Connection in a time of isolation...

 Photo by: Kristi Durazo

Connection in a time of isolation…

I hope this finds you as well as you can be given what we are living out in real time…We ain’t in Kansas anymore…

Adam Carolla, comedian and podcaster, said recently, This is a prison sentence…a short one, but a sentence nonetheless…As the prisoners say, “You can do the time, or the time can do you…”

Are you falling prey to the time doing you?

I sincerely hope not.

Stories abound regarding people hearing birds singing, the absence of contrails in the blue sky as planes are grounded, Italians singing and serenading on balconies, families playing games and taking walks, dolphins swimming in the canals of Venice (https://www.msn.com/en-ca/video/viral/these-dolphins-show-up-in-the-empty-canals-in-venice-italy/vp-BB11pWbI

please excuse the ads…if you prefer, just Google “dolphins in the canals of Venice”)

We don’t know yet what the “new normal” will be. For a moment, let’s play a game of

WHAT IF?

What if by shutting down (for two weeks, a month, who knows how long…) we discovered (or maybe RECOVERED) some practices that are actually healthy and helpful; practices like cooking at home rather than grabbing something on the way home from work, acting like (dare I say LOVING) neighbors, Sabbath - I could go on and on?

As creation breathes a collective sigh of release as we push PAUSE, maybe, just as with the canals in Venice, the muddy waters will clear up…

Muddy water only becomes clear

if we let it be still for a while…

What are the “muddy waters” in your life? What might you SEE if things got CLEAR?

Maybe this pause is kind of like re-hab…During re-hab, people discover new habits. New habits take 28 days to form.

Several mornings ago, I was on my morning walk and two women stopped me. They asked if I lived in the neighborhood, and then introduced themselves and asked my name. One of them said,

It’s about time we got to know

who our neighbors are…

Yes, it’s about time…

I’m sure that you, like me, have been inundated with memes, videos, rants, and philosophical pontificating (and maybe this blog is more of the same ), but indulge me one more minute. One of the things I received was a poem from someone in France. Without boring you with the whole thing, the poem talked about all of the things we are experiencing right now. The refrain was le printemps ne savait pas –

The Spring doesn’t know…

Birds are singing. Flowers are beginning to bloom. Spring is here! The Spring doesn’t know about COVID-19.

No, maybe we can’t hug for a while. But we can give “virtual hugs.” We can reach out via FaceTime, Zoom and via phone calls and texts. We can fight fear with faith; despair with hope; and, isolation with staying connected and loving our neighbors.

We’ll get through this…TOGETHER! Stay safe! For your sake and for the sake of others.