{"id":4150,"date":"2021-01-11T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-01-11T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/?p=4150"},"modified":"2025-07-31T08:20:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T12:20:00","slug":"2020-silver-linings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/2020-silver-linings\/","title":{"rendered":"2020’s Silver Linings"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Despite everything that has happened recently, and my last post<\/a>, I still want to share this, because it holds true. Here’s hoping there are more, and larger silver linings to 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, 2020 is finally over, after an indeterminate number of years. There’s no denying that it was a terrible year for many. Or that it was a year unlike any ever seen. And, in some ways, it’s not over yet. We’re still dealing wtih most of the biggest issues of the past year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, among the plentiful negatives, for me at least, there were little nuggets of positive that keeps 2020 from being an unmentionable black mark in the past. I’d like to take a post to look back on the positive silver linings of 2020 as an uplifting start to 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#1 & #2: It’s a Tie<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

My top two items tie for first: adopting our kittens and Bumbledore’s improvement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Kittenses<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In August, we adopted kittens from their feral mother. Jim had been feeding them since before the kittens were born.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Ritz
Ritz and Dante playing as 1.5 month-ish old kittens<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The original plan was to take them to King Street Cats<\/a> (KSC) so they would get adopted by loving families. However, while we got their brother, Angus<\/a>, to KSC, Ritz and Dante proved harder to catch. When we finally got them both, they had to stay with us overnight.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Ritz
Ritz and Dante in a humane trap\/cage waiting to be taken to King Street Cats<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

They looked so miserable that we let them out of the cage into the bathroom. Of course, such a foreign place terrified them, and they hid behind the toilet. So, we picked them up and held them to calm and comfort them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Dante<\/a>
Dante falling asleep in my arms.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Ritz<\/a>
Ritz falling asleep in Jim’s arms<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

They fell asleep in our arms. And that’s how we adopted kittens. They used sleep and cute, and we failed our saving throws miserably. But no regrets. They are little bundles of joy. Well, not so little anymore. I still refer to them as the Kittens, or Kittenses, to differentiate them from our older boys, though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Big<\/a>
Big boy Ritz barely fits on the grown-up bed anymore.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Dante<\/a>
Dante fits on the grown-up bed better than Ritz, but he still fills it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Bumbledore<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

And on to Bumble. I wrote about Mr. Bumbledore<\/a> earlier this year. His improvement in the first year we had him was amazing. If anything, his improvement in the 7 months since then have been nothing short of magical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is now a lap cat. More specifically, my<\/em> lap cat \u2014 he has a definite preference for mom. He loves to cuddle and very much enjoys receiving kisses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Morning<\/a>
Morning Bumbledore cuddles.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Bumbledore<\/a>
Bumbledore getting a kiss from Mom.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He’ll go out of his way to be near us, unless the sun is coming through the window at nap time. He even comes out of hiding when someone comes over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He’s great with the kittens, playing with, snuggling, and even grooming them. Every improvement is a milestone for him and makes me so happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#3: Body Confidence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

My next positive thing from 2020 is a significant increase in body confidence. I’ve been actively working on improving my self image and body confidence for a few years. This year has finally brought me to a place where my first thought when looking in the mirror is almost always positive. On those few days when it’s not, I’m good at catching it and changing what I say to myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I still have a way to go, as I’m not 100% confident with how I look, but it’s a MASSIVE improvement from not really wanting to look in the mirror unless I was fully clothed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To clarify, I’m not talking about my weight or actual appearance. I mean feeling comfortable in my own skin; loving my body and my flaws as part of me. I give myself a standing ovation on this one. It’s a major milestone on a long, beneficial, and important journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#4: Trying New Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We tried making many new things at home this year \u2014 because there wasn’t anywhere to go to get it \u2014 especially non-alcoholic drinks. I enjoyed trying new recipes, even if they didn’t all turn out right. But I learned that some things I thought would be too difficult, too time consuming, or not worth the effort, weren’t. Hooray for trying!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#5: Appreciating Friends<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I’m going to end this with a bittersweet silver lining. I 100% appreciate my friends more after spending so much time stuck at home. I’ve had very little chance to see my closest friends in person. It makes me appreciate and cherish them that much more. I look forward to the time that we can all hang out again. Make sure you let your loved ones know how much they mean to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still Glad 2020 is Over, Though<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are other, small, silver linings, but those are the main ones for me. Some are significant, some are trivial, but I’m thankful that they existed. But I still raised a glass to the back end of a year sure to go down in infamy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, tell me in the comments, did your 2020 have any silver linings? I really hope it did. But, either way, 2020 is over, and we have hope that 2021 will be better.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2020 will go down in infamy. But, it wasn’t ALL bad for me. Read about my little silver linings that will allow me to look back at 2020 without a grimace.<\/p>\n

