2021 is nearly here. I’m looking forward to a better year, although admittedly, I’m concerned that at least for a while, it will be “more of the same, but worse”, at least for a bit. That said, I am eager to find the joy in each and every day, something I’ve been working on for a few years now. I’m not always successful (it is so easy to fall back into negative patterns!), but I just keep trying.
With that in mind, I have a not-so-easy question today. We’ve all spent quite a bit of time as fans of something. Even if you haven’t been a Duran Duran fan for that long, my best guess is that you’ve still been a fan of something over the years. It is in that general “spirit”, that I ask about a fandom resolution going forward.
We all get into habits. My own consists of getting up at around 7:30. There has been SOME good to come from distance learning, and for me, that is not needing to be up at the crack of dawn to take my 12-year old to school! I get dressed into my workout gear, brush my teeth, pull my hair up into a ponytail, and turn on my TV to find my BodyFX class for the day. That’s been a great new habit of mine, and I think it’s kind of saved my life. Sounds dramatic, but it’s true. I’m no fitness geek, but working out 5-6 times a week has really helped me feel better. I couldn’t walk up my driveway without my lungs screaming in pain back in March. Now, I can walk up and down it more than once without feeling more than a teeny bit winded (it’s a steep, long, driveway). However, there’s also been some other habits I’ve gotten out of – like taking time for myself to practice my clarinet, or watch Duran Duran videos. Those aren’t so great, and they are things I’m going to work on in the coming year.
Here is where you come in. What is your fandom resolution for 2021? Maybe it’s to listen to one Duran Duran from start to finish each month. Perhaps you want to get more involved in the online fan community. Better yet, maybe you want to attend every concert the band plays at this summer, assuming you’re able. Whatever it is, let us know. Tomorrow, Amanda and I will share our fandom resolutions with you on our Vodka Friday episode.
Before I go, I’d just like to say Happy New Year to everyone. This past year has been equal parts weird, maddening, scary, annoying and insane, but also one of great change and growth, at least for me. I’ve learned a lot this year, most of which having to do with what it really means to love someone through sickness and in health. The road hasn’t been easy, and I’m grateful – eternally grateful – that my family is happy and healthy. I’m also sad that I haven’t seen many of my friends now in over a year. I don’t know that I’ve gone this long without seeing Amanda in person since we met!! I’m sad that so many have died of this virus, and that so many others have lost their livelihoods and people that they love. On a personal note, I turned 50 this year, saw my son turn 21, nearly lost my husband to a stroke, marked my 25th wedding anniversary, and discovered my mother lost her life savings in a scam, along with a ton of other things I’m certainly forgetting. It’s been one for the books, that’s for sure. I’m tired just thinking about all of it!
So, as the clock strikes midnight where ever you are, and we flip the calendar to January, I’m hoping things get a little better for everyone. If we could just bottle the optimism felt on New Years Eve to carry us through the whole year….right???
Oh, and let’s hope for some NEW MUSIC!!
Warm, safe, virtual hugs to you all. Happy New Year!
-R
My 2021 fandom resolution is to be able to check my bucket list of concerts / cities: To attend a concert front row with my friend Dee, in Birmingham (not sure this will happen in 2021 because of the pandemic, but it will be there until it happens. Also, I am continuing slowly but surely building my DD collection of collectibles. It is not something to finish this year but it’s a fun thing to do, especially when nothing else is happening while on lockdown.