When I set out to draft this article, the historic and disturbing attack on the U.S. Capitol had not yet occurred. Upon completion, my editor and I decided that, well, in light of everything else going on in the world, the piece was a little too “light.”
It’s hard to write about “soft news” as it’s known in the journalism world, when there are far bigger things happening. It connotes a sense of aloofness, or unawareness. But sometimes I feel it’s necessary to highlight the good things that people are doing. Our neighbors, family members, friends. Lift them up. Inspire others to make something better of themselves, or for themselves, even when the world around us is seemingly collapsing, and leaving us all rather hopeless.
Every new year is supposed to bring new thoughts and ambitions to help make our lives and selves better, affect change, encourage others to do the same…and feel hope. And last year, that feeling was stunted by mid-March, and we all know why. This year, it was knocked down within a mere six days, which must be a record of some sort.
So, January hasn’t quite turned out to be the fresh new start we were hoping for. Quite the opposite, thus far, actually.
The events of last week have upped the usual new year anxiety to a whole new level. Usually, this time of year is for starting new things – jobs, diets, exercise regimens – or for abandoning those resolutions completely and realizing that maybe you were just a little over ambitious at midnight on Dec. 31.
The pandemic has made efforts of invigorating renewal all the more difficult. Gyms are not, in fact, super spreader locales, as it turns out. But many people still find the idea of breathing heavily and sweating among others – even with a mask on and socially distanced – just a bridge too far.
So, what have we been doing to pass the time? Well, the answer to that question has evolved for a lot of us as the pandemic unfolded.
At first, we watched a lot of Tiger King. We baked sourdough bread. We witnessed civil unrest explode across the country after George Floyd died at the hands of police officers in May. We became obsessed with “Karen” and all the fun she wasn’t letting anyone have.
All this, while trying to keep our children entertained and groceries in the cupboard as they ate us out of house and home. This includes husbands who act similarly; not that I’m talking from experience at all, of course.
But then what we thought would be just a few weeks extended into months, and now we’re quickly advancing towards the one-year mark of COVID. Some people picked up a new hobby; I’ve seen a lot of new bird watchers, puzzle assemblers, hikers, and runners in my social media feeds.
And, then we all started learning chess because we watched The Queen’s Gambit. Well, some of us, but for the record, I did enjoy the show.
Others took their lemons and made lemonade. And then turned it into lettuce. (That’s Italian slang for money, in case you’ve never seen Goodfellas.)
Take Kyra Rhoades, for example. She lost her job in April of last year due to the pandemic. She had been working at a small design firm in Albany for about a year before the layoff. While disheartened and discouraged, she managed to see this as an opportunity that offered her more free time to dedicate to a passion “that I may have otherwise pushed off.”
Rhoades, a Shenendehowa grad and Capital Region native, holds a degree in studio art, with a concentration in drawing and jewelry design. She spent much of her time after college in the marketing and advertising realm. She first started creating art from stained glass after a friend’s family member introduced her to it. After doing it for a while, she thought: “I can do this for myself and make money.”
COVID presented her the chance to make that happen. “I always thought it could be a business, if I had time, energy, and money to do it,” she said. Her experience in advertising and marketing connected her to a lot of resources who helped her manage the start-up process.
She also saw this as a way to showcase her other artistic talents, as she was invited to create a live wedding painting in the fall. She loves portraiture work, such as commissioned hand-drawn photos.
Getting her own business off the ground wasn’t the only good thing to happen to Rhoades in 2020. She found love in a new relationship, which had a COVID theme from the beginning, because their first date was a video chat.
Rhoades’ small business is called La Luna Studios, after her spotted dog, Luna. She creates stained glass art in any form. You can even have a stained-glass version of your favorite pooch! And she can draw your pants off. Or on. Really, whatever you request. Check out her Instagram page for more information.
Another example: Brittaney Deitz is a Capital Region native and a middle school teacher at a local school district. She has also been a spin instructor for the last eight years. Her last day of in-person work in the district was in March of last year, like so many of us. She was still teaching from home but was in a little bit of a slump.
The studio where Deitz had taught spin wasn’t looking into innovative ways to continue offering her classes, either outdoors or virtually, so she started thinking of ways she could do it herself. She didn’t have a stationary bike at her home, and thrived on the interaction with her class; she asked herself, “how am I going to make this work?”
A friend loaned her a bike. At first, Deitz created a private group on Facebook to teach free classes. Within a short period of time, she had over 1,000 members in the group – some from across the globe. Attendees kept trying to pay her. She thought, “this could become a business opportunity.”
Deitz’s husband helped her create a studio in their basement and do some research on companies that can integrate payments through Zoom. On July 25th, she launched Britt Deitz Fitness. The company she works with to manage classes is a startup called Session. Her designated page is where people can get information on her classes, view her calendar and class schedule, or buy passes.
Deitz saw that some people wanted to work out with her but didn’t have a bike. She started offering body toning and strength classes, too.
Deitz says that this new business is opening many doors for her. “It secures the future and provides flexibility and options,” she said. She told me that she’s always wanted to do this, but the risk of a brick-and-mortar studio plus insurance was too much of a gamble.
Deitz loves how supportive the online spin community has become. She’s found that sometimes, people are intimidated by spin classes because they think it’s too hard core. The virtual space has eased that feeling. “At the end of the day, [participants] can take it at their own pace,” she explained. “They’re in their own home, and comfortable.”
My sister-in-law tackled a beast of a very different kind, and considering the year she decided to do it, not knowing what lay ahead, speaks volumes about her dedication and strength. She quit smoking. Anyone who has been able to boast of that accomplishment knows exactly how hard that really is. And I couldn’t be prouder of her.
Me? I started talking to you. I had always wanted to write and had been told since grammar school that I had a knack for it. I just never had the…well, time. But I’m glad the pandemic afforded me that. (And I hope you are too.)
Maybe it’s time to think outside the box of typical resolutions. We don’t need to change ourselves completely into something totally new. Instead, we perhaps could all try just one new thing. And who knows? That one thing just may change your life.
