It continues to be a strange year for sure! I saw a meme the other day that read, “The funniest thing about 2020 is that I thought this would all be over in 2 weeks!” I’m not sure if I thought two weeks but definitely not this long. I guess I was naïve living through my first pandemic. I don’t know about you but I’ve experienced a range of emotions during these months and sometimes find myself down in the dumps when confronted with our new reality. I tell my teenage daughter we can’t control some situations but we can control our reactions to them. Perhaps she’s a little bit of a control freak like me so I thought this advice would be helpful. Good news- it seems to have worked for her! Since March, she has started doing yoga, taught herself to play the guitar, and learned to cook. Amazing! I, on the other hand, have complained and, truth be told, probably drank too much wine. That’s not entirely true, what I did was enroll in “The Science of Well-Being” course at Yale. Yes, that Yale, they’ll take anyone nowadays. It’s free through Coursera or for a nominal fee you can receive a certificate of completion once you’re finished your assignments. I know what you are thinking that you are too busy to do something like this, but it was self-paced and the “assignments” were enjoyable, like meditate for 5-10 minutes/day. I would strongly encourage you to check it out: https://www.coursera.org/learn/the-science-of-well-being, especially if you like to know the reasoning or science behind happiness. There are a variety of free courses available on Coursera that are related to meditation, positivity, stress reduction, etc. Has there ever been a better time to invest in your own sanity and practice a little self-care? Maybe you don’t want to do it formally so to that I say, find one thing each day to be truly grateful for or take a ten-minute walk daily. Both of these activities are free and based on the research presented in “The Science of Well-Being” proven methods to make you happier! I have also read scientific studies on the benefits of dark chocolate and red wine. Heck, check all the boxes and go for a walk followed by chocolate and/or wine and then be grateful! I encourage you, as we enter the homestretch of 2020 and get ready to reset in 2021, do something, even a very small something for yourself. Take time for you; you need it now more than ever.
I think this year, more than ever, we have all been faced with the need to change. There are a number of quotes about change but the underlying message is the same- change can be difficult but it's unavoidable so get used to it. For me, I was poised to coordinate my first ASET Annual Conference. I planned for it to be in-person, as is our norm, and even better in sunny San Diego. Not so fast! I mean tell the truth, did anyone actually expect to be living through a pandemic? (Side note- if you answered yes, shoot me an email because I want to take you to Vegas with me!) So my plans for the Annual Conference have changed! ASET will be hosting our first ever Virtual Conference. I'll admit this has been nerve-wracking. We have been planning and practicing, practicing and planning but I can't predict all the possible things that could go wrong. I'd like to think what else could possibly go wrong, I mean come on, a pandemic, are you kidding me? However, I am a realist (my hu
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