266. Goodbye 2021. Hello 2022

Hey everyone! Happy New Year! Did anyone see that Larry David episode about how late you can continue to say Happy New Year? Is mid-January too late? Fortunately for me, I have Lunar New Year coming up to reset that Happy New Year anyway. I digress. If you are tuning in for the first time, this is not a typical episode. I normally have a wonderful guest who is far more interesting than myself sharing about the work they do and the life they lead. So please, continue to tune in if this is your first time listening to the show. I promise it gets better. If you are a subscriber to this podcast. Thank you. Just thank you so much. This is year five, yes, year five of podcasts. I cringe thinking about those first few episodes where I was but a baby podcaster trying to take my first steps. Thank you to those who have been listening since day one and have continued. Thank you to my patrons who support this podcast, I could not have continued this journey without you. Shameless plug: This is a passion project. I need support to keep it going. Contributing in any capacity you have – one-time, monthly, and any amount is appreciated. Every little bit does make a difference. You can support at Patreon.com/sifumimichan or at sifumimichan.com. I am going to be offering a lot more behind-the-scenes action and extra blog posts for patrons this year. With all the housekeeping out of the way, I am kicking off the 2022 season with a solo episode to wrap up 2021 and introduce 2022. 2021 was supposed to be a better year. In many ways, it was. Vaccines were available to everyone. (well, everyone in the United States) People were back to work, school, traveling, and socializing. Things began to feel…normal? Then Delta and Omicron made their debut and had many of us taking a giant step backward. The emotional roller coaster we all experienced has been intense. I empathize with all of you. From the start of the pandemic, I really believed in the #weareallinthistogether. Until I saw that we weren’t. Some of us had decided they were not IN this with US. I believe that we have a responsibility not to spread a deadly disease to one another. We have a responsibility to keep one another safe, via vaccines, masks, distancing, and just consideration for our fellow human. It has been so polarizing to live in a state where those morals are not shared. O and I had the privilege of traveling in 2021. After getting boosted, I braved for a flight to NYC. I was thrilled to be in a land where vaccine cards were checked, and people wore masks. I was nervous as hell, but being in a place where people did seem to be ‘in this together’ put me at ease. I just returned from Iceland. Talk about another planet. First, it really does look like another planet. Granted, I am from Florida where there is no snow or ice, but I have never seen a landscape like Iceland. The black sand beach, glaciers, and long stretches of mountains and valleys were out of this world. The people also seemed like they were ‘in this together.’ Masking was observed and the country is widely vaccinated. We had to get our covid tests before going to the airport which were done in about eight minutes. The ease of booking, showing up for the test and getting the results were so smooth compared to the horror stories I was hearing back home. My colleague had to wait six hours in his car for a test. SIX HOURS. That is just outrageous. I will be honest, the stress of travel was intense, even though we had a great time on the trip. Up until the day we left I wondered if we are doing the ‘right thing’. Balancing my mental health and need for escape and downtime versus the risk of getting ...