Maybe you had to be there for the laugh, but here's what happened.

I recently discovered that Zoom has a lipstick filter. I'm not generally a makeup-wearer, but after staring at my face on screen for the last year, a dash of color seemed like a cheerful addition to my virtual life. After a few days of getting used to my rose-colored lips, I reported to the studio to livestream my in-person class, and discovered upon logging in that the lip filter is mightier than the mask! My plain-colored face-covering came alive with a life-like mouth that mimicked my own, like some virtual ventriloquist simultaneously teaching yoga and laughing at the absurdity of the past year we've had.

During this new phase of the pandemic, virtual and in-person life have begun to overlap with the same natural osmosis that characterizes many transitions. Our hybrid classes, for example, feature students both in the room and on Zoom, each with their own particularities. The Zoom experience can be an up close and personal affair. We invite each other into our homes, and we can sit close to the camera and truly see each other, illuminated by the blue light of the device universe. The in-person experience is intimate in a different way, as we simultaneously give and receive warm and supportive energy that far outshines masks and social distancing.

We are learning that pandemic life has no on/off switch, nor an instruction manual with delineated steps. It doesn't appear that we'll have a World War II-like VE day celebration with dancing and random kissing in the street. But we will have small victories along the way, as each phase moves us forward into safer, sweeter times. In each of these phases, I hope we continue to find ways to let our smiles and laughter shine through the masks of loss, fear, and uncertainty that we've together endured.

~ Annie Moyer