9/12: Strike That; Reverse It

September brought another full month of activity and a couple unexpected pivots that were good reminders about the futility of making plans during a pandemic.

At work, a leadership trip to LA that was supposed to happen mid-month was postponed due to, well, what most things are cancelled because of in the last 18 months. Things happen—especially now—but it was a mental and semi-emotional sideswipe that threw me off kilter for several days.

Reversing plans is tough for me, especially ones I’ve been anticipating for awhile. I love to work a good plan, and I love having something exciting to look forward to. But the experience of anticipation followed by disappointment is harder to process for me.

I like clarity. As a professional communicator, I feel like this is a good quality. But it seems irrefutable facts are hot commodities these days, and communication involves interpretation and relies on contingencies for accuracy.

Access to all the information isn’t always possible, and best-laid plans don’t care about the delta variant. So you just have to do what you can with what you’ve got and know that changing course is always a possibility.

The work trip is now scheduled for early December, and it remains to be seen what will happen between now and then. This time three months from now, I may look back at this and laugh at the idea of any kind of COVID-era travel plan coming together. But one can hope.

Plan and hope for the best: that’s all I can do. So I will.