Looking Out My Back Window #144

Originally posted on Facebook HERE

Hey there! Happy Easter! Stir crazy yet? Seems like my Facebook feed is starting to swing a little bit as more and more people are out of work, businesses are hurting (if not going out of business), and we all try to make sense of not only what is happening but how the world is handling it. It’s not like this is just a neighborhood quarantine, or a city, state or country. This is basically a world wide quarantine. I don’t think this has ever happened before. Years ago it would have been pretty hard to do just from the lack of technology alone. And so here we sit. In limbo. With an uncertain future. So many thoughts on what this is, why it’s happening, how serious it is (I have friends who I’m pretty sure wear hazmat suits in the house and others who just live their lives as close to normal as possible), and how and when do we pull out of it? And when we do pull out of it, won’t everything just start spreading again at that time? If it does, what was accomplished by shutting it all down in the first place? The longer we sit with an uncertain future, the more tension will begin to fill our thoughts and minds. What if the quarantine lasts through May?… June?… July?… what if it goes longer than that?… how will we survive? How can we ever go from “stay six feet apart” to being OK in a crowd again? Going to bars, restaurants, movies, concerts, sporting events?… if bars open back up on May 1st, would you go see your favorite band? Will you be OK going to church again right away when they reopen? Even if we do get back to some sort of whatever normal was, we’re going to do it with a bit of trepidation. Some fear. We’ll maybe take precautions (wear a mask, wash clothes when we get home, etc). Who ever would have thought this not only would happen, but could happen at all? Fear and tension might be at all time highs in the world, but this Easter Sunday let us not forget about love. The pace of my life has certainly changed since this all began. I think that might be the case for many of us. It’s slower. I see friends getting all kinds of projects done, people decluttering, finding lost treasures, reconnecting with old passions, starting new creative outlets… I myself have been playing bass way more since this began than I have been in a long, long time. Reconnecting with my love of music and that instrument. I’m really getting into it, and the time just blows by. I’ve also been able to practice meditation and yoga on a regular basis, and get back into running again – things I’ve wanted to do for quite a while. I’m actually doing them now. My schedule during the week is much less rigorous than the old normal. What I miss is the human interaction. It’s been taken from us all. Everything is done by phone, FaceTime or Zoom these days. We need to look people in the eye, meet face to face, shake hands, hug, laugh and cry together… in person. Maybe we were taking how precious those things are for granted. Try not to let fear take over during this time. Look for new ways to live, pull something off the “someday” shelf – start it today. It’s a great time to get centered with God again. And when things do start to get back to whatever normal will be going forward, let us never take the ability to meet face to face, to shake hands, to hug, to laugh and cry together, to walk each other through the crazy ride of life together… let us never take that for granted again. I wish you all the very best life has to offer in these uncertain times. We can and will come out of this stronger than ever if that’s what we see for ourselves. Let’s not forget to look forward and see the future with love in our hearts.