We're committed to alcohol being enjoyed responsibly - it's the Gin Genius way. To visit our website, please confirm you are of legal drinking age in your country of residence.
Alcohol abuse is dangerous for your health. Drink responsibly.
It was always going to be hard to picture what 2021 would look like; we think if you asked anyone what they had in mind, they would have said ‘Nothing quite like this…’.
Our hopes were pinned on a return to some sort of normality as we knew it, however, with that picture fading slowly into oblivion, another one has started to emerge with greater clarity and it’s not the picture of doom and gloom that we might have thought.
Things will never be the same again – that’s a certainty. Many of the things that we really didn’t love doing on a day to day basis will no longer be part of our lives. Phew! Yes, there are things we miss right now but in time, we will adapt to our different circumstances and use our hearts and minds to give and take what we need to create and live in a better world.
So, with optimism and (Valentine’s Day just around the corner…), we’re taking the opportunity to embrace the theme of ‘Love’ and share the Top 10 things we’re going to fall in love and fully embrace with our hearts this year to make 2021 a much better one than it might have seemed when the clock struck midnight on Hogmanay.
This is going to be a big year for transition; one where we can start to look at shaping our future rather than being stuck in limbo or experiencing that never-ending feeling or walking through treacle. Our ‘new normal’ is going to be unimaginably different and maybe for the first time, we’re all going to start giving much longer and deeper thought to the way we choose to live our lives; our goals, hopes, and dreams. We will look back on how things are right now and think ‘We got through that, anything is possible’ – what’s not to love about that level of blue sky thinking.
Remember that wonderful ritual of getting ready for a night out (oh my goodness, does anyone else feel they may have spent a disproportionate amount of their life actually doing that!), well, we reckon that we’ll be doing the same but for sleeping purposes. Obviously without the full make up and heels but the hour or so before ‘hit the hay’ time is becoming so much more important to us, making a switch from the day’s flurry of stressful headlines, work and home schooling to shut eye and switch off. It would be impossible to transition between day and sleep without it, our minds are far too busy, so one thing we’re going to love about 2021 and beyond is that bedtime ritual – think sleep, yoga, aromatherapy diffusers, elevating our sheets and pyjamas to princess standards, turmeric lattes and deep sleeps. Why did we never do it before?
Never have we missed human contact more; we will never take it for granted again. Looking back, every moment with family, friends, even our work colleagues seems like gold dust now, so utterly precious.
When things have moved on a bit this year, we will never do the ‘I can’t make it!’, or ‘Can we postpone?’. We will meet with our loved ones and people, be present and listen. Our minds will be fully focused on that time, that person, that relationship and the noise in our heads of work, shopping lists, tasks and duties will evaporate.
All our chosen experiences with our fellow humans will be moments of joy – our hearts are full even thinking about it.
We will look back at a time when the checkout person in the local supermarket became the only human contact we had in a day, outside of our homes. We’ll remember the warm glowy feeling of buying a coffee from a local business, knowing that we’re supporting them to stay open (and getting our caffeine buzz!), of discovering that actually, we have everything we need on our doorstep, including that much needed exchange of smiles with passers by when out for our daily exercise.
Our hometowns, villages and cities have become our security and safe haven; places of discovery and our new comfort bubbles. We will love and appreciate them and all they have to offer us, more than we ever did.
5. Creativity
We experienced the joy of that lovely flow that creativity brings, whether it’s losing ourselves in baking or cross-stitching. Creativity stimulates the soul and often switches the mind off. It will become our ‘go to’ whenever life feels tough and within us, we have all managed to unearth little talents we would otherwise never have known we had. Sourdough anyone? Knitted bunny?
Anyone ever felt that they’ve gone a but OTT in the past with celebratory events and parties? It really was a bit of a ‘thing’ at one point; going big on everything! Can you imagine it now? Nope, we can’t either and we love that; it’s right up our street at Caorunn in terms of keeping things understated and enjoying the simple pleasures in life. Less will become more because of us managing to live with so many restrictions. We will look towards rebuilding our lives in a way that makes us happy, never for show or effect – we will finally live the authentic ‘us’ and much more within our means, knowing that the joy in life is so far away from going ‘large’; it’s about keeping it real and embracing the small, simple stuff that makes us truly happy.
Never have we had more solidarity with our fellow humans, all over the world; we are experiencing the same lives together, identical hopes and fears. Our connection to the world, despite our inability to travel anywhere has never been stronger, so it’s much easier for us now to consider the big picture of the environment and care more about looking after planet earth.
What was often a necessity or a curse (those flatpack instructions…!), DIY is here to stay and, it’s been a bit of a joyful diversion from the day to day. The satisfaction that comes from working hard to improve our immediate surroundings, making our homes happier, cosier, more uplifting – a place where we want to be rather than have to be. We’re only a few weeks away from Spring and that annual itch to do all the little (and big!) things that gradually transform our living and working areas. We’re coming into a time of year that we absolutely love!
Anyone else do a quick spritz of perfume before a drinks zoom? We have become so great at adapting and using what we’ve got to make good, great and fun things happen. Who would have thought a year ago that a Saturday night cocktail hour with a long-lost friend in Australia could possibly be a thing? This year, we will love going out (oh my word we really will…) but we will hold on to these great times at home – the kitchen disco, the cocktail Zoom, the family catch up with a Caorunn and Tonic on a Saturday evening. We will continue to love seeing the faces of people we might not even see once a year, laughing and ‘cheers-ing’ on our regular Zoom calls. We might have had to stay apart for a long time, but we’ve become much closer and our cocktail making techniques have definitely improved – try some of our favourites!
This year, we’re going to focus on taking positive things from the better days and pouring them into the down days – it’s going to be our new superpower! Whether it’s an unexpected blue sky day, a walk that shifts our mind into an energetic or creative place or consuming a compelling new box set on Netflix is a oner, we are falling in love this year with our ability to see those little chinks of light on the horizon, the tiny stuff that keeps us going, the green shoots that Spring will bring, hope and possibility and one day in the not too distant future, the warmth of sun on our faces.
