. I know one day I will be back in the office full time and this new habit will have to come to an end, but for now, I'm keeping up with it.

On a more serious note, I'm thinking a lot about what this time of year in the Jewish calendar means. It's said that during the 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, it is decided who will live and who will die in the year to come. This year, that decree feels much more serious and real. We can't always change whether we or our loved ones will live or die; so much is left up to chance or fate or whatever you want to call it. Certainly with the pandemic, it's become much more clear that there are some steps we can take to reduce our chance of dying from this particular disease -- staying home, wearing a mask, keeping our distance from others. But we can't control others, and we can't foresee what the future will hold. My friends, regardless of whether this weekend is a holiday for you or not, I send you all my best wishes for health and happiness. As we say: May you be inscribed in the Book of Life.