Keep Reading2020’s Silver Linings<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[367,107,121],"tags":[365,364,169,366],"class_list":["post-4150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cat","category-about-me","category-random-reflections","tag-dante","tag-kittenses","tag-retrospective","tag-ritz","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Z77k-14W","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4204,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/ac-valhalla-post-updates\/","url_meta":{"origin":4150,"position":0},"title":"AC Valhalla: Post Updates","author":"Rachel","date":"January 19, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Information updates for my previous Valhalla posts. Rather than update the posts, where no one will see the information, I'm writing this.","rel":"","context":"In "Non-Stationery Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Non-Stationery Reviews","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4198,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/dark_day_american_history\/","url_meta":{"origin":4150,"position":1},"title":"A Dark Day in American History","author":"Rachel","date":"January 7, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I can't keep silent about what happened at the Capitol building yesterday. So I share my disgust and disappointment with you.","rel":"","context":"In "Random Reflections"","block_context":{"text":"Random Reflections","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/category\/random-reflections\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12526,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/ink-battle-colorverse-colorverse\/","url_meta":{"origin":4150,"position":2},"title":"Ink Battle: Colorverse and Colorverse","author":"Rachel","date":"February 16, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Time for another Ink Battle! This time Colorverse Mystic Mountain and Colorverse Monkeyhead Nebula are squaring off on a battlefield of Rhodia white paper.","rel":"","context":"In "Ink"","block_context":{"text":"Ink","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/category\/stationery\/ink\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"First Ink Battle","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Battle1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Battle1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Battle1.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Battle1.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Battle1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4398,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/dante-story\/","url_meta":{"origin":4150,"position":3},"title":"Dante: Feral Kitten to “Evil Genius”","author":"Rachel","date":"March 30, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"We had no idea, when we took in a colorful feral tabby kitten, that we were adopting a belly-motivated evil genius.","rel":"","context":"In "Cat"","block_context":{"text":"Cat","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/category\/cat\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/20200605_173810.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/20200605_173810.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/20200605_173810.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/20200605_173810.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6521,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/2021-purchasing-habits\/","url_meta":{"origin":4150,"position":4},"title":"Reviewing My Purchasing Habits","author":"Rachel","date":"January 11, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm taking a quick look back at my pen purchasing habits in 2021. I didn't do too bad. Let's see if I can do even better in 2022.","rel":"","context":"In "Fountain Pens"","block_context":{"text":"Fountain Pens","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/category\/stationery\/fountain-pens\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/purchasingHabits_IGSm.jpg?fit=288%2C288&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4131,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/2020-pens\/","url_meta":{"origin":4150,"position":5},"title":"Year in Review \u2013 2020 Pens","author":"Rachel","date":"January 4, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Read my no regrets retrospective look at the pens I purchased in 2020, including my top 5, some honorable mentions, and a surprise comeback.","rel":"","context":"In "Fountain Pens"","block_context":{"text":"Fountain Pens","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/category\/stationery\/fountain-pens\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/auroraSunMoonLake.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/auroraSunMoonLake.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/auroraSunMoonLake.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/auroraSunMoonLake.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/auroraSunMoonLake.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/auroraSunMoonLake.png?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4150"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4150\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15663,"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4150\/revisions\/15663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}