Jenifer Beaudean

Seeker of Simplicity and Executive Coach

The Add

2022. Two thousand twenty two. Hopefully it’s the year where we finally perfect a process around managing Covid and assume life as we once knew it. As Omicron persists, I wish I could plan a trip, or even a day at a museum. I love to go to the Yale University Art Gallery, located in New Haven, CT — or to the overwhelming and fabulous Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Walking through those spaces, ideas come to me for writing and for my own pieces of art. These experiences feed my soul.

Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven, CT) –
Joseph Stella, “Battle of Lights, Coney Island, Marcus Gras,” oil on canvas, 1913-1914

What’s feeding my soul right now, as the Yale Art Museum is temporarily closed and we are masked and working not to acquire Covid? Unfortunately, not a lot.

And yet, last week I had a conversation with a good friend that left me … intrigued and inspired.

Four months ago, my friend Evelyn moved herself and her 12-year-old son to Florence, Italy. I didn’t know the details and had only seen the story on Facebook until she and I visited via Zoom last week. As it turns out, Evelyn completely flipped her life on end, left a relationship that wasn’t working, picked up stakes and moved across an ocean to a city she had never been to, where people speak a language she knows nothing about, and where both she and her son will have to continue to adjust to new customs and culture.

And she is loving every minute of it.

The Duomo (Florence, Italy) – Taken in 2014

It was an “add,” and a big one at that. She added an adventure that she had always longed for. Instead of heading into 2022 with a subtraction (weight, debt, etc.), she took the jump into the unknown and is now having the time of her life as she manages her public relations business in the US from across the sea and learns new bits of Italian each day.

“How brave,” I thought, “and what a great add!

I think about what lies ahead, after four interesting and often comforting years in our little house, and the last two years consumed with Covid, it’s time to add something new. If all the pieces fall into place, we’ll build a new farmhouse on our property this summer. It’s an add I look forward to. It’s time for a new chapter.

But what else? What else should I add? I think one goal is about intentionality with my friends and family. Adding visits, phone calls, and zooms to stay closely connected to the key people in my tribe. Also, adding an apple a day seems wise. Adding a walk 3 times a week would complement that apple nicely. As I think about 2022, all shiny and new, it feels like a good time to change the way I think about a new start. Instead of thinking about eliminating every bad habit, I think instead that I’ll continue to consider the “add” rather than the subtraction. Positive versus negative. New opportunity versus old, tired resolutions.

What can you add? How can you grow?

Maybe I’ll add another birdfeeder and buy a better bird book. Maybe I’ll add fresh flowers in our house every week.

And I just might add a trip to Florence as well.

Sitting on the dome of the Duomo, writing in my journal, 2014

The painting under the dome, “The Last Judgment” painted by Giorgio Vasari and Federico Zuccari in 1579

10 Replies to “The Add”

  1. Wow! I admire your friend for her adventurous move! I can see you doing something like that too. Another wonderful piece written by you…all the best to you and TJ for 2022!

  2. I love everything you write about and what more, more, more. Have you thought of doing this on a monthly basis?

    1. Hi Alison, thank you for your comment and your question. I’m so glad that my stories resonate with you and are meaningful to you.
      My writing right now comes more from inspiration than it does from a calendar, but I have often wanted to get more systematic about it.
      I’ll give this some thought … maybe it’s a good “add.” 🙂

  3. Adventures teach us so much. I think many of us are longing for one after these past few years. At least we can dream about travel to come….

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