Lordy, are we ever grateful that 2020 is DONE. Yes, we know that all the negatives from this year aren’t magically gone, and a lot of the disruptions that the pandemic had on everyone’s lives will trail well into into 2021. BUT. 2021 shows a good number of signs that it’ll be a better year. It’s only getting better because a lot of good people worked superhumanly hard at all levels to help us all weather the 2020 storm (for which we are eternally grateful). We know it’s a community effort, and so, here are our own modest ways to encourage this positivity.  

1) [Henry: I’m going to become flexitarian! And I’ll stick to it till I can (maybe) become vegetarian! Those who have known me a long time will probably think someone has replaced me with an imposter 😛 . Here’s the thing – the environment got a small break from people not traveling last year (hurry for 7% reduction in global emissions!), but we are still a long ways off from where we need to be in order to, y’know, survive. We definitely cut our travel down last year (for very, very obvious reasons), and now I’m going to bite the bullet and eat much, much less meat (especially factory-farmed meat). Because every bit helps! My goal: Eat meat at most once a month every month – otherwise, every meal will be lacto-ovo vegetarian.

2) [Mariam: I’m getting back into shape. The pregnancy was really hard, and the post partum period was actually worse. So let me be clear about the absolute minimum goal here: I REALLY don’t want to have to spend time in the hospital again. A – it’s not fun (duh!), and B – the health care system is absolutely straining at its seams right now. Both from reading the news and also from hearing horror stories from family and friends, I know it’s a terrible time for hospitals whether you’re staff or patient. We have a duty to reduce the stress that’s pressuring our overburdened health systems right now. The best way of doing that is by reducing our chances of being sick!

3) We’re renewing our commitments to charity and activism. We’ve had the year to figure out how to get things done virtually. Whether for work, play, or sharing precious moments with family and friends, Zoom and Teams and Skype and Whatsapp (just to name a few) have become part of our daily lives. It was odd at first (well, still odd now, but we digress), but we know enough to be able to do more than just work or post baby pics and videos. Stay tuned to see what we do!

In the meantime, we’re going to post regularly again – Mariam on her health journey (and obviously Henry will chime in as well) and Henry on how the transition away from meat goes. More specific goals and milestones will be posted with each new blog. Overall, it’s a whole different set of From Point A to Point Bs, but hey, journeys don’t have to involve travel!

And with that : Happy New Year, everyone! May 2021 be a happier, healthier and more fulfilling year! Wishing you all safety and prosperity! Share your resolutions with us, btw – keeping them to yourselves make them easier to ignore; putting them out in the open, like what we’re doing now, make them that much more likely to be achieved!