Ready to Turn the Page on 2020

Without a doubt, we are all ready to turn the page on 2020. To say that there isn’t a soul who wouldn’t agree (except perhaps big Pharma and Zoom), would be an understatement. Although this year will be remembered for generations to come as the most difficult, trying time of our lives, there were and still are glimmers of hope and precious positive moments that soothed our souls.

far from family

For those of us who live far from our family, we most likely missed visiting them. Such was the case with me. I usually make a few trips a year visiting my family in Florida, but that was inadvisable during these times. I had hoped to see my “children,” but, that was also inadvisable. My daughter is a first level trauma doctor as a neurosurgery resident, and she is extra careful not to “share” what she may have been exposed to. My son works for Johns Hopkins APL in Maryland, and visiting was not recommended.

However, we are all becoming technically savvy, even those born before the invention of the computer (my mother is amazing with technology), and although we may not be able to visit the traditional way, most of us are visiting virtually through FaceTime, Zoom, Google Meet, or other video conferencing tools. The fact is, I have probably “seen” and spoken to my family more than I do in a typical year where I have visited.

I miss my hugs though.

working remotely

The work environment has drastically changed. More are working remotely from home. As an attorney and writer, most of my working days were done remotely prior to 2020, so in that respect, I was not greatly impacted, however, others had to get familiar with the technology and self-discipline it takes to become efficient and effective working from home. Because of COVID-19, I had to get creative with estate planning signing ceremonies where a notary and two witnesses were necessary. Yes, I made house calls, like old-time doctors in years past — my father made house calls. After going over all the estate planning documents via phone, I visited some of my clients at their homes, and provided direction for signing and witnessing through windows and glass doors. All good exercises for thinking outside the box

leaps of faith

Some of us made leaps of faith. I had been working for another law firm and decided it was time to hang my own shingle. For me, it was now or never. Quite a few of my clients came with me — they trusted me and was confident in my representation of them. I confess, it brightened my day and confirmed that my decision was the right one.

Novel – search beyond lies

This change in direction did affect the timing and goals for my novel, Search Beyond Lies. In Publish Don’t Perish Tip #11 — Be Accountable, I set my goal to have my novel ready for my professional content editor (Candee Fick) by December 1, and to my copy editor (Elizabeth Fenton) by Christmas. Alas, I failed to meet those goals. In order to handle setting up my law firm as well as meeting my clients’ needs, I put my novel on hold until a week ago and am back to writing between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. each morning.

Now, only one thing remains, getting my law firm’s website up and running. The Law Firm of Karen VDH Fischer LLC’s website will be launched on or before January 1, 2021 and may be found at www.KVFischerLaw.com. Let me know what you think after it’s up and running. My new target for Candee is the end of January.

Do you have positive moments to share from 2020?

© 2020 Karen Van Den Heuvel Fischer