The New Normal

It’s August now. Which means back to — back to school, back to work, and back to life. Well, kind of.

We are going back, but to what exactly? We all have a “new normal” we are going back to. It is so interesting to see everyone, including myself, change to these new routines. We all have a new normal, essentially, and now we are all adjusting to all the changes.

To be honest, I am still a little sad about the new normal that we have. I miss being able to hug my friends and go inside restaurants without a mask. Though it is very hard not to be able to live my life as normal. I understand the importance of our new normal. That being said, there are many things that I have had to incorporate into my life as I get “back” to the “new normal.”

College — it’s one of the most important times for you to discover yourself. I am very excited to begin this new chapter in my life, but at the same time I am hesitant to throw myself into the experience. Everything is now so up in the air. No one really knows what is going to happen.

It’s the first time a college year will start under the “new normal,” and I am clueless about how it’s really going to work. It is scary, but I don’t want to miss out on starting the next part of my life.

So I will follow precautions and hope for the best. Because no matter what anyone says, it important that we continue to live our lives the best we can, while being as safe as possible.

All The Little Foxes

It made me think of the wasted opportunities that are lost to little foxes of “doubt” — about stories never written, journeys never taken, loves never known, truths never told — because of the little foxes of doubt nibbling at the edges of our confidence and courage. “Little foxes,” she said. My friend and I were walking with dogs. It was early morning, late autumn. We were discussing everything and nothing. And we were not walking too near to each other, which somehow prohibits the natural sharing of confidences. But we had been talking about something — I can’t remember exactly what — that concerned small worries, the kind that

Thank you, 2020

OK, OK — I know what the title looks like, but hear me out. Trust me — I was cursing 2020 just as much as the next person a couple months ago, but not anymore. If anything, 2020 has taught me that life is going to take you where you are supposed to go, one way or another. It took me some time, but now I am able to look back on 2020, and I am so grateful for the year. I had a tough first semester of college. Let’s be honest — I had a tough 2020 like everyone else — but it took my first semester of college

New Year, New Me

You are not doing this for anyone else — you are doing it for yourself. New year, new me. That’s what we all say, right? Well, this year, instead of thinking we are just going to achieve our goals miraculously, why not make this year a little different and make plans for how we will reach our goals. I’m all for shooting high with our goals for 2021 and making it the best year ever. But the only way we can get there is through planning and the motivation and willpower to keep moving forward. First you have to decide what the end goal is. And you have to have

An Interview with Chris Najmola | From the Kitchen of Fuse Aiken

Chris Najmola, why be a restaurant owner? It’s just been a lifelong love story with food and its ability to bring people together and make them happy. The first time a server came back to the kitchen to tell me how much the guests enjoyed food I had prepared, I knew that this life, as crazy as it is, was the life for me. 20 years later I still get the same satisfaction every time. Being the guy, professionally or otherwise, who cooks the food for a gathering, is just something that I find extremely rewarding. We all have our parts to play in this life, and I guess being