Everything that I had planned for this spring got canceled pretty quickly once the pandemic started. I think I’m still in a bit of shock about how much I had to cancel and how fast it all happened. I was deleting stuff from my calendar when it started, but I just gave up because it was almost more overwhelming when I was constantly deleting stuff.
We are now about 3 months into this. That’s a quarter of the year where I rarely left my house. It feels like it has taken forever and flown by at the same time. And now as things are reopening, I’m trying to make some plans for things in the future but still be cautious and safe.
I’m not making plans for things in the next month or so. Maybe I’ll do something for the 4th of July, but I really don’t know. But that date feels like a line to me. I don’t want to make plans for things before the 4th. I know that it’s just a random date and it doesn’t necessarily mean that anything will be different or better by then. But it’s just something I have in my head now. Probably because there was a statement by the mayor saying that he felt that LA could be reopened by that date.
I really don’t have anything in my mind for this summer. I was supposed to go to Tahoe to spend time with my parents, but now I don’t know. Flying doesn’t seem like the safest thing to do right now, so I don’t want to fly. And it’s over 10 hours to drive there so I wouldn’t be driving. If things feel safer, maybe I’ll be able to go toward the end of the summer, but it’s very up in the air. And I haven’t even started to think about my birthday. I can’t imagine really celebrating my birthday now. If things are different in 2 months, maybe I’ll do something. But I just feel weird trying to plan something when I have no idea if we will be able to do anything in public.
In the fall, the only thing I was planning for was Thanksgiving. As far as I know, we are planning on being together as a family this year. But that also will require flying so I know it will need to be safe to be on a plane then. And with all the talk about a second wave, I worry that it won’t be ok. I know that I will be with some family no matter what, but I really hope that we will all be able to be together by November.
The only real plans for the future that I have made aren’t until the new year. I was supposed to see “Hamilton” last month with my parents. When that was canceled, we got a refund on our tickets. But we just found out that we had early access to buying tickets to some of the new dates that they added to the run. I believe the show was supposed to leave LA at the end of this year, but now they have dates through February (maybe past that, but I don’t remember seeing them). So I checked with my parents and we decided that we should get tickets and if they can’t do the show we would be refunded again. We ended up picking my dad’s birthday in January as the date we would go, and I’m hoping that we will be able to attend and that it will be safe.
And the only other plans I have are also related to musicals. I did renew my season tickets for the Pantages for the next season. But that season doesn’t start until the late spring next year. Some of the shows in that season have been canceled because they aren’t going on tour anymore, but there still is a season. And I’m excited about the shows that are scheduled. I just hope that no other shows are canceled. And at some point either later this year or at the beginning of next year, I should have the last few shows from this current season. There have been some shows that were canceled, but I believe we have 3 more that are being rescheduled. I guess those aren’t necessarily plans yet since I don’t know what the dates will be, but I’m counting them as future plans.
I know that soon I’ll feel more comfortable with making plans to do things again. Once I feel like things are safer, I need to have some things out with my friends. I’m done with being home alone and lonely. I need some social interaction. But I also don’t want to make plans that feel like they might need to be canceled because that is tough to deal with sometimes. It’s a weird mix of needed to have something to look forward to and not wanting to have to cancel things and be upset.
One day, I’m sure I’ll look back at this time and maybe laugh about how worried I was to make plans. For now, the uncertainty is really making it tough for me to make plans. But the few things that I have planned for are making me so happy and ready to be back to a more normal life.
You Might Also Like
Trying To Not Be Sad About Missing Things (or This Was Going To Be An Awesome Weekend)
And Another Season Of Musicals (or The Next Season Will Be A Bit Different)
Getting Ready For Next Month (or Broadway Here We Come!)
Enjoying The Now (or Not Trying To Skip Ahead To The Good Parts)
A Free Weekday (or Planning Ahead For Fun Things)
Planning Way Too Far Ahead (or I Want It Now)
