Did you know today is Groundhog Day! A popular tradition centered on the town of Punxsutawney, a borough in the south of Jefferson County, Pennsylvania. If a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day and sees its shadow due to clear skies it will retreat to its den and winter will persist for six more weeks; but if it does not see its shadow because of cloudiness, spring will arrive early.
Groundhog Day is also one of my favourite films, where the main actor, Bill Murray gets to replay the same day, over and over again until he gets it right – it’s torture for him, replaying the same day, day after day, but it turns him into a really nice guy, loved by his colleagues and his fans and of course he gets the girl of his dreams – Andie McDowell!!!
Of course since 12th March 2020, we have all been stuck in our own Groundhog Day, which is never ending…. For me its:- wake up, check the Covid app or Fergal Bowers Twitter page for latest Covid numbers, exercise, walk dogs, shower and put on makeup (for me and no one else!), breakfast and commute to work to the music room, lunch, watch CNN or switch to Comedy Central and Friends for a few minutes if I need to smile, commute back to work to the music room, close laptop, walk dogs, cook something nice, usually from James Whelan Butchers (as luckily one of their shops is within our 5k); find a justification with my other half Greg, for having a glass of wine with dinner, celebrate finding a piece of the jigsaw that’s been unfinished on the kitchen table for a month, fall asleep in front of the telly, head to bed, wake up…..
We are all stuck in the same movie, like Bill Murray waking up to the exact same conversation on the radio every morning…..
But on the positive side – sorry it’s soppy but I’m already a step ahead of Bill. Even though I’m stuck in this not so merry go-round, I already have the guy of my dreams, Greg, who I am lucky to be going through Groundhog Day with everyday; our dogs, Honey and Bert, keep us both sane and through the repetitiveness, worry and weight of the world, some real positivity has come about.
The support and friendship of our team at Fuzion has been so fab. Clients and business associates, some of whom I have never met in person, have become really trusted friends. We are all going through this together – celebrating the highs – and there have been many, and supporting each other through the lows – personal and professional – losses, illnesses, challenges, and just days when one of us feels a bit down, we have each others backs. I have never felt so close to my sister and my best buddies as we make a point of checking in with each other. And in the past year our beautiful next door neighbours have become like family.
Greg and I celebrate the small stuff much more – our takeaway from Da Mirco has become our official Friday night date night; we are already planning with other friends Frits and Lara a Cork city staycation at the Montenotte as soon as we get down to Level 3 – I swear that night away I’m looking forward to more than I would have a week in Tuscany before!
I hope when we get out of this Groundhog Day that we will remember all we have learned, cherish the small things more, spend less time chasing the “holy grail”, and remember that most of the most valuable things in our lives are our loved ones and our health – villas with a pool, flying first class, having the latest car, bag, shoes – whatever – are just totally disposable accessories to our lives.
Deirdre Waldron is the founding partner of Fuzion Communications, a Marketing, PR, Graphic Design and Digital Marketing agency with offices in Dublin and Cork.
