The Holidays are upon us!
There is no question that the holidays make you think of your family. Unfortunately, with the travel restrictions in place, some families are separated, while others have been together nonstop for the last ten months. Holidays can also be a time of missing family members that have passed on, finding it hard to celebrate at all.
While this time of year usually fills us with joy and excitement, I am sure that many of us are excited that 2020 is almost over. There is no doubt that this time has been challenging but looking for the silver linings in this pause is something we can and should try to recognize. I know for me, there have been several.
Nose to the grindstone
During the first few months of travel restrictions, I kept busy triaging those who were actually traveling and getting them home when countries had closed their borders and flights had been canceled. I then moved on to unraveling the many trips that were on the books for 2020. For many months following, I worked on the business side of my business, starting a new workflow, revising legal documents, instituting my E-zine (which you are now reading), and continuing my education with hundreds of vendors worldwide. Each day I kept myself busy with activities that would keep my brain engaged and better my understanding of the unique experiences our partners offer. But despite trying to stay involved, it was hard not to panic as the travel industry dealt with such a crippling blow, and the very real pandemic was and is still taking lives.
I won’t lie: it’s been tough to stay positive…
But I wanted to share that just this week, my amazing host travel agency, the Gifted Travel Network, challenged me to start looking for the silver lining in all of this. Yikes. Really? They encouraged me that it was really about Mindset, and if there was a time to change mine, it had to be now.
I thought I would share something a little more personal with you all this month, unrelated to travel, but deeply important to me.
In April, my mom contracted COVID and was in the hospital for 42 days. The good news is that she got through it, albeit quite weakened. Although she had been living in a retirement community before contracting the virus, we moved her in with us. I knew it was the right thing at the time, and my family welcomed her with open arms. I now know it was the privilege of a lifetime, and two weeks ago, she passed away in my arms.
The gift of time.
How often have we said it, “I would have if I only had the time?” These last several months have been challenging but so worthwhile. Time is one of those things that we can never get back, and when it comes to a loved one, there is never enough. This was the gift. This was what my mind needed to be set on, a chosen mindset. And while it was not initially where I was looking, I realized that this complete shutdown of travel enabled me to have this time with her.
She was extraordinary. She left behind a loving family, but she also left behind thousands of artists in the classical music world who are grieving. I hope you will allow me to share her story, to celebrate an incredible life and talent, Camilla Wicks.
A child prodigy virtuoso violinist
My mother’s life was beautifully celebrated recently in the New York Times and the Washington Post, among other publications. One never-before-published interview from 1987 emerging this last week in The Strad was particularly poignant as she struggled most of her life to find a balance between the rigors of concertizing, ambition, expectations, and the many sacrifices she made throughout her life. I am so grateful to have had the time to be with her these last many months.
Finding the silver linings…
may take a bit of effort, especially in the time of Coronavirus. But they are there, even in the small things. The holidays are a time of giving thanks, reflecting, and perhaps this year will look and feel very different. It has been a tough year, a winter in our lives. But spring will come, and I am choosing to focus on those silver linings all around me.
Wishing you all the very best of the season.
