The way I see it, for the last two years we’ve been at sea with our ensembles. We were out on our voyage when we were becalmed by the pandemic.
When the winds picked back up, the students I was leading needed to be led to a harbor. Any harbor. We made unexpected navigational changes, took our ship in directions we’ve never gone before, just so that we could get them safely back to shore.
Now, the trick is to go from the unfamiliar port we landed in to try to get to the familiar destination. It’s taking extra work, new approaches, and sailing through unfamiliar waters to get it done. And there’s no guarantee that we will; we’re just trying to get close.
When next year rolls around, I think we’ll be able to start a little closer to our usual home port. The navigation will be more familiar, and the destination more straightforward to reach. It won’t be like it was before, but we’ll know the waters better, having sailed them before, and we’ll be more ready for the squalls and lulls that we might not be expecting.
Keep sailing, friends. It’ll get easier.