The Greatness of 2020
To say 2020 has been a tough year is an understatement. None of us need reminders of the last nine months' hardships, so I'd like to take a moment to celebrate some of the greatness that happened this year:
May 1 marked five years in business for Capizzi Designs. In the midst of lockdown, I struggled on just how to acknowledge this milestone. But I ended up celebrating in one of the best ways possible. On the same date this year, I moved into a new home and upgraded my "corner (of my living room) office" to a proper home office with a door (photo below).
This spring I wrapped up the design of an art book for Baltimore artist, Jim Voshell. This was a three-generation student-teacher collaboration. The book was written by one of Jim's students from his early teaching days who was also one of my high school teachers.
The pandemic gave me a pause to finally update my website and show off the work we've collaborated on over the last five years.
Despite the zoom fatigue many of us maybe experiencing, I've had the opportunity to see more of you on video calls since that became the new standard with everyone working from home. One of my local freelance communities also used the pandemic as an opportunity to start weekly coffee video chats so that we could support each other as solo business owners.
You, my clients and collaborators, did some amazing work responding to the pandemic. Here's some of the highlights:
Pivoted your services to provide support to those in need, from coordinating hospice care in order to make space for covid patients to ensuring youth had access to resources when school turned remote
Applied for and won your largest grant at the beginning of the pandemic
Supported scientific research related to covid
Transitioned scheduled, in-person events to virtual platforms in order to continue to serve your members
Campaigned to educate your community about the importance of the census
Invested in your own businesses and organizations despite the unknowns caused by a global pandemic
Reflected and responded to this summer's racial reckoning
And last but not least, I have to acknowledge our collective efforts to get out the vote that resulted in record turnout this year.
I'd be lying if I said I'm not looking forward to waving goodbye to 2020, but after seeing all we've accomplished this year—I am hopeful for what awaits in 2021.
