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Last Year vs This Year: Holiday Edition

My sister-in-law and I were talking last night about how everything seems so much bigger and busier this time of year. We lamented that it didn’t always feel this way. Or did it? Did we just forget what life was like before the pandemic?

This time last year, there wasn’t a life-saving vaccine available to all of us, making it impossible to celebrate the holidays together safely. Sports and school activities were canceled. The news was full of doom and gloom between the rising COVID-19 cases and the 2020 election fiasco. We were all still stuck at home, wondering when this all would end and what our post-pandemic lives would look like going forward.

Well, now we know. We are a combination of elated and exhausted with a side order of procrastination. I don’t know about you, but daylight savings time completely messed with my system and kicked my ass this year. Yes, we gained an hour, but I keep sleeping through it. It doesn’t help that Hanukkah starts this Sunday night, so I have one day to take advantage of the Black Friday deals. And right now, I’m feeling like all of the coffee in my house won’t prepare me for the massive crowds and long lines at the mall.

My brain also seems to be offline at the moment. I completely forgot to invite someone to help celebrate my mom’s 75th birthday, and I feel terrible. But, I have to let it go. She was incredibly sweet about it and knew I meant no harm. Still, it weighs on me because I am on top of these things most of the time. With so much to think about lately, it is possible that my mind went into survival mode. I rearranged my priorities as such:

  • Working during the day – i.e., lots of Zooming and emailing
  • Scheduling COVID-19 booster and flu shots on my lunch breaks
  • Reaching my new Goodreads goal (30 books) at night
  • Shopping for Hanukkah presents on the weekends.

Sometimes, my brain can’t handle more than this. Even my writing life has taken a backseat this season which is so unlike me. But, that will have to be okay too.

Here’s the silver lining about this year vs. last year. We are enjoying our lives again. We are seeing the people we love. We are catching up with old friends. We can hug our loved ones (if they let us). Some of us are eating indoors at restaurants. Others are traveling and planning vacations.

Although we may be exhausted, we can be happy that there is life past the pandemic. Thankfully, we are here for it.

From our family to yours, happy holidays!

Elisa

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My Creative Leap into HippoCamp

Do you know that moment when you walk into a room and immediately know that you belong there? This is exactly how I felt when I walked into HippoCamp 2021 for the first time earlier this month. But before I get into that, let me tell you how I got there.

Several years ago, I spent a Saturday at Moore College of Art & Design in Philadelphia at a career day for writers, artists, and other creative types. This event was where I first heard Hippocampus Magazine founder, Donna Talarico, speak about creative nonfiction (CNF) as a writing genre. Her 45-minute workshop was a breath of fresh air to me because I wasn’t sure where my voice fit at that point in my writing career. I have this little-known blog of slice-of-life pieces about my kids, book reviews, and strong opinions about Dunkin Donuts over Starbucks coffee. Most posts are light-hearted, but sometimes I share more personal stories like my struggle with depression and anxiety. My audience is small but strong, and my parents are my biggest fans. I’m proud of this blog, but I want more.

Sitting at Career Day, I looked for my nonfiction cohort, but I didn’t find too many of them there. However, Donna told us about a magical conference where memoirs, personal essays, flash nonfiction, and other great works are born, nourished, and celebrated. I can’t tell you why it took me so long to find my way to HippoCamp 2021, but I felt right at home once I arrived.

Wanting to make the most of my conference experience, I relied upon Donna’s article in Brevity: “How to Make the Most of a Multi-day Writing Conference” as my guide. Here are some of my wonderful experiences, thanks partly to the advice I took from her piece.

Get Outside of My Comfort Zone

When I walked into the workshop entitled “Survival Handbooks for Creative Writers,” the first thing I saw was a table of scrapbooking supplies. There were books of stickers for every kind of interest, hobby, or emoji that speaks to me. And then, I saw glue and scissors and colored pencils and markers and started to sweat. You see, I once left a Creative Memories scrapbooking party in tears because art projects have always overwhelmed me.

But, I decided to put that behind me and jump in to make my own writing survival guide. I filled it with reminders of what makes me happy – my dog, family, and love language – words. I stepped out of my comfort zone and completed the task at hand. And while I didn’t share it with the group, I was proud of myself and brought home a lovely conference souvenir.

Participate in the Back Channel

I’ve attended many conferences before, but I’ve never seen anything like the community that forms on Twitter and Instagram before and after HippoCamp. The buildup to the big event gave me the confidence boost I needed. I didn’t know anyone on Friday, but I introduced myself anyway when we met in person. By the time I left on Sunday, I had said goodbye to people who felt like old friends. And now, I am still following them and meeting other attendees online. I’m learning so much from their wisdom and basking in their post-conference glow. I hope to get to know them better between now and next year.

Be Polite and Cordial

If I could boil down the conference vibe into one word, I’d have to say that HippoCamp was a super-friendly event. (If I add a hyphen, it still counts one word, right?)

Not only did I find writers like me here, but also people who went out of their way to be warm and welcoming. I would love to share a meal with or go out for a girls’ night with any of them. Heck, I’d share an Airbnb, and that is something I do not say about some of my closest friends. My heart dropped when we had to cut conversations short because the next workshop was starting. I looked forward to meals because I was met with a smile and found intelligent and engaging discussions there no matter where I sat.

My One Takeaway

I came away with many ideas and action items that I almost don’t know where to start. Thankfully, at the end of the conference, Donna shared some of her wisdom. She asked us to think of one thing to focus on first. This “thing” is different for everyone, and I hope my fellow attendees will share their takeaways soon.

Here is mine: I went to HippoCamp with a book idea and left with a clear vision for how I will tell my story. This is exactly what I wanted from my conference experience, and boy did it deliver!

Thank you to all of the conference organizers and attendees for an amazing writing experience! I can’t wait to see you next year at HippoCamp 2022! In Judaism, when we don’t want to say goodbye – we say L’hitraot, which means until we meet again.

Living the Dream

I have this recurring dream of relaxing on the beach, strolling in the park, or sitting in a cafe. I’m sipping on a hot beverage. Time has stood still. There is no place I need to be and nothing I need to do. My mind is clear, and distractions are nonexistent. The only task at hand is to be inspired and channel my thoughts to put words on the page. At the end of the day, my notebook is full of ideas because my head is so clear that it has made room for them. When I get up to leave, I feel accomplished, satisfied, and happy.

And then my alarm goes off, and reality sets in. There is so much to do and not enough time to do it. I’m stressed and frustrated because all I want to do is go back to that dreamy coffee shop.

Carving out the time and space to write has never been easy for me. I tend to put the needs of others before my own because I love them and want them to be happy.  But in doing so, I am not realizing my full potential, which is increasingly becoming a problem for me.

I have to find a way to be okay with never finishing my to-do list and not running that annoying errand. I want to learn to be okay with dishes in the sink and clothes left in the dryer. Above all, I don’t want to feel guilty about the mundane tasks that I should get done, so I can focus on what I want to accomplish. In the end, I think it is all about having a nicer existence.

I want to live the dream.

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